Katharine, that cap of
yours
becomes
you not; Off with that bauble, throw it under foot.
[Kath. pulls off her Cap, and throws it down. Wid. Lord, let me never have a cause to sigh, Till I be brought to such a silly pass!
Bian. Fie! what a foolish duty call you this ?
Luc. I would, your duty were as foolish too:
The wisdom of your duty, fair Bianca,
Hath cost me an hundred crowns since sapper-time.
Bian. The more fool you, for laying on my duty.
Pet. Katharine, I charge thee, tell these headstrong
What duty they do owe their lords and husbands.
Wid. Come, come, you're mocking; we will have
no telling.
Pet. Come on, I say; and first begin with her.
Wid. She shall not.
Pet. I say, she shall;-and first begin with her.
Kath. Fie, fie! unknit that threat'niug unkind brow;
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes,
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor:
It blots thy beauty, as frosts bite the meads;
Confounds thy fame, as whirlwinds shake fair buds;
And in no sense is meet, or amiable.
A woman mov’d, is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty;
And, while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip, or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance : comunits his body
To painful labour, both by sea and land;
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
While thou liesť warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands,
But love, fair looks, and true obedience;-
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such, a woman oweth to her husband :
And, when she's froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And, not obedient to his honest will,
What is she, but a foul contending rebel,
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?-
I am asham'd, that women are so simple
To offer war, where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love, aud obey.
Why are our bodies soft, and weak, and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world;
But that our soft conditions, and our hearts,
Should well agree with our external parts?
Come, come, you froward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great; my reason, haply, more,
To bandy word for word, and frown for frown :
I see our lances are but straws;
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,-
That seeming to be most, which we least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot;
And place your hands below your husband's foot :
In token of which duty, if he please,
My band is ready, may it do him ease.
Pet. Why, there's a wench!--Come on, and kiss
Luc. Well, go thy ways, old lad; for thou shalt ha't.
Vin. 'Tis a good hearing, when children are toward.
Luc. But a harsh hearing, when women are froward.
Pet. Come, Kate, we'll to bed :-
We three are married, but you two are sped.
'Twas I wou the wager, though you hit the white;
[To Lucentio. And, being a winner, God give you good night!
[Exeunt Petruchio and Katharina. Hor. Now go thy ways, thou hast tam'd a curst
sbrew. Luc. Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tam'd
[Exeunt.
Of this play the two plots are so well united, that they can hardly be called two, without injury to the art with which they are interwoven. The attention is entertained with all the variety of a double plot, yet is not distracted by unconnected incidents.
The part between Katharine and Petruchio is eminently sprightly and diverting. At the marriage of Bianca, the arrival of the real father, perhaps, produces more perplexity than pleasure. The whole play is very popular and diverting:
JOHNSON.
C. Whittingham, Printer, Chiswick.
Leontes, King of Sicilia :
Mamillius, his Son.
Camillo,
Antigonus,
Sicilian Lords.
Cleoinenes,
Dion,
Another Sicilian Lord.
Rogero, a Sicilian Gentleman.
An Attendant on the young Prince Mamillius.
Officers of a Court of Judicature.
Polixenes, King of Bohemia:
Florizel, his Son.
Archidamus, a Bohemian Lord.
A Mariner.
Gaoler.
An old Shepherd, reputed Father of Perdita.
Clown, his Son.
Servant to the old Shepherd.
Autolycus, a Rogue.
Time, as Chorus
Hermione, Queen to Leontes.
Perdita, Daughter to Leontes and Hermione.
Paulina, Wife to Antigonus.
Emilia, a Lady,
Two other Ladies, }attending the Queen.
Mopsa,
Dorcas,
Shepherdesses.
Lords, Ladies, and Attendants ; Satyrs for a Dance;
Shepherds, Shepherdesses, Guards, &c. SCENE, sometimes in Sicilia, sometimes in Bohemia.
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