Lesson 4.1.1.2

4.1.1.2 The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare) Quiz: AQA English Literature A, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.1.1.2, The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare): 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA English Literature A (7712), Unit 1: Love through the ages, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Who marries Katherina, known as Kate, in The Taming of the Shrew?

    • Hortensio, who disguises himself as a music teacher
    • Petruchio, a fortune-hunting gentleman from Verona
    • Gremio, an elderly suitor from Padua
    • Lucentio, who disguises himself as a tutor

  2. What is the role of Christopher Sly in the induction of the play?

    • A suitor of Bianca who loses his wager
    • A tinker tricked into believing he is a lord
    • The governor of Padua who presides over trials
    • A servant who betrays Petruchio to Baptista

  3. How does Lucentio gain access to Bianca?

    • By serving as Petruchio's servant in Padua
    • By disguising himself as a rich merchant from Pisa
    • By disguising himself as a tutor named Cambio
    • By sending letters through Hortensio's household

  4. What condition does Baptista set before Bianca may marry?

    • Lucentio must prove his family's wealth
    • Katherina must marry before Bianca
    • Gremio must be rejected by Bianca
    • Bianca must first reach the age of eighteen

  5. The city in which The Taming of the Shrew is set is:

    • Verona, the city of the lovers
    • Milan, the Duke's seat in the north
    • Padua, in northern Italy
    • Venice, the great trading city

  6. The Taming of the Shrew is usually classified as which genre?

    • Tragedy, with a fatal ending for the heroine
    • Comedy, with farce, disguise and a marriage ending
    • History play, drawn from English royal chronicles
    • Tragicomedy, mixing tragedy with a romance plot

  7. Which method does Petruchio rely on most heavily to tame Katherina?

    • Starving her and denying her sleep and food
    • Threatening her with a sword in front of guests
    • Reading her private love letters aloud in public
    • Sending her away to a convent in the countryside

  8. When Petruchio insists that the sun is the moon, what is his purpose?

    • To prove that Bianca is more intelligent than Kate
    • To test Katherina's obedience by making her agree with absurdity
    • To make the servants laugh at the old suitor Gremio
    • To show that he is a skilled astronomer and teacher

  9. In her final speech, Katherina tells the wives that their husband is their:

    • judge, guardian and tutor
    • lord, life and keeper
    • master, father and banker
    • duke, neighbour and friend

  10. What is the subject of the wager made at the close of the play?

    • Which suitor Bianca will finally choose to marry
    • Who can finish a play in the shortest time
    • Whose wife is the most obedient when summoned
    • Who will win the rent of the houses in Padua

  11. Critics debate whether Katherina's final speech is sincere. Which point best supports reading it as ironic?

    • Her speech is written in blank verse, which is always ironic
    • Her speech is spoken by Sly in the closing induction
    • Her speech repeats Petruchio's values in a tone that may be sarcastic
    • Her speech is directed only at the audience, not at her husband

  12. The induction framing Sly's story suggests that the main plot is:

    • a dream that Katherina has while she is ill
    • a play within a play, staged as entertainment for Sly
    • a flashback to the history of the city of Padua
    • a letter written by Petruchio to his absent father

  13. Which older suitor competes for Bianca alongside Lucentio and Hortensio?

    • Gremio, an elderly suitor from Padua
    • Tranio, the servant who impersonates Lucentio
    • Grumio, Petruchio's comic servant
    • Biondello, the servant who runs errands

  14. Which character is Petruchio's servant, known for his comic exchanges?

    • Biondello, Lucentio's servant who runs messages
    • Tranio, Lucentio's servant who takes his master's place
    • Grumio, Petruchio's servant with comic exchanges
    • Vincentio, a visiting merchant from Pisa

  15. Which servant impersonates Lucentio while his master pursues Bianca?

    • Gremio, the old suitor from Padua
    • Hortensio, who disguises himself as a teacher
    • Grumio, Petruchio's servant with comic lines
    • Tranio, who takes on his master's identity

  16. Compared with Katherina's courtship, how does Bianca's courtship differ?

    • Katherina's is open and confrontational, while Bianca's relies on deception
    • Both courtships are conducted entirely in public view
    • Bianca's courtship is violent, while Katherina's is gentle
    • Bianca's courtship ends in a duel between her suitors

  17. Who is Bianca and Katherina's father?

    • Baptista, the wealthy Paduan father
    • Gremio, the elderly suitor of the household
    • Hortensio, a friend of Petruchio's household
    • Vincentio, the old merchant of Pisa

  18. The title 'The Taming of the Shrew' uses a metaphor from which area of life?

    • Training a wild animal to obey its master
    • Practising medicine and surgery on patients
    • Navigating a ship across a stormy sea
    • Lending money and collecting interest

  19. Which question about the induction is most useful when evaluating the play's treatment of gender?

    • Does Sly's fantasy frame the taming as staged entertainment rather than reality?
    • Which character dies at the start of the induction?
    • Does Sly ever speak in verse rather than in prose?
    • Is Sly an actor who appears in the main play too?

  20. Who is Lucentio's father, a merchant from Pisa?

    • Baptista, the father of Katherina and Bianca
    • Vincentio, the merchant from Pisa
    • Christopher Sly, the drunken tinker of the induction
    • Gremio, a rich suitor from Padua

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