The Tempest Act 4 Scene 3 Analysis

Act 4, Scene 3

Summary - Joanna

The scene begins with Katherina asking Grumio to bring her something to eat, telling him she is willing to eat anything he brings her. He refuses, and instead mocks her by baiting her with names of foods, saying he will give only mustard. In the midst of Katherina beating the foolish servant, Petruchio and Hortensio arrive with a meal. However, Petruchio assumes her upset state to be ungratefulness, and threatens to take the meal away from her. She once again begs for the food, and at her politeness, he complies. While she is eating, he announces that they will return to her father’s house immediately. He insists they wear fine clothing to her father’s house and brings in the Haberdasher and the Tailor. After

examining the clothes however, Petruchio yells and point out the faults, despite Katherina’s protests that the clothes are perfectly fine. He sends them both out of the room and declares that they will wear common clothes for the visit, reasoning that what is the most important part of a person are their innermost traits of someone, not their outside appearance. As he prepares to leave, Katherina argues that if they leave now, they would arrive only by suppertime. He argues back that it is in fact seven in the morning, and to leave now, they would arrive by noon. Petruchio makes it clear that they will not depart until she will accept whatever he says as the truth.

Thematic and Dramatic Significance
At the beginning of the scene, during the character vs character conflict, it seems as if Grumio has the upper hand and that Katherina is almost begging him for food; but ultimately, when Katherina beats him, and Grumio is put back in his place as a lower class servant. This conflict reveals the thematic significance of the scene regarding the strict importance of the social position of each character. At the beginning, Petruchio wants to marry Kate just for her money; but towards this scene, it shows how that gradually starts to change. Petruchio talks long about how it’s the inside that counts (e.g “What, is the jay more precious than the lark because his feathers are more beautiful?”), which foreshadows that Petruchio might be loving Katherina for more than just her money. He says that if something is beautiful it does not mean it is more precious, which can mean that someone does not have to be rich to be worthy. The significance of this theme towards the play is that it foreshadows the potential of Petruchio loving Kate for who she is rather than just for her money.

C. Development of Characters
Characters

Hortensio
-Determined to woo Bianca
-Competitive with the other suitors in order to win her love
-Classist of people of lower class then he is
-Eventually gives up on Bianca and marries a wealthy widow
-More focused on the money than the actual person
-Shallow and rude

Katherina
-Bad tempered and sharp tongued
-Begins to change midpoint of the play (after the marriage) and becomes more mature
-Her anger only proved to hide her insecurities of being compared to her sister constantly
- She is shown to be more submissive around Petruchio and begins to agree with him

Petruchio
-Claims he would marry anyone as long as he gets money
- intelligent and quick witted
- Can be seen as domineering or selfish
- He is able to match Katherina’s sharp tongue
- He began as someone that only cared about money but throughout the play we can tell he cares much for kate despite his outrageous actions

Tailor
- Treated badly by Petruchio
- He pushes the blame of Petruchio being unsatisfied by the gown onto Grumio by saying it was his fault for not giving him the right orders
-Disrespectful and also fearful of Petruchio

Grumio
-Servant that follows the hierarchical standings
-Dim witted and interprets things in very literal ways
-Cautious of Petruchio and fears being beaten
-Uneducated and a fool which is what servants were thought to be like back in the shakespearian time era

D. Important Literary Devices and their Effect

Line 32: “That feed’st me with the very name of meat”