Just as the main story line has its roots in popular debate, so too does the play's Induction. Although inductions were not uncommon in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century dramas, The Taming of the Shrew is the only play in which Shakespeare features this particular framing device. For The Taming of the Shrew's Induction, Shakespeare features the tale of a beggar who finds himself mysteriously in power in a rich man's world. Like the tales of shrewish wives, tales of beggars miraculously transformed were featured in a London jest-book (1570) and were commonly featured in sixteenth-century English ballads of which Shakespeare was quite likely familiar.
The Bianca subplot also has its roots in sources with which Shakespeare would have been familiar. Unlike the Kate/Petruchio plot, which can only be traced to general pamphlets and debates, the Bianca subplot comes from George Gascoigne's Supposes (1566, 1573), a translation of Ariosto's I Suppositi (1509).
Regardless of where Shakespeare drew the basis for the text, the fact remains that he masterfully presents us with a well-founded, carefully developed drama that can't help but get us talking. From the Induction, which seems to end mysteriously and abruptly, to Katherine's final speech on wifely duty, we can't help but find layer upon layer of meaning buried in this early, but great, comedy. Shakespeare uses his skill expertly, bringing out themes we still debate today, over 400 years later.
