Shakespeare’s Three Comedies

Characters:

Katherine - elder daughter of Baptista Minola; main character in The Taming of the Shrew.

Hermia - character in A Midsummer Night’s Dream who has two men in love with her.

Lysander - character in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; the lover of Hermia.

Viola - character in Twelfth Night; a lady of Messaline shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria who later disguised herself as Cesario.

Olivia - character in Twelfth Night; an Illyrian countess.

Summary:

The Taming of the Shrew deals with the concepts of love and marriage. It shows the

different ways of courtship and marriage, and how the characters cope up with the

partner he or she has chosen. At first Bianca seems to be the “ideal” woman. She is

silent and obedient to her father’s wishes. Her sister Katherine is the shrew mentioned in

the title. Her sharp tongue and tactlessness seem to act as a repellant. No man is crazy

enough to court her. But their father, Baptista Minola has declared that Katherine must

marry first since she is the elder. Bianca’s suitors have to come up with a way to

take Katherine off her father’s hands… and off theirs. Here Petruchio comes along. They

convince him to court and marry Katherine. He says that he will change her and she will

be a totally different person when he is done with her. Katherine marries him, practically

against her will, and the taming begins.

Meanwhile, Lucentio, one of Bianca’s suitors, disguises himself as the teacher

Cambio and gets her to fall in love with him. Their courtship and marriage are done in

secret, but all that matters to Lucentio is that he has Bianca. In the end, however, the

sisters’ roles seem to have reversed. Katherine becomes the model of the ideal wife while

Bianca seems to have lost her obedience to her husband.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The play begins. Theseus and Hippolyta are about to be married. They are making

preparations for their wedding day. Then enters Egeus with his daughter Hermia and her

two suitors, Demetrius, the man her father wants her to marry, and Lysander, the man she

wants to marry. Egeus demands that Hermia marry Demetrius or else face death. Theseus

gives her a few days to think about it, after which she must come back and choose

between marriage to Demetrius, death, or life in a convent.

Hermia and her lover Lysander plan to run away. The only person Hermia tells

their plan to is her friend, Helena. Helena is in love with Demetrius and tells him the

plan, hoping to win his favor. Demetrius goes off to pursue Hermia, while all the while,

Helena is pursuing him. The King of the Fairies sees Helena and takes pity on her. He

calls Puck to find a magic flower which will make a person fall in love with the first thing

he sees. Puck messes up and somehow Lysander and Demetrius both fall in love with

Helena, creating an all-new triangle with Hermia now excluded. Helena and Hermia each

think that this is all just a cruel joke played on them. In the end, the four lovers are put to

sleep and brought together. Lysander is cured of his love for Helena. The four of them

return to Theseus. Lysander loves Hermia again and Demetrius now loves Helena. The

three couples marry on the same day.

In the Twelfth Night, Orsino is already courting the countess Olivia