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All Site ContentTaming of the ShrewAct 1Scene 1
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“to make a stale of me amongst these mates”
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 57-60

An explanation of the wordplay on “stale” in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Katherina

[To Baptista] I pray you, sir, is it your will
To make a stale of me amongst these mates?

Hortensio

‘Mates,’ maid, how mean you that? No mates for you,
Unless you were of gentler, milder mold.
  1. Katherina is being made a stale (a laughingstock) in front of these two mates (contemptible men).
  2. Katherina is being made a stale (decoy) for Bianca so that Bianca can get a mate (husband).
  3. Katherina is being made a stale, or a prostitute, as her father is offering her up to both Gremio and Hortensio
  4. Katherina's lack of a husband has placed Gremio and Hortensio in a “stalemate,” a deadlock where neither can prevail over his rival in the pursuit of Bianca.