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All Site ContentTaming of the ShrewAct 3Scene 1
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“cast thy wandering eyes on every stale ... find thee ranging”
Metaphor
Act 3,
Scene 1
Lines 84-90

An explanation of Hortensio’s closing lines in Act 3, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Lucentio

Faith, mistress, then I have no cause to stay.    
[Exit Lucentio]

Hortensio

But I have cause to pry into this pedant;    
Methinks he looks as though he were in love.
Yet if thy thoughts, Bianca, be so humble    
To cast thy wandering eyes on every stale,    
Seize thee that list. If once I find thee ranging,    
Hortensio will be quit with thee by changing.    
[Exit]

Hortensio is using a metaphor from hawking to describe Bianca’s loose behavior. A stale is a live decoy used to attract prey for the hawk to kill. Hawks are trained to attack only the desired species of birds; but if a hawk pursues every bird that comes along, it’s said to be ranging.