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All Site ContentTaming of the ShrewAct 3Scene 1
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“D sol re — One clef, two notes have I”
Cultural Context
Act 3,
Scene 1
Lines 69-79

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

Bianca

Why, I am past my gamut long ago.    

Hortensio

Yet read the gamut of Hortensio.

Bianca

[Reads the scale which he has written out for her]
Gamut — I am the ground of all accord,    
A re — to plead Hortensio's passion.
B mi — Bianca, take him for thy lord,
C fa ut — that loves with all affection.
D sol re — One clef, two notes have I.    
E la mi — Show pity, or I die.'
Call you this ‘gamut’? Tut, I like it not.    
Old fashions please me best; I am not so nice    
To change true rules for odd inventions.    

In the musical notation of the time, D represented two notes, “sol” in one scale and “re” in another. Similarly, Hortensio has two identities (his real one and that of Litio), and two options (win Bianca or die).