You are here

All Site ContentTaming of the ShrewAct IntroductionScene 1
Back to the Play
“with… lowly courtesy”
Double Meaning
Act Introduction,
Scene 1
Lines 106-114

Lord

Tell him from me — as he will win my love —
He bear himself with honorable action   
Such as he hath observed in noble ladies
Unto their lords by them accomplishèd.    
Such duty to the drunkard let him do,
With soft low tongue and lowly courtesy,
And say 'What is't your honor will command
Wherein your lady and your humble wife
May show her duty and make known her love?'

“Lowly courtesy” can refer to

  1. humble politeness.
  2. a curtsy, a gesture performed by a woman to show respect by bending the knees and bowing from the waist.
References: 

An explanation of the phrase “lowly courtesy” in Introduction 1 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.