Grumio enters Petruchio’s country home and starts complaining about the trip back from the wedding. He’s been sent ahead to warm the house, so he calls for the servant, Curtis, to help. Curtis asks for more details about Katherine and the trip, and Grumio finally tells him about the hard journey.

As soon as the other servants have assembled, Kate and Petruchio arrive, clearly worn-out from the trip. Petruchio is mean to his servants, won’t let Kate eat, and then takes Kate to see her room. When Petruchio returns, the servants scatter. He explains to the audience that his plan is to tame Kate the way a falconer trains a wild falcon, by not feeding it or letting it sleep. He ends by telling the audience that, if they know a better way to tame a shrew, it would be very kind of them to tell him what that would be.