In Shakespeare's comedy, "The Taming of the Shrew," one of the most important themes is that what a person is really like is more important than how they appear to be. One of the main ways that the this is shown is by mistaken identity. This is shown by Petruchio's relationship with Katherine; the changing roles of Tranio, Lucentio, and Hortensio; and the true characters of Bianca and Katherine. All three of these situations help …showed first 75 words of 862 total…

…showed last 75 words of 862 total…Pettet, pp. 86). Mistaken identity is the main conflict of this play, yet it also serves to tell the reader or audience what the theme is. Through appearance changes, character relationships, and inner personalities, the theme is displayed, the theme being that what someone's real identity is more important than what they seem to be. This is proved by great manipulation of characters and a plot with examples illustrating the theme beautifully and with great emphasis.