The Taming of the Shrew: Frame Story 1 key example

The Taming of the Shrew contains two narratives: the first is the frame story, and the second is the primary narrative, which follows the parallel courtship of Katherine and Bianca. The frame story follows Christopher Sly, an intoxicated beggar found unconscious in a ditch by an unnamed English lord. The lord takes the beggar to his house and resolves to play a prank on him, having all of his household staff treat the beggar like nobility once he awakens from his drunken coma. It is within the context of this farce that a troupe of entertainers performs a play for Sly—the contents of that play being, of course, the second and main narrative of The Taming of the Shrew. Curiously, Christopher Sly's narrative does not serve as a complete bookend for the main story: it begins but does not conclude.