As readers of Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew, we are only reading the actors' script. We are obviously given much less information than we would be if we were an audience to a performance of the play. In fact, we are even given less information than we would be if we were reading the play's story as a novel. Not only can we not see or hear any physical scenes of the play, but we do not have a narrator to constantly describe them for us. As a result, other than the short parenthetical descriptions of characters entering and exiting the scenes or performing actions crucial to the understanding of the dialogue (ex.: "(Biondello comes forward with the gifts)" Act 2, Scene 1, Between Lines 105 and 106), we have no descriptions of the setting of the play except for the hints the dialogue gives us.

In Scene 1 of Act 2, the time of day is revealed twice through the dialogue. The scene is very long, and readers may come to think that it is taking place throughout the course of a day. It becomes clear, however, that this is not the case. At the beginning, when Gremio, the two men disguised as tutors, Petruchio, Tranio, and Biondello enter, Gremio greets Baptista by saying, "Good morrow, neighbor Baptista" (42). This reveals that the time of day is morning. Later, Petruchio greets Kate as she appears by saying "Good morrow, Kate, for that's your name, I hear" (190). This tells the reader that the time of day is still morning. The remainder of the scene consists of Petruchio's and Kate's witty argument and, immediately following that, Gremio's and Tranio's bidding for Bianca. The physical setting of part of the scene is possibly revealed when Baptista says, "We will go walk a little in the orchard" (118). The reader is still not sure that any of the scene truly takes place in the orchard. After Baptista says this, Petruchio immediately begins to inquire about Kate. Not much later, Hortensio, disguised as Litio, arrives and tells Baptista that Katherine refuses to be patient with his teachings. If Petruchio and Baptista had been talking in the orchard, it would not have been easy for Hortensio to find them. It is possible that Petruchio and Katherine have their argument in the orchard; after Baptista says he will lead Hortensio to his lesson with Bianca, he asks Petruchio, "Signior Petruchio, will you go with us,/ Or shall I send my daughter Kate to you?" (174-175). Petruchio replies, "I pray you do. I'll attend her here" (176). Baptista proceeds to send Katherine to Petruchio, who is presumably still in the orchard. The dialogue hints at a character's mood and physical appearance at one point in the scene. When Hortensio, disguised as Litio, approaches Baptista to tell him of Katherine's impatience in her lesson, Baptista asks, "How now, my friend, why dost thou look so pale?" (149) Hortensio replies, "For fear, I promise you, if I look pale" (150). This reveals that Hortensio is pale out of fear. The parenthetical declaration of Hortensio's entrance into the scene says that his head is "Broke" (Between lines 148 and 149). As a result, when he says, "And with that word she hath struck me on the head" (161), the reader knows that his head is injured because it was hit with the lute. Also, Hortensio's description of what happened during the lesson puts the picture in the reader's mind that he is very frustrated. He says, "I think she'll (Katherine will) sooner prove a soldier!/ Iron may hold with her, but never lutes" (152-153). This shows the reader his desperation and possibly his astonishment.