The induction of “The Taming of the Shrew” depicts Christopher Sly, a poor drunk, and a “mighty” lord who has copious amounts of money that he doesn’t know what to do with. It’s interesting that Shakespeare creates tragedies and comedies, but all of his comedies have tragic components to them. The induction of “The Taming of the Shrew” is comedic when considering the general plot line; however, the concepts behind the plot are depressing. Christopher Sly is a drunk, who is looking to drown his sorrows in alcohol. After passing out in the forest, Sly is taken from his resting place and brought to the palace by the lord and his servingmen. The sadistic part is that the lord took Sly just for the sheer purpose of screwing with his head. The lord has so much wealth that he can just take a person around and shower them with money just to trick him into believing that he is a noble. The induction of “The Taming of the Shrew” depicts Christopher Sly, a poor drunk, and a “mighty” lord who has copious amounts of money that he doesn’t know what to do with. It’s interesting that Shakespeare creates tragedies and comedies, but all of his comedies have tragic components to them. The induction of “The Taming of the Shrew” is comedic when considering the general plot line however, the concepts behind the plot are depressing. Christopher Sly is a drunk who is looking to drown his sorrows in alcohol. After passing out in the forest Sly is taken from his resting place and brought to the palace by the lord and his servingmen. The sadistic part is that the lord took Sly just for the sheer purpose of screwing with his head. The lord has so much wealth that he can just take a person around and shower them with money just to trick him into believing that he is a noble. Shakespeare illustrats the relationship between these two men in order to draw the audience into the play. However, the induction is very short and the rest of the play has nothing to do with these two characters. The “Taming of the Shrew” is mostly about a woman named Katherine who speaks her mind and refuses to be controlled. She is depicted as very unpleasant because she is a woman and in order to make the play more appealing Shakespeare opens up with an induction about two men who are participating in a very comedic turn of events. The treatment of Sly is very funny which is the point of the induction however the reasoning and analysis behind the plot is saddening and the part that the lord plays is very sadistic. The lord says, “Persuade him that he hath been lunatic, And when he says he is, say that he dreams, For he is nothing but a mighty lord” (IND. sc. 1 lines 66-68). It is sadistic to try and convince someone that they are crazy and that the last 15 years of their life was all a dream. However, what makes it even more comedic and painful, is that Sly easily believes him and then starts to act above everyone, which is ironic because he was originally broke. He starts to act as if he has been a wealthy noble his entire life therefore, justifying this behavior of acting stuck up. The entirety of the induction is heartbreaking, which makes it such a great opening to “The Taming of the Shrew”.