Act 1, Scene 2 Summary

Sir Peter Teazle, an old man, married a young woman six months ago and his life has been terrible since then. The once shy, innocent, poor young woman Sir Peter wedded has become a greedy shrew who argues with everything he says and demands everything that he has to give and more. Thus, rather than getting a beautiful, retiring woman, he is tied to an absolute beast.

Rowley arrives to speak with Sir Peter and Sir Peter tells him about his troubles with Lady Teazle. In fact, Sir Peter believes that much of her shrewish behavior is due to her spending so much time with Lady Sneerwell and her gang of character assassins. To add to his worries, Maria is still intent on marrying Charles, despite the fact that he has tried to get his ward to move her affections elsewhere...