In Act 2.1 of The Taming of the Shrew, please explain the following quote. Did ever Dian so become a grove As Kate this chamber with her princely...

This quote comes in the first scene when Petruchio starts
to woo Katherine in Act II scene 1. What is amusing about this scene is that Petruchio
plays the role of the traditional lover, only to comment on and satirise his words. Thus
it is that he compares Katharina in the quote you have identified to Diana, the Roman
goddess of the hunt and of chastity. Note the full
comparison:

readability="14">

Did ever Dian so become a
grove

As Kate this chamber with her princely
gait?

O, be thou Dian, and let her be
Kate,

And then let Kate be chaste and Dian
sportful!

Katherina's typical
response to such a flattering and obsequious comparison is to ask where Petruchio
"studied" such "goodly speech," and Petruchio's reply again draws attention to the
ridiculous nature of his wooing. Petruchio in this quote therefore starts off by saying
that Kate has made the chamber beautiful with her presence, just as Diana, the goddess,
makes woodland groves divine with her presence. The second part of the quote implores
Kate and Diana to swap places so that Kate can be "chaste" and the new Diana before him
can be "sportful," which is richly suggestive and rather ironic given the lack of
success that Petruchio's artificial wooing has had so far. Thus the comparison of Kate
to Diana is ironically used by Petruchio as part of his wooing.