![ShrewKatePetrucio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/ShrewKatePetrucio.jpg)
''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
by
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a
framing device
Framing may refer to:
* Framing (construction), common carpentry work
* Framing (law), providing false evidence or testimony to prove someone guilty of a crime
* Framing (social sciences)
* Framing (visual arts), a technique used to bring the focu ...
, often referred to as the
induction
Induction, Inducible or Inductive may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Labor induction (birth/pregnancy)
* Induction chemotherapy, in medicine
* Induced stem cells, stem cells derived from somatic, reproductive, pluripotent or other cell t ...
, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken
tinker
Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils.
Description
''Tinker'' for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as ''tyckner'' or ''tinkler''. Some travelling groups and Romani p ...
named
Christopher Sly
Christopher Sly is a minor character in William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew.'' He is a drunk man who is easily dominated by women, set up as a Foil (literature), foil to Petruchio, the central male character in the play.
Role
''The T ...
into believing he is actually a nobleman himself. The nobleman then has the play performed for Sly's diversion.
The main plot depicts the
courtship
Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private m ...
of
Petruchio
Petruchio (an anglicisation of the Italian name Petruccio; ) is the male protagonist in Shakespeare's '' The Taming of the Shrew'' (c. 1590–1594). Petruchio is a fortune seeker who enters into a marriage with a strong-willed young woman ...
and
Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate
shrew
Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different fa ...
. Initially, Katherina is an unwilling participant in the relationship; however, Petruchio "tames" her with various psychological and physical torments, such as keeping her from eating and drinking, until she becomes a desirable, compliant, and obedient bride. The
subplot
In fiction, a subplot is a secondary strand of the plot that is a supporting side story for any story or for the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporting c ...
features a competition between the suitors of Katherina's younger sister,
Bianca
Bianca is a feminine given name. It means "white" and is an Italian cognate of Blanche.
Variants
* Blanche: French
* Bianca: Italian
* Bianka ( Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, German, English, French, Icelandic, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, C ...
, who is seen as the "ideal" woman. The question of whether the play is
misogynistic
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
has become the subject of considerable controversy, particularly among modern scholars, audiences, and readers.
''The Taming of the Shrew'' has been adapted numerous times for stage, screen, opera, ballet, and musical theatre; perhaps the most famous adaptations being
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.
Born to ...
's ''
Kiss Me, Kate
''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-s ...
;
McLintock!
:''See also McClintock (disambiguation)''
''McLintock!'' is a 1963 American Western comedy film, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The film co-stars Wayne's son Patrick Wayne, Stefanie Powers, Jack Kru ...
'', a 1963 American Western comedy film, starring
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...
and
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, who became successful in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural ...
; and
the 1967 film of the play, starring
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
and
Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
. The 1999 high-school comedy film ''
10 Things I Hate About You'', and the 2003 romantic comedy ''
Deliver Us from Eva
''Deliver Us from Eva'' is a 2003 American romantic comedy film starring LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union, revolving around LL's character Ray being paid to date a troublesome young lady named Eva (Union). It is considered by many as a modern update ...
'' are also loosely based on the play.
Characters
*
Katherina (Kate) Minola
Katherina (Kate) Minola is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play ''The Taming of the Shrew''. Referred to in the play as the titular "Shrew (stock character), shrew" and the "ingenue", the play focuses on Katherina's "taming" by Pet ...
– the "
shrew
Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different fa ...
" of the title
*
Bianca Minola
Bianca Minola is a character in Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (c.1590–1594). Origin
The play is similar to Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena, Don Juan Manuel's 14th-century Castilian tale of the "young man who married a very strong and ...
– sister of Katherina, the ''
ingénue
The ''ingénue'' (, , ) is a stock character in literature, film and a role type in the theater, generally a girl or a young woman, who is endearingly innocent. ''Ingénue'' may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in such roles ...
''
* Baptista Minola – father of Katherina and Bianca
*
Petruchio
Petruchio (an anglicisation of the Italian name Petruccio; ) is the male protagonist in Shakespeare's '' The Taming of the Shrew'' (c. 1590–1594). Petruchio is a fortune seeker who enters into a marriage with a strong-willed young woman ...
– suitor of Katherina
* Gremio – elderly suitor of Bianca
* Lucentio – suitor of Bianca
* Hortensio – suitor of Bianca and friend to Petruchio
* Grumio – Petruchio's manservant
* Tranio – Lucentio's manservant
* Biondello – servant of Lucentio
* Vincentio – father of Lucentio
* Widow – wooed by Hortensio
*
Pedant
A pedant is a person who is excessively concerned with formalism, accuracy and precision, or one who makes an ostentatious and arrogant show of learning.
Etymology
The English language word ''pedant'' comes from the French ''pédant'' (used in ...
– pretends to be Vincentio
*
Haberdasher
In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a retailer who sells men's clothing, ...
* Tailor
* Curtis – servant of Petruchio
* Nathaniel – servant of Petruchio
* Joseph – servant of Petruchio
* Peter – servant of Petruchio
* Nicholas – servant of Petruchio
* Philip – servant of Petruchio
* Officer
''Characters appearing in the Induction:''
*
Christopher Sly
Christopher Sly is a minor character in William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew.'' He is a drunk man who is easily dominated by women, set up as a Foil (literature), foil to Petruchio, the central male character in the play.
Role
''The T ...
– a drunken tinker
* Hostess of an alehouse
* Lord – plays a prank on Sly
* Bartholomew – Lord's
page boy
* Lord's Huntsman
* Players
* Servingmen
* Messenger
Synopsis
![The Shrew Katherina (Hughes)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/The_Shrew_Katherina_%28Hughes%29.jpg)
Prior to the first act, an
induction
Induction, Inducible or Inductive may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Labor induction (birth/pregnancy)
* Induction chemotherapy, in medicine
* Induced stem cells, stem cells derived from somatic, reproductive, pluripotent or other cell t ...
frames the play as a "kind of history" played in front of a befuddled drunkard named
Christopher Sly
Christopher Sly is a minor character in William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew.'' He is a drunk man who is easily dominated by women, set up as a Foil (literature), foil to Petruchio, the central male character in the play.
Role
''The T ...
who is tricked into believing that he is a lord. The play is performed in order to distract Sly from his "wife," who is actually Bartholomew, a servant, dressed as a woman.
In the play performed for Sly, the "shrew" is Katherina, the older daughter of Baptista Minola, a lord in
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
. Numerous men, including Tranio, deem Katherina an unworthy option for marriage because of her notorious assertiveness and willfulness. On the other hand, men such as Hortensio and Gremio are eager to marry her younger sister
Bianca
Bianca is a feminine given name. It means "white" and is an Italian cognate of Blanche.
Variants
* Blanche: French
* Bianca: Italian
* Bianka ( Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, German, English, French, Icelandic, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, C ...
. However, Baptista has sworn Bianca is not allowed to marry until Katherina is wed; this motivates Bianca's suitors to work together to find Katherina a husband so that they may compete for Bianca. The plot thickens when Lucentio, who has recently come to Padua to attend university, falls in love with Bianca. Overhearing Baptista say that he is on the lookout for tutors for his daughters, Lucentio devises a plan in which he disguises himself as a Latin tutor named Cambio in order to woo Bianca behind Baptista's back and meanwhile has his servant Tranio pretend to be him.
In the meantime,
Petruchio
Petruchio (an anglicisation of the Italian name Petruccio; ) is the male protagonist in Shakespeare's '' The Taming of the Shrew'' (c. 1590–1594). Petruchio is a fortune seeker who enters into a marriage with a strong-willed young woman ...
, accompanied by his servant Grumio, arrives in Padua from
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
. He explains to Hortensio, an old friend of his, that since his father's death he has set out to enjoy life and wed. Hearing this, Hortensio recruits Petruchio as a suitor for Katherina. He also has Petruchio present him (Hortensio) to Baptista disguised as a music tutor named Litio. Thus, Lucentio and Hortensio attempt to woo Bianca while pretending to be the tutors Cambio and Litio respectively.
To counter Katherina's shrewish nature, Petruchio pretends that any harsh things she says or does are actually kind and gentle. Katherina agrees to marry Petruchio after seeing that he is the only man willing to counter her quick remarks; however, at the ceremony, Petruchio makes an embarrassing scene when he strikes the priest and drinks the
communion wine
Sacramental wine, Communion wine, altar wine, or wine for consecration is wine obtained from grapes and intended for use in celebration of the Eucharist (also referred to as the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion, among other names). It is usually ...
. After the wedding, Petruchio takes Katherina to his home against her will. Once they are gone, Gremio and Tranio (disguised as Lucentio) formally bid for Bianca, with Tranio easily outbidding Gremio. However, in his zeal to win he promises much more than Lucentio actually possesses. When Baptista determines that once Lucentio's father confirms the
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...
, Bianca and Tranio (i.e. Lucentio) can marry, Tranio decides that they will need someone to pretend to be Vincentio, Lucentio's father. Meanwhile, Tranio persuades Hortensio that Bianca is not worthy of his attentions, thus removing Lucentio's remaining rival.
In Verona, Petruchio begins the "taming" of his new wife. She is refused food and clothing because nothing – according to Petruchio – is good enough for her; he claims that perfectly cooked meat is overcooked, a beautiful dress doesn't fit right, and a stylish hat is not fashionable. He also disagrees with everything that she says, forcing her to agree with everything that he says, no matter how absurd; on their way back to Padua to attend Bianca's wedding, she agrees with Petruchio that the sun is the moon, and proclaims "if you please to call it a rush-candle,/Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me" (4.5.14–15). Along the way, they meet Vincentio, who is also on his way to Padua, and Katherina agrees with Petruchio when he declares that Vincentio is a woman and then apologises to Vincentio when Petruchio tells her that he is a man.
Back in Padua, Lucentio and Tranio convince a passing pedant to pretend to be Vincentio and confirm the dowry for Bianca. The man does so, and Baptista is happy for Bianca to wed Lucentio (still Tranio in disguise). Bianca, aware of the deception, then secretly elopes with the real Lucentio to get married. However, when Vincentio reaches Padua, he encounters the pedant, who claims to be Lucentio's father. Tranio (still disguised as Lucentio) appears, and the pedant acknowledges him to be his son Lucentio. In all the confusion, the real Vincentio is set to be arrested, when the real Lucentio appears with his newly betrothed Bianca, revealing all to a bewildered Baptista and Vincentio. Lucentio explains everything, and all is forgiven by the two fathers.
Meanwhile, Hortensio has married a rich widow. In the final scene of the play there are three newly married couples; Bianca and Lucentio, the widow and Hortensio, and Katherina and Petruchio. Because of the general opinion that Petruchio is married to a shrew, a good-natured quarrel breaks out amongst the three men about whose wife is the most obedient. Petruchio proposes a wager whereby each will send a servant to call for their wives, and whichever comes most obediently will have won the wager for her husband. Katherina is the only one of the three who comes, winning the wager for Petruchio. She then hauls the other two wives into the room, giving a speech on why wives should always obey their husbands. The play ends with Baptista, Hortensio and Lucentio marvelling at how successfully Petruchio has tamed the shrew.
Sources
Although there is no direct literary source for the induction, the tale of a commoner being duped into believing he is a lord is one found in many literary traditions. Such a story is recorded in ''
Arabian Nights
''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'' where
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
plays the same trick on a man he finds sleeping in an alley. Another is found in ''De Rebus Burgundicis'' (1584) by the Dutch historian Pontus de Huyter, where
Philip, Duke of Burgundy, after attending his sister's wedding in Portugal, finds a drunken "artisan" whom he entertains with a "pleasant Comedie." ''Arabian Nights'' was not translated into English until the mid 18th century, although Shakespeare may have known it by word of mouth. He could also have known the Duke of Burgundy story because although ''De Rebus'' was not translated into French until 1600 and not into English until 1607, there is evidence the story existed in English in a
jest book Jest books (or Jestbooks) are collections of jokes and humorous anecdotes in book form – a literary genre which reached its greatest importance in the early modern period.
Origins
The oldest surviving collection of jokes is the Byzantine '' Phil ...
(now lost) by
Richard Edwardes
Richard Edwardes (also Edwards, 25 March 1525 – 31 October 1566) was an English poet, playwright, and composer; he was made a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and was master of the singing boys. He was known for his comedies and interludes. H ...
, written in 1570.
![Katherine and Petruchio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Katherine_and_Petruchio.jpg)
Regarding the Petruchio/Katherina story, there are a variety of possible influences, but no one specific source. The basic elements of the narrative are present in tale 35 of the fourteenth-century Spanish book ''
Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio'' by
Don Juan Manuel
Don Juan Manuel (5 May 128213 June 1348) was a Spanish medieval writer, nephew of Alfonso X of Castile, son of Manuel of Castile and Beatrice of Savoy. He inherited from his father the great Lordship of Villena, receiving the titles of Lord, Duk ...
, which tells of a young man who marries a "very strong and fiery woman." The text had been translated into English by the sixteenth century, but there is no evidence that Shakespeare drew on it. The story of a headstrong woman tamed by a man was well known, and found in numerous traditions. For example, according to ''
The Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...
'' by
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
,
Noah
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...
's wife was such a woman ('"Hastow nought herd," quod Nicholas, "also/The sorwe of Noë with his felaschippe/That he had or he gat his wyf to schipe"'; ''
The Miller's Tale
"The Miller's Tale" ( enm, The Milleres Tale) is the second of Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales'' (1380s–1390s), told by the drunken miller Robin toquite (a Middle English term meaning requite or pay back, in both good and negative ways ...
'', l. 352–354), and it was common for her to be depicted in this manner in
mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represen ...
s. Historically, another such woman was
Xanthippe
Xanthippe (; , , ; 5th–4th century BCE) was an ancient Athenian, the wife of Socrates and mother of their three sons: Lamprocles, Sophroniscus, and Menexenus. She was likely much younger than Socrates, perhaps by as much as 40 years.
Name
...
,
Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
' wife, who is mentioned by Petruchio himself (1.2.70). Such characters also occur throughout
medieval literature
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...
, in popular
farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
s both before and during Shakespeare's lifetime, and in
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
.
In 1890, Alfred Tolman conjectured a possible literary source for the wager scene may have been
William Caxton
William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer (publisher), printer to be the first English retailer of printed boo ...
's 1484 translation of
Geoffroy IV de la Tour Landry's ''
Livre pour l'enseignement de ses filles du Chevalier de La Tour Landry'' (1372). Written for his daughters as a guide on how to behave appropriately, de la Tour Landry includes "a treatise on the domestic education of women" which features an anecdote in which three merchants make a wager as to which of their wives will prove the most obedient when called upon to jump into a basin of water. The episode sees the first two wives refuse to obey (as in the play), it ends at a banquet (as does the play) and it features a speech regarding the "correct" way for a husband to discipline his wife. In 1959, John W. Shroeder conjectured that ''Chevalier de La Tour Landry''s depiction of the
Queen Vastis story may also have been an influence on Shakespeare.
In 1964, Richard Hosley suggested the main source for the play may have been the anonymous ballad "A merry jeste of a shrewde and curst Wyfe, lapped in Morrelles Skin, for her good behauyour". The ballad tells the story of a marriage in which the husband must tame his headstrong wife. Like ''Shrew'', the story features a family with two sisters, the younger of whom is seen as mild and desirable. However, in "Merry Jest", the older sister is obdurate not because it is simply her nature, but because she has been raised by her shrewish mother to seek mastery over men. Ultimately, the couple return to the family house, where the now tamed woman lectures her sister on the merits of being an obedient wife. The taming in this version is much more physical than in Shakespeare; the shrew is beaten with
birch rods until she bleeds, and is then wrapped in the salted flesh of a
plough horse (the Morrelle of the title). "Merry Jest" was not unknown to earlier editors of the play, and had been dismissed as a source by A.R. Frey,
W.C. Hazlitt, R. Warwick Bond and
Frederick S. Boas
Frederick Samuel Boas, (1862–1957) was an English scholar of early modern drama.
Education
He was born on 24 July 1862, the eldest son of Hermann Boas of Belfast. His family was Jewish. He attended Clifton College as a scholar and went up to ...
. Modern editors also express doubt as to Hosley's argument.
![Petruchio ruins dinner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Petruchio_ruins_dinner.jpg)
In 1966,
Jan Harold Brunvand
Jan Harold Brunvand (born March 23, 1933) is a retired American folklorist, researcher, writer, public speaker, and professor emeritus of English at the University of Utah.
Brunvand is best known for popularizing the concept of the urban legend, ...
argued that the main source for the play was not literary, but the oral folktale tradition. He argued the Petruchio/Katherina story represents an example of Type 901 ('Shrew-taming Complex') in the
Aarne–Thompson classification system. Brunvand discovered 383 oral examples of Type 901 spread over thirty European countries, but he could find only 35 literary examples, leading him to conclude "Shakespeare's taming plot, which has not been traced successfully in its entirety to any known printed version, must have come ultimately from oral tradition." Most contemporary critics accept Brunvand's findings.
A source for Shakespeare's sub-plot was first identified by Alfred Tolman in 1890 as
Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto (; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic ''Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describes the ...
's ''I Suppositi'', which was published in 1551.
George Gascoigne
George Gascoigne (c. 15357 October 1577) was an English poet, soldier and unsuccessful courtier. He is considered the most important poet of the early Elizabethan era, following Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and leading to t ...
's English
prose
Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...
translation ''Supposes'' was performed in 1566 and printed in 1573. In ''I Suppositi'', Erostrato (the equivalent of Lucentio) falls in love with Polynesta (Bianca), daughter of Damon (Baptista). Erostrato disguises himself as Dulipo (Tranio), a servant, whilst the real Dulipo pretends to be Erostrato. Having done this, Erostrato is hired as a tutor for Polynesta. Meanwhile, Dulipo pretends to formally woo Polynesta so as to frustrate the wooing of the aged Cleander (Gremio). Dulipo outbids Cleander, but he promises far more than he can deliver, so he and Erostrato dupe a travelling gentleman from
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...
into pretending to be Erostrato's father, Philogano (Vincentio). However, when Polynesta is found to be pregnant, Damon has Dulipo imprisoned (the real father is Erostrato). Soon thereafter, the real Philogano arrives, and all comes to a head. Erostrato reveals himself, and begs clemency for Dulipo. Damon realises that Polynesta is truly in love with Erostrato, and so forgives the subterfuge. Having been released from jail, Dulipo then discovers he is Cleander's son. An additional minor source is ''
Mostellaria
''Mostellaria'' is a play by the Roman author Plautus. Its name translates from Latin as "The Ghost (play)" (with the word understood in the title).Merrill, F. R. (1972), ''Titi Macci Plauti: Mostellaria'', p. xviii. The play is believed to be an ...
'' by
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...
, from which Shakespeare probably took the names of Tranio and Grumio.
Date and text
Date
Efforts to date the play's composition are complicated by its uncertain relationship with another
Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
play entitled ''A Pleasant Conceited Historie, called the taming of a Shrew'', which has an almost identical plot but different wording and character names. ''The Shrew''s exact relationship with ''A Shrew'' is unknown. Different theories suggest ''A Shrew'' could be a
reported text of a performance of ''The Shrew'', a source for ''The Shrew'', an early draft (possibly reported) of ''The Shrew'', or an adaptation of ''The Shrew''. ''A Shrew'' was entered in the
Stationers' Register
The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including print ...
on 2 May 1594, suggesting that whatever the relationship between the two plays, ''The Shrew'' was most likely written somewhere between 1590 (roughly when Shakespeare arrived in London) and 1594 (registration of ''A Shrew'').
Some writers suggest, that it is possible to narrow the date further. A ''
terminus ante quem
''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items..
A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...
'' for ''A Shrew'' could to be August 1592, as a stage direction at 3.21 mentions "Simon," which probably refers to the actor Simon Jewell, who was buried on 21 August 1592. Furthermore, ''The Shrew'' seems to have been written earlier than 1593, as
Anthony Chute's ''Beauty Dishonoured, written under the title of Shore's wife'' (published in June 1593) contains the line "He calls his Kate, and she must come and kiss him." This must refer to ''The Shrew'', as there is no corresponding "kissing scene" in ''A Shrew''. There are also verbal similarities between both ''Shrew'' plays and the anonymous play ''
A Knack To Know A Knave'' (first performed at
The Rose on 10 June 1592). ''Knack'' features several passages common to both ''A Shrew'' and ''The Shrew'', but it also borrows several passages unique to ''The Shrew''. This suggests ''The Shrew'' was on stage prior to June 1592.
In his 1982 edition of the play for
The Oxford Shakespeare
''The Oxford Shakespeare'' is the range of editions of William Shakespeare's works produced by Oxford University Press. The Oxford Shakespeare is produced under the general editorship of Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor.
Precursor
Oxford Univer ...
, H.J. Oliver suggests the play was composed no later than 1592. He bases this on the title page of ''A Shrew'', which mentions the play had been performed "sundry times" by
Pembroke's Men
The Earl of Pembroke's Men was an Elizabethan era playing company, or troupe of actors, in English Renaissance theatre. They functioned under the patronage of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Early and equivocal mentions of a Pembroke's compan ...
. When the London theatres were closed on 23 June 1592 due to an outbreak of
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
, Pembroke's Men went on a regional tour to
Bath and
Ludlow
Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...
. The tour was a financial failure, and the company returned to London on 28 September, financially ruined. Over the course of the next three years, four plays with their name on the title page were published;
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
's ''
Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
'' (published in
quarto
Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
in July 1593), and Shakespeare's ''
Titus Andronicus
''Titus Andronicus'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen ...
'' (published in quarto in 1594), ''
The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York'' (published in
octavo
Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...
in 1595) and ''The Taming of a Shrew'' (published in quarto in May 1594). Oliver says it is a "natural assumption" that these publications were sold by members of Pembroke's Men who were broke after the failed tour. Oliver assumes that ''A Shrew'' is a reported version of ''The Shrew'', which means ''The Shrew'' must have been in their possession when they began their tour in June, as they didn't perform it upon returning to London in September, nor would they have taken possession of any new material at that time.
Ann Thompson considers ''A Shrew'' to be a reported text in her 1984 and 2003 editions of the play for the
New Cambridge Shakespeare
''The Cambridge Shakespeare'' is a long-running series of critical editions of William Shakespeare's works published by Cambridge University Press. The name encompasses three distinct series: ''The Cambridge Shakespeare'' (1863–1866), ''The Ne ...
. She focuses on the closure of the theatres on 23 June 1592, arguing that the play must have been written prior to June 1592 for it to have given rise to ''A Shrew''. She cites the reference to "Simon" in ''A Shrew'', Anthony Chute's allusion to ''The Shrew'' in ''Beauty Dishonoured'' and the verbal similarities between ''The Shrew'' and ''A Knack to Know a Knave'' as supporting a date of composition prior to June 1592. Stephen Roy Miller, in his 1998 edition of ''A Shrew'' for the New Cambridge Shakespeare, agrees with the date of late 1591/early 1592, as he believes ''The Shrew'' preceded ''A Shrew'' (although he rejects the reported text theory in favour of an adaptation/rewrite theory). In ''William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion'' Gary Taylor argues for a date of composition around 1590-1591, noting much of the same evidence cited by other scholars but acknowledging the difficulty of dating the play with certainty.
Keir Elam, however, has argued for a ''
terminus post quem
''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items..
A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...
'' of 1591 for ''The Shrew'', based on Shakespeare's probable use of two sources published that year:
Abraham Ortelius
Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the ''Theatrum Orbis Terraru ...
' map of Italy in the fourth edition of ''
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
''Theatrum Orbis Terrarum'' (, "Theatre of the Orb of the World") is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius, strongly encouraged by Gillis Hooftman and originally printed on 20 May 1570 in Antwerp, it consist ...
'', and
John Florio
Giovanni Florio (1552–1625), known as John Florio, was an English linguist, poet, writer, translator, lexicographer, and royal language tutor at the Court of James I. He is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in England. F ...
's ''Second Fruits''. Firstly, Shakespeare errs in putting Padua in
Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
instead of
Veneto
Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona.
Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...
, probably because he used Ortelius' map of Italy as a source, which has "Lombardy" written across the entirety of
northern Italy
Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...
. Secondly, Elam suggests that Shakespeare derived his Italian idioms and some of the dialogue from Florio's ''Second Fruits'', a bilingual introduction to Italian language and culture. Elam argues that Lucentio's opening dialogue,
is an example of Shakespeare's borrowing from Florio's dialogue between Peter and Stephan, who have just arrived in the north:
Elam's arguments suggest ''The Shrew'' must have been written no earlier than 1591, which places the date of composition around 1591-1592.
Text
![First-page-first-folio-taming-shrew](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/First-page-first-folio-taming-shrew.jpg)
The 1594 quarto of ''A Shrew'' was printed by
Peter Short for
Cuthbert Burbie. It was republished in 1596 (again by Short for Burbie), and 1607 by
Valentine Simmes
Valentine Simmes (fl. 1585 – 1622) was an Elizabethan era and Jacobean era printer; he did business in London, "on Adling Hill near Bainard's Castle at the sign of the White Swan." Simmes has a reputation as one of the better printers of his gene ...
for
Nicholas Ling
Nicholas Ling (fl.1570–1607) was a London publisher, bookseller, and editor who published several important Elizabethan works, including the first and second quartos of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet''.
Ling was the son of John Lynge, a parchment make ...
. ''The Shrew'' was not published until the ''
First Folio
''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...
'' in 1623. The only quarto version of ''The Shrew'' was printed by
William Stansby
William Stansby (1572–1638) was a London printer and publisher of the Jacobean and Caroline eras, working under his own name from 1610. One of the most prolific printers of his time, Stansby is best remembered for publishing the landmark first ...
for
John Smethwick
John Smethwick (died 1641) was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras. Along with colleague William Aspley, Smethwick was one of the "junior partners" in the publishing syndicate that issued the First Folio collecti ...
in 1631 as ''A Wittie and Pleasant comedie called The Taming of the Shrew'', based on the 1623 folio text.
W.W. Greg has demonstrated that ''A Shrew'' and ''The Shrew'' were treated as the same text for the purposes of
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
, i.e. ownership of one constituted ownership of the other, and when Smethwick purchased the rights from Ling in 1609 to print the play in the ''First Folio'', Ling actually transferred the rights for ''A Shrew'', not ''The Shrew''.
Analysis and criticism
Critical history
The relationship with ''A Shrew''
One of the most fundamental critical debates surrounding ''The Shrew'' is its relationship with ''A Shrew''. There are five main theories as to the nature of this relationship:
# The two plays are unrelated other than the fact that they are both based on another play which is now lost. This is the ''Ur-Shrew'' theory (in reference to ''
Ur-Hamlet
The ''Ur-Hamlet'' (the German prefix '' Ur-'' means "original") is a play by an unknown author, thought to be either Thomas Kyd or William Shakespeare. No copy of the play, dated by scholars to the second half of 1587, survives today. The play wa ...
'').
# ''A Shrew'' is a reconstructed version of ''The Shrew''; i.e. a
bad quarto
A bad quarto, in Shakespearean scholarship, is a quarto-sized printed edition of one of Shakespeare's plays that is considered to be unauthorised, and is theorised to have been pirated from a theatrical performance without permission by someone in ...
, an attempt by actors to reconstruct the original play from memory.
# Shakespeare used the previously existing ''A Shrew'', which he did not write, as a source for ''The Shrew''.
# Both versions were legitimately written by Shakespeare himself; i.e. ''A Shrew'' is an early draft of ''The Shrew''.
# ''A Shrew'' is an adaptation of ''The Shrew'' by someone other than Shakespeare.
The exact relationship between ''The Shrew'' and ''A Shrew'' is uncertain, but many scholars consider ''The Shrew'' the original, with ''A Shrew'' derived from it; as H.J. Oliver suggests, there are "passages in
'A Shrew'' ..that make sense only if one knows the
ollioversion from which they must have been derived."
The debate regarding the relationship between the two plays began in 1725, when
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
incorporated extracts from ''A Shrew'' into ''The Shrew'' in his
edition of Shakespeare's works. In ''The Shrew'', the Christopher Sly framework is only featured twice; at the opening of the play, and at the end of Act 1, Scene 1. However, in ''A Shrew'', the Sly framework reappears a further five times, including a scene which comes after the final scene of the Petruchio/Katherina story. Pope added most of the Sly framework to ''The Shrew'', even though he acknowledged in his preface that he did not believe Shakespeare had written ''A Shrew''. Subsequent editors followed suit, adding some or all of the Sly framework to their versions of ''The Shrew'';
Lewis Theobald
Lewis Theobald (baptised 2 April 1688 – 18 September 1744), English textual editor and author, was a landmark figure both in the history of Shakespearean editing and in literary satire. He was vital for the establishment of fair texts for Sha ...
(1733),
Thomas Hanmer
Sir Thomas Hanmer, 4th Baronet (24 September 1677 – 7 May 1746) was Speaker of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1714 to 1715, discharging the duties of the office with conspicuous impartiality. His second marriage was the subject o ...
(1744),
William Warburton
William Warburton (24 December 16987 June 1779) was an English writer, literary critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759 until his death. He edited editions of the works of his friend Alexander Pope, and of William Shakespeare.
Li ...
(1747),
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
and
George Steevens
George Steevens (10 May 1736 – 22 January 1800) was an English Shakespearean commentator.
Biography Early life
He was born at Poplar, the son of a captain and later director of the East India Company. He was educated at Eton College and at ...
(
1765) and
Edward Capell
Edward Capell (11 June 171324 February 1781) was an English Shakespearian critic.
Biography
He was born at Troston Hall () in Suffolk.
Through the influence of the Duke of Grafton he was appointed to the office of deputy-inspector of plays ...
(1768). In his 1790 edition of ''The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare'', however,
Edmond Malone
Edmond Malone (4 October 174125 May 1812) was an Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor of the works of William Shakespeare.
Assured of an income after the death of his father in 1774, Malone was able to give up his law practice for at first p ...
removed all ''A Shrew'' extracts and returned the text to the 1623 ''First Folio'' version. By the end of the eighteenth century, the predominant theory had come to be that ''A Shrew'' was a non-Shakespearean source for ''The Shrew'', and hence to include extracts from it was to graft non-authorial material onto the play.
This theory prevailed until 1850, when Samuel Hickson compared the texts of ''The Shrew'' and ''A Shrew'', concluding ''The Shrew'' was the original, and ''A Shrew'' was derived from it. By comparing seven passages which are similar in both plays, he concluded "the original conception is invariably to be found" in ''The Shrew''. His explanation was that ''A Shrew'' was written by
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
, with ''The Shrew'' as his template. He reached this conclusion primarily because ''A Shrew'' features numerous lines almost identical to lines in Marlowe's ''
Tamburlaine
''Tamburlaine the Great'' is a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe. It is loosely based on the life of the Central Asian emperor Timur (Tamerlane/Timur the Lame, d. 1405). Written in 1587 or 1588, the play is a milestone in Elizabethan p ...
'' and ''
Dr. Faustus''.
In 1926, building on Hickson's research,
Peter Alexander Peter Alexander may refer to:
* Pete Alexander (born Grover Cleveland Alexander; 1887–1950), American baseball player
* Peter Alexander (Shakespearean scholar) (1893–1969), professor of English language and literature at the University of Glasgo ...
first suggested the bad quarto theory. Alexander agreed with Hickson that ''A Shrew'' was derived from ''The Shrew'', but he did not agree that Marlowe wrote ''A Shrew''. Instead he labelled ''A Shrew'' a bad quarto. His main argument was that, primarily in the subplot of ''A Shrew'', characters act without motivation, whereas such motivation is present in ''The Shrew''. Alexander believed this represents an example of a "reporter" forgetting details and becoming confused, which also explains why lines from other plays are used from time to time; to cover gaps which the reporter knows have been left. He also argued the subplot in ''The Shrew'' was closer to the plot of ''I Suppositi''/''Supposes'' than the subplot in ''A Shrew'', which he felt indicated the subplot in ''The Shrew'' must have been based directly on the source, whereas the subplot in ''A Shrew'' was a step removed. In their 1928 edition of the play for the New Shakespeare,
Arthur Quiller-Couch
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a British writer who published using the pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication '' The Oxford Book of English Verse 1 ...
and
John Dover Wilson
John Dover Wilson CH (13 July 1881 – 15 January 1969) was a professor and scholar of Renaissance drama, focusing particularly on the work of William Shakespeare. Born at Mortlake (then in Surrey, now in Greater London), he attended Lancing Co ...
supported Alexander's argument. However, there has always been critical resistance to the theory.
An early scholar to find fault with Alexander's reasoning was
E.K. Chambers, who reasserted the source theory. Chambers, who supported Alexander's bad quarto theory regarding ''
The First part of the Contention betwixt the two famous Houses of Yorke and Lancaster'' and ''The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of Yorke'', argued ''A Shrew'' did not fit the pattern of a bad quarto; "I am quite unable to believe that ''A Shrew'' had any such origin. Its textual relation to ''The Shrew'' does not bear any analogy to that of other 'bad Quartos' to the legitimate texts from which they were memorised. The
nomenclature
Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal naming conventions, conventions of everyday speech to the i ...
, which at least a memoriser can recall, is entirely different. The verbal parallels are limited to stray phrases, most frequent in the main plot, for which I believe Shakespeare picked them up from ''A Shrew''." He explained the relationship between ''I Suppositi''/''Supposes'' and the subplots by arguing the subplot in ''The Shrew'' was based upon both the subplot in ''A Shrew'' and the original version of the story in Ariosto/Gascoigne.
![Carl Gehrts Petruccios Hochzeit 1885](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Carl_Gehrts_Petruccios_Hochzeit_1885.jpg)
In 1938, Leo Kirschbaum made a similar argument. In an article listing over twenty examples of bad quartos, Kirschbaum did not include ''A Shrew'', which he felt was too different from ''The Shrew'' to come under the bad quarto banner; "despite protestations to the contrary, ''The Taming of a Shrew'' does not stand in relation to ''The Shrew'' as ''The True Tragedie'', for example, stands in relation to ''3 Henry VI''." Writing in 1998, Stephen Roy Miller offers much the same opinion; "the relation of the early quarto to the ''Folio'' text is unlike other early quartos because the texts vary much more in plotting and dialogue
..the differences between the texts are substantial and coherent enough to establish that there was deliberate revision in producing one text out of the other; hence ''A Shrew'' is not merely a poor report (or 'bad quarto') of ''The Shrew''." Character names are changed, basic plot points are altered (Kate has two sisters for example, not one), the play is set in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
instead of Padua, the Sly framework forms a complete narrative, and entire speeches are completely different, all of which suggests to Miller that the author of ''A Shrew'' thought they were working on something different from Shakespeare's play, not attempting to transcribe it for resale; "underpinning the notion of a 'Shakespearean bad quarto' is the assumption that the motive of whoever compiled that text was to produce, differentially, a verbal replica of what appeared on stage." Miller believes that Chambers and Kirschbaum successfully illustrate ''A Shrew'' does not fulfil this rubric.
Alexander's theory continued to be challenged as the years went on. In 1942, R.A. Houk developed what came to be dubbed the ''Ur-Shrew'' theory; both ''A Shrew'' and ''The Shrew'' were based upon a third play, now lost. In 1943, G.I. Duthie refined Houk's suggestion by arguing ''A Shrew'' was a memorial reconstruction of ''Ur-Shrew'', a now lost early draft of ''The Shrew''; "''A Shrew'' is substantially a memorially constructed text and is dependent upon an early ''Shrew'' play, now lost. ''The Shrew'' is a reworking of this lost play." Hickson, who believed Marlowe to have written ''A Shrew'', had hinted at this theory in 1850; "though I do not believe Shakspeare's play to contain a line of any other writer, I think it extremely probable that we have it only in a revised form, and that, consequently, the play which Marlowe imitated might not necessarily have been that fund of life and humour that we find it now." Hickson is here arguing that Marlowe's ''A Shrew'' is not based upon the version of ''The Shrew'' found in the ''First Folio'', but on another version of the play. Duthie argues this other version was a Shakespearean early draft of ''The Shrew''; ''A Shrew'' constitutes a reported text of a now lost early draft.
Alexander returned to the debate in 1969, re-presenting his bad quarto theory. In particular, he concentrated on the various complications and inconsistencies in the subplot of ''A Shrew'', which had been used by Houk and Duthie as evidence for an ''Ur-Shrew'', to argue that the reporter of ''A Shrew'' attempted to recreate the complex subplot from ''The Shrew'' but got confused; "the compiler of ''A Shrew'' while trying to follow the subplot of ''The Shrew'' gave it up as too complicated to reproduce, and fell back on love scenes in which he substituted for the maneuvers of the disguised Lucentio and Hortensio extracts from ''Tamburlaine'' and ''Faustus'', with which the lovers woo their ladies."
After little further discussion of the issue in the 1970s, the 1980s saw the publication of three scholarly editions of ''The Shrew'', all of which re-addressed the question of the relationship between the two plays;
Brian Morris' 1981 edition for the second series of the
Arden Shakespeare
The Arden Shakespeare is a long-running series of scholarly editions of the works of William Shakespeare. It presents fully edited modern-spelling editions of the plays and poems, with lengthy introductions and full commentaries. There have been t ...
, H.J. Oliver's 1982 edition for the Oxford Shakespeare and Ann Thompson's 1984 edition for the New Cambridge Shakespeare. Morris summarised the scholarly position in 1981 as one in which no clear-cut answers could be found; "unless new, external evidence comes to light, the relationship between ''The Shrew'' and ''A Shrew'' can never be decided beyond a peradventure. It will always be a balance of probabilities, shifting as new arguments and opinions are added to the scales. Nevertheless, in the present century, the movement has unquestionably been towards an acceptance of the Bad Quarto theory, and this can now be accepted as at least the current orthodoxy." Morris himself, and Thompson, supported the bad quarto theory, with Oliver tentatively arguing for Duthie's bad quarto/early draft/''Ur-Shrew'' theory.
Perhaps the most extensive examination of the question came in 1998 in Stephen Roy Miller's edition of ''A Shrew'' for the New Cambridge Shakespeare: The Early Quartos series. Miller agrees with most modern scholars that ''A Shrew'' is derived from ''The Shrew'', but he does not believe it to be a bad quarto. Instead, he argues it is an adaptation by someone other than Shakespeare. Miller believes Alexander's suggestion in 1969 that the reporter became confused is unlikely, and instead suggests an adapter at work; "the most economic explanation of indebtedness is that whoever compiled ''A Shrew'' borrowed the lines from Shakespeare's ''The Shrew'', or a version of it, and adapted them." Part of Miller's evidence relates to Gremio, who has no counterpart in ''A Shrew''. In ''The Shrew'', after the wedding, Gremio expresses doubts as to whether or not Petruchio will be able to tame Katherina. In ''A Shrew'', these lines are extended and split between Polidor (the equivalent of Hortensio) and Phylema (Bianca). As Gremio ''does'' have a counterpart in ''I Suppositi'', Miller concludes that "to argue the priority of ''A Shrew'' in this case would mean arguing that Shakespeare took the negative hints from the speeches of Polidor and Phylema and gave them to a character he resurrected from ''Supposes''. This is a less economical argument than to suggest that the compiler of ''A Shrew'', dismissing Gremio, simply shared his doubts among the characters available." He argues there is even evidence in the play that the compiler knew he was working within a specific literary tradition; "as with his partial change of character names, the compiler seems to wish to produce dialogue much like his models, but not the same. For him, adaptation includes exact quotation, imitation and incorporation of his own additions. This seems to define his personal style, and his aim seems to be to produce his own version, presumably intended that it should be tuned more towards the popular era than ''The Shrew''."
As had Alexander, Houk and Duthie, Miller believes the key to the debate is to be found in the subplot, as it is here where the two plays differ most. He points out that the subplot in ''The Shrew'' is based on "the classical style of
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
comedy with an intricate plot involving deception, often kept in motion by a comic servant." The subplot in ''A Shrew'', however, which features an extra sister and addresses the issue of marrying above and below one's class, "has many elements more associated with the romantic style of comedy popular in London in the 1590s." Miller cites plays such as
Robert Greene's ''
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay
''Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay'', originally entitled ''The Honorable Historie of Frier Bacon and Frier Bongay'', is an Elizabethan era stage play, a comedy written by Robert Greene. Widely regarded as Greene's best and most significant play, ...
'' and ''
Fair Em
''Fair Em, the Miller's Daughter of Manchester,'' is an Elizabethan-era stage play, a comedy written c. 1590. It was bound together with ''Mucedorus'' and ''The Merry Devil of Edmonton'' in a volume labelled "Shakespeare. Vol. I" in the library o ...
'' as evidence of the popularity of such plays. He points to the fact that in ''The Shrew'', there is only eleven lines of romance between Lucentio and Bianca, but in ''A Shrew'', there is an entire scene between Kate's two sisters and their lovers. This, he argues, is evidence of an adaptation rather than a faulty report;
Miller believes the compiler "appears to have wished to make the play shorter, more of a romantic comedy full of wooing and glamorous
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
, and to add more obvious, broad comedy."
Hortensio problem
![Sly Induction](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Sly_Induction.jpg)
H.J. Oliver argues the version of the play in the 1623 ''First Folio'' was likely copied not from a
prompt book The prompt book, also called transcript, the bible or sometimes simply "the book," is the copy of a production script that contains the information necessary to create a theatrical production from the ground up. It is a compilation of all blocking ...
or transcript, but from the author's own
foul papers
Foul papers are an author's working drafts. The term is most often used in the study of the plays of Shakespeare and other dramatists of English Renaissance drama. Once the composition of a play was finished, a transcript or " fair copy" of the f ...
, which he believes showed signs of revision by Shakespeare.
These revisions, Oliver says, relate primarily to the character of Hortensio, and suggest that in an original version of the play, now lost, Hortensio was not a suitor to Bianca, but simply an old friend of Petruchio. When Shakespeare rewrote the play so that Hortensio became a suitor in disguise (Litio), many of his lines were either omitted or given to Tranio (disguised as Lucentio).
Oliver cites several scenes in the play where Hortensio (or his absence) causes problems. For example, in Act 2, Scene 1, Tranio (as Lucentio) and Gremio bid for Bianca, but Hortensio, who everyone is aware is also a suitor, is never mentioned. In Act 3, Scene 1, Lucentio (as Cambio) tells Bianca "we might beguile the old
Pantalowne" (l.36), yet says nothing of Hortensio's attempts to woo her, instead implying his only rival is Gremio. In Act 3, Scene 2, Tranio suddenly becomes an old friend of Petruchio, knowing his mannerisms and explaining his tardiness prior to the wedding. However, up to this point, Petruchio's only acquaintance in Padua has been Hortensio. In Act 4, Scene 3, Hortensio tells Vincentio that Lucentio has married Bianca. However, as far as Hortensio should be concerned, Lucentio has denounced Bianca, because in Act 4, Scene 2, Tranio (disguised as Lucentio) agreed with Hortensio that neither of them would pursue Bianca, and as such, his knowledge of the marriage of who he supposes to be Lucentio and Bianca makes little sense. From this, Oliver concludes that an original version of the play existed in which Hortensio was simply a friend of Petruchio's, and had no involvement in the Bianca subplot, but wishing to complicate things, Shakespeare rewrote the play, introducing the Litio disguise, and giving some of Hortensio's discarded lines to Tranio, but not fully correcting everything to fit the presence of a new suitor.
This is important in Duthie's theory of an ''Ur-Shrew'' insofar as he argues it is the original version of ''The Shrew'' upon which ''A Shrew'' is based, not the version which appears in the 1623 ''First Folio''. As Oliver argues, "''A Shrew'' is a report of an earlier, Shakespearian, form of ''The Shrew'' in which Hortensio was not disguised as Litio." Oliver suggests that when Pembroke's Men left London in June 1592, they had in their possession a now lost early draft of the play. Upon returning to London, they published ''A Shrew'' in 1594, some time after which Shakespeare rewrote his original play into the form seen in the ''First Folio''.
Duthie's arguments were never fully accepted at the time, as critics tended to look on the relationship between the two plays as an either-or situation; ''A Shrew'' is ''either'' a reported text ''or'' an early draft. In more recent scholarship, however, the possibility that a text could be both has been shown to be critically viable. For example, in his 2003 Oxford Shakespeare edition of ''2 Henry VI'', Roger Warren makes the same argument for ''The First Part of the Contention''. Randall Martin reaches the same conclusion regarding ''The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of Yorke'' in his 2001 Oxford Shakespeare edition of ''3 Henry VI''. This lends support to the theory that ''A Shrew'' could be both a reported text and an early draft.
Sexism controversy
![ShrewPetruchio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/ShrewPetruchio.jpg)
''The Taming of the Shrew'' has been the subject of critical controversy. Dana Aspinall writes "Since its first appearance, some time between 1588 and 1594, ''Shrew'' has elicited a panoply of heartily supportive, ethically uneasy, or altogether disgusted responses to its rough-and-tumble treatment of the 'taming' of the 'curst shrew' Katherina, and obviously, of all potentially unruly wives." Phyllis Rackin argues that "seen in the context of current anxieties, desires and beliefs, Shakespeare's play seems to prefigure the most oppressive modern assumptions about women and to validate those assumptions as timeless truths."
Stevie Davies says that responses to ''Shrew'' have been "dominated by feelings of unease and embarrassment, accompanied by the desire to prove that Shakespeare cannot have meant what he seems to be saying; and that therefore he cannot really be saying it." Philippa Kelly asks:
Some scholars argue that even in Shakespeare's day the play must have been controversial, due to the changing nature of gender politics.
Marjorie Garber
Marjorie Garber (born June 11, 1944) is an American professor at Harvard University
and the author of a wide variety of books, most notably ones about William Shakespeare and aspects of popular culture including sexuality.
Biography
She wrote '' ...
, for example, suggests Shakespeare created the Induction so the audience wouldn't react badly to the misogyny in the Petruchio/Katherina story; he was, in effect, defending himself against charges of
sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
.
G.R. Hibbard argues that during the period in which the play was written,
arranged marriage
Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...
s were beginning to give way to newer, more romantically informed unions, and thus people's views on women's position in society, and their relationships with men, were in a state of flux. As such, audiences may not have been as predisposed to tolerate the harsh treatment of Katherina as is often thought.
![Petruchio rejects the gowns](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Petruchio_rejects_the_gowns.jpg)
Evidence of at least some initial societal discomfort with ''The Shrew'' is, perhaps, to be found in the fact that
John Fletcher, Shakespeare's successor as house playwright for the
King's Men, wrote ''
The Woman's Prize
''The Woman's Prize, or the Tamer Tamed'' is a Jacobean comedy written by John Fletcher. It was first published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647, though it was written several decades earlier (Fletcher died in 1625). There is ...
, or The Tamer Tamed'' as a sequel to Shakespeare's play. Written ''c.''1611, the play tells the story of Petruchio's remarriage after Katherina's death. In a mirror of the original, his new wife attempts (successfully) to tame him – thus the tamer becomes the tamed. Although Fletcher's sequel is often downplayed as merely a farce, some critics acknowledge the more serious implications of such a reaction. Lynda Boose, for example, writes, "Fletcher's response may in itself reflect the kind of discomfort that ''Shrew'' has characteristically provoked in men and why its many revisions since 1594 have repeatedly contrived ways of softening the edges."
With the rise of the
feminist movement
The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality b ...
in the twentieth century, reactions to the play have tended to become more divergent. For some critics, "Kate's taming was no longer as funny as it had been
..her domination became, in
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's words 'altogether disgusting to modern sensibility'." Addressing the relationship between ''A Shrew'' and ''The Shrew'' from a political perspective, for example, Leah S. Marcus very much believes the play to be what it seems. She argues ''A Shrew'' is an earlier version of ''The Shrew'', but acknowledges that most scholars reject the idea that ''A Shrew'' was written by Shakespeare. She believes one of the reasons for this is because ''A Shrew'' "hedges the play's
patriarchal
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of Dominance hierarchy, dominance and Social privilege, privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical Anthropology, anthropological term for families or clans controll ...
message with numerous qualifiers that do not exist in" ''The Shrew''. She calls ''A Shrew'' a more "progressive" text than ''The Shrew'', and argues that scholars tend to dismiss the idea that ''A Shrew'' is Shakespearean because "the women are not as satisfactorily tamed as they are in ''The Shrew''." She also points out that if ''A Shrew'' is an early draft, it suggests Shakespeare "may have increased rather than decreased the patriarchal violence of his materials", something which, she believes, scholars find difficult to accept.
However, others see the play as preceding
20th century feminist condemnation of patriarchal domination, and as an argument for the liberation of women. For example,
Conall Morrison, director of the
RSC
RSC may refer to:
Arts
* Royal Shakespeare Company, a British theatre company
* Reduced Shakespeare Company, a touring American acting troupe
* Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, a music society in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England
* Rock Ste ...
"relentlessly unpleasant" 2008 production, wrote:
Philippa Kelly makes this point:
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...
, director of the 1980 ''
BBC Television Shakespeare
The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...
'' adaptation, and several theatrical productions, argues that although the play is not misogynistic, neither is it a feminist treatise:
Induction
An element in the debate regarding the play's misogyny, or lack thereof, is the Induction, and how it relates to the Katherina/Petruchio story. According to H.J. Oliver, "it has become orthodoxy to claim to find in the Induction the same 'theme' as is to be found in both the Bianca and the Katherine-Petruchio plots of the main play, and to take it for granted that identity of theme is a merit and 'justifies' the introduction of Sly." For example, Geoffrey Bullough argues the three plots "are all linked in idea because all contain discussion of the relations of the sexes in marriage." Richard Hosley suggests the three plots form a unified whole insofar as they all deal with "assumptions about identity and assumptions about personality." Oliver, however, argues that "the Sly Induction does not so much announce the theme of the enclosed stories as establish their ''tone''."
![Christopher Sly (Orchardson)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Christopher_Sly_%28Orchardson%29.jpg)
This is important in terms of determining the seriousness of Katherina's final speech. Marjorie Garber writes of the Induction, "the frame performs the important task of distancing the later action, and of insuring a lightness of tone – significant in light of the real abuse to which Kate is subjected by Petruchio." Oliver argues the Induction is used to remove the audience from the world of the enclosed plot – to place the Sly story on the same level of reality as the audience, and the Katherina/Petruchio story on a different level of reality. This, he argues, is done to ensure the audience does not take the play literally, that it sees the Katherina/Petruchio story as a farce:
Oliver argues that "the main purpose of the Induction was to set the tone for the play within the play – in particular, to present the story of Kate and her sister as none-too-serious comedy put on to divert a drunken tinker". He suggests that if the Induction is removed from a production of the play (as it very often is), a fundamental part of the structure has been lost. Speaking of Jonathan Miller's ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' adaptation of 1980, which omitted the Induction,
Stanley Wells wrote "to omit the Christopher Sly episodes is to suppress one of Shakespeare's most volatile lesser characters, to jettison most of the play's best poetry, and to strip it of an entire dramatic dimension."
Regarding the importance of the Induction,
Jonathan Bate
Sir Andrew Jonathan Bate, CBE, FBA, FRSL (born 26 June 1958), is a British academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, poet, playwright, novelist and scholar. He specialises in Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism. He is Foundation Profes ...
and Eric Rasmussen argue "the Sly framework establishes a
self-referential
Self-reference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence, idea or formula refers to itself. The reference may be expressed either directly—through some intermediate sentence or formula—or by means of some encoding. In philoso ...
theatricality in which the status of the shrew-play ''as'' a play is enforced."
Graham Holderness
Graham Holderness is a writer and critic who has published as author or editor 60 books, mostly on Shakespeare, and hundreds of chapters and articles of criticism, theory and theology. He was one of the founders of British Cultural materialism, ...
argues "the play in its received entirety does not propose any simple or unitary view of sexual politics: it contains a crudely reactionary
dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...
of masculine supremacy, but it also works on that ideology to force its expression into self-contradiction. The means by which this self-interrogation is accomplished is that complex theatrical device of the Sly-framework
..without the
metadramatic potentialities of the Sly-framework, any production of ''Shrew'' is thrown much more passively at the mercy of the director's artistic and political ideology."
Coppélia Kahn suggests "the transformation of Christopher Sly from drunken lout to noble lord, a transformation only temporary and skin-deep, suggests that Kate's switch from independence may also be deceptive and prepares us for the irony of the ''
dénouement
Dramatic structure (also known as dramaturgical structure) is the structure of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film. There are different kinds of dramatic structures worldwide which have been hypothesized by critics, writers and scholar ...
''." The Induction serves to undercut charges of misogyny – the play within the play is a farce, it is not supposed to be taken seriously by the audience, as it is not taken seriously by Sly. As such, questions of the seriousness of what happens within it are rendered irrelevant.
Language
Language itself is a major theme in the play, especially in the taming process, where mastery of language becomes paramount. Katherina is initially described as a shrew because of her harsh language to those around her. Karen Newman points out, "from the outset of the play, Katherine's threat to male authority is posed through language: it is perceived by others as such and is linked to a claim larger than shrewishness –
witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
– through the constant allusions to Katherine's kinship with the
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
." For example, after Katherina rebukes Hortensio and Gremio in Act 1, Scene 1, Hortensio replies with "From all such devils, good Lord deliver us!" (l.66). Even Katherina's own father refers to her as "thou hilding of a devilish spirit" (2.1.26). Petruchio, however, attempts to tame her – and thus her language – with rhetoric that specifically undermines her tempestuous nature;
Here Petruchio is specifically attacking the very function of Katherina's language, vowing that no matter what she says, he will purposely misinterpret it, thus undermining the basis of the
linguistic sign
In semiotics, a sign is anything that communicates a meaning that is not the sign itself to the interpreter of the sign. The meaning can be intentional, as when a word is uttered with a specific meaning, or unintentional, as when a symptom is ...
, and disrupting the relationship between signifier and signified. In this sense, Margaret Jane Kidnie argues this scene demonstrates the "slipperiness of language."
Apart from undermining her language, Petruchio also uses language to
objectify
In social philosophy, objectification is the act of treating a person, as an object or a thing. It is part of dehumanization, the act of disavowing the humanity of others. Sexual objectification, the act of treating a person as a mere object of sex ...
her. For example, in Act 3, Scene 2, Petruchio explains to all present that Katherina is now literally his property:
In discussing Petruchio's objectification of Katherina, Tita French Baumlin focuses on his puns on her name. By referring to her as a "cake" and a "cat" (2.1.185–195), he objectifies her in a more subtle manner than saying she belongs to him. A further aspect of Petruchio's taming rhetoric is the repeated comparison of Katherina to animals. In particular, he is prone to comparing her to a
hawk
Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.
* The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...
(2.1.8 and 4.1.177–183), often employing an overarching hunting metaphor; "My falcon now is sharp and passing empty,/And till she stoop she must not be full-gorged" (4.1.177–178). Katherina, however, appropriates this method herself, leading to a trading of insults rife with animal imagery in Act 2, Scene 1 (ll.207–232), where she compares Petruchio to a turtle and a crab.
Language itself has thus become a battleground. However, it is Petruchio who seemingly emerges as the victor. In his house, after Petruchio has dismissed the haberdasher, Katherina exclaims
Katherina is here declaring her independence of language; no matter what Petruchio may do, she will always be free to speak her mind. However, only one-hundred lines later, the following exchange occurs;
Kidnie says of this scene, "the language game has suddenly changed and the stakes have been raised. Whereas before he seemed to mishear or misunderstand her words, Petruchio now overtly tests his wife's subjection by demanding that she concede to his views even when they are demonstrably unreasonable. The lesson is that Petruchio has the absolute authority to rename their world." Katherina is free to say whatever she wishes, as long she agrees with Petruchio. His apparent victory in the 'language game' is seen in Act 4, Scene 5, when Katherina is made to switch the words "moon" and "sun", and she concedes that she will agree with whatever Petruchio says, no matter how absurd:
![Act IV, scene 5 (Ibbetson)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Act_IV%2C_scene_5_%28Ibbetson%29.jpg)
Of this scene, Kidnie argues "what he 'says' must take priority over what Katherina 'knows'." From this point, Katherina's language changes from her earlier
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
; instead of defying Petruchio and his words, she has apparently succumbed to his rhetoric and accepted that she will use ''his'' language instead of her own – both Katherina and her language have, seemingly, been tamed.
The important role of language, however, is not confined to the taming plot. For example, in a
psychoanalytic
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might be ...
reading of the play, Joel Fineman suggests there is a distinction made between male and female language, further subcategorising the latter into good and bad, epitomised by Bianca and Katherina respectively. Language is also important in relation to the Induction. Here, Sly speaks in
prose
Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...
until he begins to accept his new role as lord, at which point he switches to
blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...
and adopts the
royal we
The royal ''we'', majestic plural (), or royal plural, is the use of a plural pronoun (or corresponding plural-inflected verb forms) used by a single person who is a monarch or holds a high office to refer to themselves. A more general term fo ...
. Language is also important in relation to Tranio and Lucentio, who appear on stage speaking a highly artificial style of blank verse full of
classical and
mythological
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
allusions and elaborate
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
s and
simile
A simile () is a figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes differ from other metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than", while other metaphors cr ...
s, thus immediately setting them aside from the more straightforward language of the Induction, and alerting the audience to the fact that they are now in an entirely different ''
milieu
The social environment, social context, sociocultural context or milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educate ...
''.
Themes
Female submissiveness
![TamingShrew01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/TamingShrew01.JPG)
In productions of the play, it is often the interpretation of Katherina's final speech (the longest speech in the play) that defines the tone of the entire production, such is the importance of this speech and what it says, or seems to say, about female submission:
Traditionally, many critics have taken the speech literally. Writing in 1943, for example, G.I. Duthie argued "what Shakespeare emphasises here is the foolishness of trying to destroy order." However, in a modern
western society
Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''.
image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
, holding relatively
egalitarian
Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hum ...
views on gender, such an interpretation presents a dilemma, as according to said interpretation the play seemingly celebrates female subjugation.
Critically, four main theories have emerged in response to Katherina's speech;
# It is sincere; Petruchio has successfully tamed her.
# It is sincere, but not because Petruchio has tamed her. Instead, she has fallen in love with him and accepted her role as his wife.
# It is ironic; she is being sarcastic, pretending to have been tamed when in reality she has completely duped Petruchio into thinking he has tamed her.
# It should not be read seriously or ironically; it is part of the farcical nature of the play-within-the-play.
George Bernard Shaw wrote in 1897 that "no man with any decency of feeling can sit it out in the company of a woman without being extremely ashamed of the lord-of-creation moral implied in the wager and the speech put into the woman's own mouth." Katherina is seen as having been successfully tamed, and having come to accept her newly submissive role to such an extent that she advocates that role for others, the final speech rationalises, according to Duthie, in both a political and
sociological
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...
sense, the submission of wives to husbands.
Actress
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...
, who played Katherina in 1978 at the
Shakespeare in the Park festival, says of the play, "really what matters is that they have an incredible passion and love; it's not something that Katherina admits to right away, but it does provide the source of her change." Similarly, John C. Bean sees the speech as the final stage in the process of Katherina's change of heart towards Petruchio; "if we can appreciate the liberal element in Kate's last speech – the speech that strikes modern sensibilities as advocating male tyranny – we can perhaps see that Kate is tamed not in the automatic manner of
behavioural psychology
Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understanding the behavior of humans and animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex evoked by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that individual ...
but in the spontaneous manner of the later romantic comedies where characters lose themselves and emerge, as if from a dream, liberated into the bonds of love."
![Taming of the shrew](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Taming_of_the_Shrew.jpg)
Perhaps the most common interpretation in the modern era is that the speech is ironic; Katherina has not been tamed at all, she has merely duped Petruchio into thinking she has. Two especially well known examples of this interpretation are seen in the two major feature film adaptations of the play;
Sam Taylor's
1929 version and
Franco Zeffirelli
Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...
's
1967 version. In Taylor's film, Katherina, played by
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
, winks at Bianca during the speech, indicating she does not mean a word of what she is saying. In Zeffirelli's film, Katherina, played by
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
, delivers the speech as though it were her own idea, and the submission aspect is reversed by her ending the speech and leaving the room, causing Petruchio to have to run after her. Phyllis Rackin is an example of a scholar who reads the speech ironically, especially in how it deals with gender. She points out that several lines in the speech focus on the woman's body, but in the
Elizabethan theatre
English Renaissance theatre, also known as Renaissance English theatre and Elizabethan theatre, refers to the theatre of England between 1558 and 1642.
This is the style of the plays of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. ...
, the role would have been played by a young boy, thus rendering any evocation of the female form as ironic. Reading the play as a satire of gender roles, she sees the speech as the culmination of this process. Along similar lines, Philippa Kelly says "the body of the boy actor in Shakespeare's time would have created a sexual indeterminacy that would have undermined the patriarchal narrative, so that the taming is only ''apparently'' so. And in declaring women's passivity so extensively and performing it centre-stage, Kate might be seen to take on a kind of agency that rebukes the feminine codes of silence and obedience which she so expressly advocates." Similarly, Coppélia Kahn argues the speech is really about how little Katherina has been tamed; "she steals the scene from her husband, who has held the stage throughout the play, and reveals that he has failed to tame her in the sense he set out to. He has gained her outward compliance in the form of a public display, while her spirit remains mischievously free."
In relation to this interpretation,
William Empson
Sir William Empson (27 September 1906 – 15 April 1984) was an English literary critic and poet, widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, a practice fundamental to New Criticism. His best-known work is his first ...
suggests that Katherina was originally performed by an adult male actor rather than a young boy. He argues that the play indicates on several occasions that Katherina is physically strong, and even capable of over-powering Petruchio. For example, this is demonstrated off-stage when the horse falls on her as she is riding to Petruchio's home, and she is able to lift it off herself, and later when she throws Petruchio off a servant he is beating. Empson argues that the point is not that Katherina is, as a woman, weak, but that she is not well cast in the role in life which she finds herself having to play. The end of the play then offers blatant irony when a strong male actor, dressed as a woman, lectures women on how to play their parts.
The fourth school of thought is that the play is a farce, and hence the speech should not be read seriously or ironically. For example, Robert B. Heilman argues that "the whole wager scene falls essentially within the realm of farce: the responses are largely mechanical, as is their symmetry. Kate's final long speech on the obligations and fitting style of wives we can think of as a more or less automatic statement – that is, the kind appropriate to farce – of a generally held doctrine." He further makes his case by positing:
Another way in which to read the speech (and the play) as farcical is to focus on the Induction. H.J. Oliver, for example, emphasising the importance of the Induction, writes "the play within the play has been presented only after all the preliminaries have encouraged us to take it as a farce. We have been warned." Of Katherina's speech, he argues:
Emma Smith
Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was an American homesteader, the official wife of Joseph Smith, and a prominent leader in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement, both during Smith's lifetime and afterward as a ...
suggests a possible fifth interpretation: Petruchio and Kate have colluded together to plot this set-piece speech, "a speech learned off pat", to demonstrate that Kate is the most obedient of the three wives and so allow Petruchio to win the wager.
Gender politics
The issue of gender politics is an important theme in ''The Taming of the Shrew''. In a letter to the ''
Pall Mall Gazette
''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed int ...
'', George Bernard Shaw famously called the play "one vile insult to womanhood and manhood from the first word to the last." A critic, Emily Detmer, points out that in the late 16th and early 17th century, laws curtailing husbands' use of violence in disciplining their wives were becoming more commonplace; "the same culture that still "felt good" about dunking
scolds, whipping whores, or burning witches was becoming increasingly sensitive about husbands beating their wives." Detmer argues:
Petruchio's answer is to psychologically tame Katherina, a method not frowned upon by society; "the play signals a shift towards a "modern" way of managing the subordination of wives by legitimatising domination as long as it is not physical." Detmer argues "Shakespeare's "shrew" is tamed in a manner that would have made the wife-beating reformers proud; Petruchio's taming "policy" dramatises how abstention from physical violence works better. The play encourages its audience not only to pay close attention to Petruchio's method but also to judge and enjoy the method's permissibility because of the absence of blows and the harmonious outcome."
However, Detmer is critical of scholars who defend Shakespeare for depicting male dominance in a less brutal fashion than many of his contemporaries. For example, although not specifically mentioned by Detmer, Michael West writes "the play's attitude was characteristically Elizabethan and was expressed more humanly by Shakespeare than by some of his sources." Detmer goes on to read the play in light of modern psychological theories regarding women's responses to
domestic violence
Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...
, and argues that Katherina develops
Stockholm syndrome
Stockholm syndrome is a condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors. It is supposed to result from a rather specific set of circumstances, namely the power imbalances contained in hostage-taking, kidnapping, an ...
:
In a
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
reading of the play, Natasha Korda argues that, although Petruchio is not characterised as a violent man, he still embodies sixteenth century notions regarding the subjugation and objectification of women. Shrew taming stories existed prior to Shakespeare's play, and in such stories, "the object of the tale was simply to put the shrew to work, to restore her (frequently through some gruesome form of punishment) to her proper productive place within the household economy." Petruchio does not do this, but Korda argues he still works to curtail the activities of the woman; "Kate
snot a reluctant producer, but rather an avid and sophisticated consumer of market goods
..Petruchio's taming strategy is accordingly aimed not at his wife's productive capacity – not once does he ask Kate to brew, bake, wash, card, or spin – but at her consumption. He seeks to educate her in her role as a consumer." She believes that even though Petruchio does not use force to tame Katherina, his actions are still an endorsement of patriarchy; he makes her his property and tames her into accepting a patriarchal economic worldview. Vital in this reading is Katherina's final speech, which Korda argues "inaugurates a new gendered division of labour, according to which husbands "labour both by sea and land" while their wives luxuriate at home
..In erasing the status of
housework as work, separate-sphere ideology renders the
housewife
A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...
perpetually indebted to her husband
..''The Taming of the Shrew'' marks the emergence of the ideological separation of feminine and masculine spheres of labour."
In a different reading of how gender politics are handled in the play, David Beauregard reads the relationship between Katherina and Petruchio in traditional
Aristotelian terms. Petruchio, as the architect of
virtue
Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standard ...
(''
Politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
'', 1.13), brings Kate into harmony with her nature by developing her "new-built virtue and obedience", (5.2.118), and she, in turn, brings to Petruchio in her person all the Aristotelian components of happiness – wealth and good fortune, virtue, friendship and love, the promise of domestic peace and quiet (''
Nicomachean Ethics
The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; ; grc, Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics, the science of the good for human life, which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. (I§2) The aim of the inquiry is ...
'', 1.7–8). The virtue of obedience at the center of Kate's final speech is not what Aristotle describes as the despotic rule of master over slave, but rather the statesman's rule over a free and equal person (''Politics'', 1.3, 12–13). Recognising the evil of despotic domination, the play holds up in inverse form Kate's shrewishness, the feminine form of the will to dominance, as an evil that obstructs natural fulfillment and destroys marital happiness.
Cruelty
![Katherine and Petruchio Robert Braithwaite Martineau (1826–1869) The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Katherine_and_Petruchio_Robert_Braithwaite_Martineau_%281826%E2%80%931869%29_The_Ashmolean_Museum_of_Art_and_Archaeology.jpg)
Another theme in the play is cruelty. Alexander Leggatt states:
Ann Thompson argues that "the fact that in the folktale versions the shrew-taming story always comes to its climax when the husbands wager on their wives' obedience must have been partly responsible for the large number of references to sporting, gaming and gambling throughout the play. These metaphors can help to make Petruchio's cruelty acceptable by making it seem limited and conventionalised." Marvin Bennet Krims argues that "the play leans heavily on representations of cruelty for its comedic effect." He believes cruelty permeates the entire play, including the Induction, arguing the Sly frame, with the Lord's spiteful practical joke, prepares the audience for a play willing to treat cruelty as a comedic matter. He suggests that cruelty is a more important theme than gender, arguing that "the aggression represented in ''Taming'' can be read as having less to do with gender and more to do with hate, with the text thereby becoming a comic representation of the general problem of human cruelty and victimisation."
Director
Michael Bogdanov
Michael Bogdanov (15 December 1938 – 16 April 2017) was a British theatre director known for his work with new plays, modern reinterpretations of Shakespeare, musicals and work for young people.
Early years
Bogdanov was born Michael Bogd ...
, who directed the play in 1978, considers that "Shakespeare was a feminist":
Money
![John Drew as Petruchio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/John_Drew_as_Petruchio.jpg)
The motivation of money is another theme. When speaking of whether or not someone may ever want to marry Katherina, Hortensio says "Though it pass your patience and mine to endure her loud alarums, why man, there be good fellows in the world, and a man could light on them, would take her with all faults and money enough" (1.1.125–128). In the scene that follows Petruchio says:
A few lines later Grumio says, "Why give him gold enough and marry him to a puppet or an
aglet
An aglet ( ) or aiglet is a small sheath, often made of plastic or metal, attached at each end of a shoelace, a cord, or a drawstring. An aglet keeps the fibers of the lace or cord from unraveling; its firmness and narrow profile make it easier ...
-baby, or an old trot with ne're a tooth in her head, though she have as many diseases as two and fifty horses. Why, nothing comes amiss, so money comes withal" (1.2.77–80). Furthermore, Petruchio is encouraged to woo Katherina by Gremio, Tranio (as Lucentio), and Hortensio, who vow to pay him if he wins her, on top of Baptista's dowry ("After my death, the one half of my lands, and in possession, twenty thousand crowns"). Later, Petruchio does not agree with Baptista on the subject of love in this exchange:
Gremio and Tranio literally bid for Bianca. As Baptista says, "'Tis deeds must win the prize, and he of both/That can assure my daughter greatest dower/Shall have my Bianca's love" (2.1.344–346).
Performance
Adaptations
Plays
Opera
The first opera based on the play was
Ferdinando Bertoni
Ferdinando Bertoni (15 August 1725 – 1 December 1813) was an Italian composer and organist.
Early years
He was born in Salò, and began his music studies in Brescia, not far from his birthplace. Around 1740 he went to Bologna, where he studied ...
's
opera buffa
''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...
''Il duca di Atene'' (1780), with
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
by Carlo Francesco Badini.
Frederic Reynolds
Frederic Reynolds (1 November 1764 – 16 April 1841) was an English dramatist. During his literary career he composed nearly one hundred tragedies and comedies, many of which were printed, and about twenty of them obtained temporary popularit ...
' ''Catherine and Petruchio'' (1828) is an adaptation of Garrick, with an
overture
Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...
taken from
Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
, songs derived from numerous Shakespeare plays and
sonnets
A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's inventio ...
, and music by
John Braham John Braham may refer to:
* John Braham (MP) (1417), MP for Suffolk
*John Braham (tenor)
John Braham ( – 17 February 1856) was an English tenor opera singer born in London. His long career led him to become one of Europe's leading opera stars. ...
and
Thomas Simpson Cooke
Thomas Simpson Cooke ("Tom Cooke") (July 1782 – 26 February 1848) was an Irish composer, conductor, singer, theatre musician and music director – an influential figure in early 19th-century opera in London.
Life
Mostly referred to as "Tom Co ...
. Starring
Fanny Ayton
Fanny Ayton (1806–1891) was an English soprano known for her operatic performances in London in the late 1820s.
Career
She was born in Macclesfield. She was taught singing by Manielli at Florence. Her first public appearance, in Italy, was so ...
and
James William Wallack
James William Wallack (c. 1794–1864), commonly referred to as J. W. Wallack, was an Anglo-American actor and manager, born in London, and brother of Henry John Wallack.
Life
Wallack's father was named William Wallack and his sister was name ...
, the opera premiered at Drury Lane, but it was not successful, and closed after only a few performances.
Hermann Goetz
Hermann Gustav Goetz (7 December 1840 – 3 December 1876) was a German composer who spent much of his career in Switzerland. He is best known for his 1872 opera '' Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung'', based on Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shre ...
' ''
Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung
' (also: ') (English: ''The Taming of the Shrew'') is a German-language comic opera in four acts by the German composer Hermann Goetz. It was written between 1868 and 1872 and first performed at the National Theatre Mannheim on 11 October 1874 und ...
'' (1874), with libretto by Joseph Viktor Widmann, is a
comic opera
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...
, which focuses on the Bianca subplot, and cuts back the taming story. It was first performed at the original
National Theatre Mannheim
The Mannheim National Theatre (german: Nationaltheater Mannheim) is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany.
History
In the 18 ...
.
John Kendrick Bangs
John Kendrick Bangs (May 27, 1862 – January 21, 1922) was an American author, humorist, editor and satirist.
Biography
He was born in Yonkers, New York. His father Francis N. Bangs was a lawyer in New York City, as was his brother, Francis S ...
' ''Katherine: A Travesty'' (1888) is a
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...
-style parody
operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
which premiered in the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
.
Spyridon Samaras
Spyridon-Filiskos Samaras (also Spyros, Spiro Samára; el, Σπυρίδων Σαμάρας) () was a Greek composer particularly admired for his operas who was part of the generation of composers that heralded the works of Giacomo Puccini. His com ...
' ''La furia domata: commedia musicale in tre atti'' (1895) is a now lost lyric comedy with libretto by Enrico Annibale Butti and Giulio Macchi, which premiered at the
Teatro Lirico.
Ruperto Chapí
Ruperto Chapí y Lorente (27 March 1851 – 25 March 1909) was a Spanish composer, and co-founder of the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers.
Biography
Chapí was born at Villena, the son of a Valencian barber. He trained in his home to ...
's ''
Las bravías'' (1896), with a libretto by
José López Silva and
Carlos Fernández Shaw
Carlos Fernández Shaw (23 September 1865 – 7 June 1911) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and journalist. He wrote the texts for many zarzuelas, including '' La revoltosa'', ''La chavala'' and '' Las bravías'', all in collaboration with Jos ...
, is a one-act ''
género chico
Género chico (literally, "little genre") is a Spanish genre of short, light plays with music. It is a major branch of '' zarzuela'', Spain's form of popular music theatre with dialogue, and differs from ''zarzuela grande'' and most other operatic ...
'' ''
zarzuela
() is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of ...
'' clearly based on the story, but with names changed and the location altered to Madrid: it was a major success in Spain, with over 200 performances in 1896 alone, and continues to be performed regularly.
Johan Wagenaar
Johan Wagenaar (1 November 1862 – 17 June 1941) was a Dutch composer and organist.
Life
Born in Utrecht, out of wedlock, he was the son of Cypriaan Gerard Berger van Hengst and Johanna Wagenaar. Wagenaar's parents were of different social stra ...
's ''De getemde feeks'' (1909) is the second of three overtures Wagenaar wrote based on Shakespeare, the others being ''Koning Jan'' (1891) and ''Driekoningenavond'' (1928). Another overture inspired by the play is
Alfred Reynolds' ''The Taming of the Shrew Overture'' (1927).
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 – January 21, 1948) was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as '' Il segreto di Susanna'' (1909). A number of his works were based on plays by ...
's
verismo
In opera, ''verismo'' (, from , meaning "true") was a post-Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea and Giacomo Puccini.
''Verismo'' as an ...
opera ''
Sly, ovvero la leggenda del dormiente risvegliato'' (1927) focuses on the Induction, with libretto by
Giovacchino Forzano
Giovacchino Forzano (; 19 November 1884 – 28 October 1970) was an Italian playwright, librettist, stage and film director. A resourceful writer, he authored numerous popular plays and produced opera librettos for most of the major Italian comp ...
. A tragedy, the opera depicts Sly as a hard-drinking and debt-ridden poet who sings in a London pub. When he is tricked into believing that he is a lord, his life improves, but upon learning it is a ruse, he mistakenly concludes the woman he loves (Dolly) only told him she loved him as part of the ruse. In despair, he kills himself by cutting his wrists, with Dolly arriving too late to save him. Starring
Aureliano Pertile
Aureliano Pertile (9 November 1885 – 11 January 1952) was an Italian lyric tenor. Many critics consider him one of the most exciting operatic artists of the inter-war period, and one of the most important tenors of the 20th century.
Life and c ...
and
Mercedes Llopart
Mercedes Llopart (1895 – 2 September 1970) was a Spanish soprano who later became a notable singing teacher in Italy.
Mercedes Llopart studied in her native Barcelona and made her operatic debut there in 1915. She then went to Italy where s ...
, it was first performed at
La Scala
La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...
in Milan.
Rudolf Karel
Rudolf Karel (9 November 1880 in Plzeň – 6 March 1945 in Theresienstadt) was a distinguished Czech people, Czech composer.
Biography
Rudolf Karel was a son of a railway employee. He studied law at Charles University and then composition from ...
's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is an unfinished opera upon which he worked between 1942 and 1944.
Philip Greeley Clapp's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1948) was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera.
Vittorio Giannini
Vittorio Giannini (October 19, 1903 – November 28, 1966) was an American neoromantic composer of operas, songs, symphonies, and band works.
Life and work
Giannini was born in Philadelphia on October 19, 1903. He began as a violinist under the t ...
's ''
The Taming of the Shrew
''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...
'' (1953) is an opera buffa, with libretto by Giannini and Dorothy Fee. It was first performed at the
Cincinnati Music Hall
Music Hall, commonly known as Cincinnati Music Hall, is a classical music performance hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, completed in 1878. It serves as the home for the Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, May Festival Chor ...
, starring
Dorothy Short and Robert Kircher.
Vissarion Shebalin
Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin (russian: Виссарио́н Я́ковлевич Шебали́н; 29 May 1963) was a Soviet composer.
Biography
Shebalin was born in Omsk, where his parents were school teachers. He studied in the musical colle ...
's ''
Ukroshchenye stroptivoy'' (1957), with libretto by Abram Akimovich Gozenpud, was Shebalin's last opera and was immediately hailed as a masterpiece throughout Russia.
Dominick Argento
Dominick Argento (October 27, 1927 – February 20, 2019) was an American composer known for his lyric operatic and choral music. Among his best known pieces are the operas '' Postcard from Morocco'', '' Miss Havisham's Fire'', ''The Masque of An ...
's ''
Christopher Sly
Christopher Sly is a minor character in William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew.'' He is a drunk man who is easily dominated by women, set up as a Foil (literature), foil to Petruchio, the central male character in the play.
Role
''The T ...
'' (1962), with libretto by John Manlove, is a comic opera in two scenes and an
interlude
Interlude may refer to:
*a short play or, in general, any representation between parts of a larger stage production
*''Entr'acte'', a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production
*a section in a movement of a musical piece, se ...
, first performed in the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
. Sly is duped by a Lord into believing that he himself is a lord. However, he soon becomes aware of the ruse, and when left alone, he flees with the Lord's valuables and his two mistresses.
Musical/Ballet
![Katherine hits the music master](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Katherine_hits_the_music_master.jpg)
The earliest known musical adaptation of the play was a
ballad opera The ballad opera is a genre of English stage entertainment that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier '' comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Singspiel'', its dist ...
based on Charles Johnson's ''
The Cobler of Preston''. Called ''The Cobler of Preston's Opera'', the piece was anonymously written, although
William Dunkin
William Dunkin, D.D. (1709?–1765), was an Irish poet.
Life
William Dunkin was born in Dublin in around 1709. His parents died when he was young and he was left in early life to the charge of Trinity College, Dublin, by an aunt who left her ...
is thought by some scholars as a likely candidate. Rehearsals for the premier began in
Smock Alley in October 1731, but sometime in November or December, the show was cancelled. It was instead performed by a group of children (including an eleven-year-old
Peg Woffington
Margaret Woffington (18 October 1720 – 28 March 1760), known professionally as Peg Woffington, was an Irish actress and socialite of the Georgian era. Peg and Peggy were a common pet name for those called Margaret until the late 20th centu ...
) in January 1732 at
Signora Violante
Signora Violante (1682–1741) was a rope-dancer, acrobat, commedia dell'arte actor and theatre company manager.
Biography
Signora Violante was Italian or French, and was active as a performer from 1720. She was married to an Italian, Senor Vi ...
's New Booth in
Dame Street
Dame Street (; ) is a large thoroughfare in Dublin, Ireland.
History
The street takes its name from a dam built across the River Poddle to provide water power for milling. First appears in records under this name around 1610 but in the 14th c ...
. It was subsequently published in March.
James Worsdale
James Worsdale (''c.'' 1692 – 10 June 1767) was an Irish and English portrait painter, actor, literary fraud, and libertine whose lively conversation, wit, and boldness allowed him to move among the highest circles of literary life. His ski ...
's ''A Cure for a Scold'' is also a ballad opera. First performed at Drury Lane in 1735, starring
Kitty Clive
Catherine Clive (née Raftor; 5 November 1711 – 6 December 1785) Catherine ‘Kitty’ Clive (1711-1785, active 1728-1769) was a first songster and star comedienne of British playhouse entertainment. Clive led and created new forms of English ...
and
Charles Macklin
Charles Macklin (26 September 1699 – 11 July 1797), (Gaelic: Cathal MacLochlainn, English: Charles McLaughlin), was an Irish actor and dramatist who performed extensively at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Macklin revolutionised theatre in ...
, ''A Cure for a Scold'' was an adaptation of Lacy's ''Sauny the Scot'' rather than Shakespeare's original ''Taming of the Shrew''. Petruchio was renamed Manly, and Katherina was renamed Margaret (nicknamed Peg). At the end, there is no wager. Instead, Peg pretends she is dying, and as Petruchio runs for a doctor, she reveals she is fine, and declares "you have taught me what 'tis to be a Wife, and I shall make it my Study to be obliging and obedient," to which Manly replies "My best Peg, we will exchange Kindness, and be each others Servants." After the play has finished, the actress playing Peg steps forward and speaks directly to the audience as herself; "Well, I must own, it wounds me to the Heart/To play, unwomanly, so mean a Part./What – to submit, so tamely – so contented,/Thank Heav'n! I'm not the Thing I represented."
Cole Porter's musical ''
Kiss Me, Kate
''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-s ...
'' is an adaptation of ''Taming of the Shrew''. The music and lyrics are by Porter and the
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
is by
Samuel and Bella Spewack
Bella (25 March 1899 – 27 April 1990) and Samuel Spewack (16 September 1899 – 14 October 1971) were a husband-and-wife writing team.
Samuel, who also directed many of their plays, was born in Ukraine. He attended Stuyvesant High School in N ...
. It is at least partially based on the 1935/1936 Theatre Guild production of ''Taming of the Shrew'', which starred husband and wife Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, whose backstage fights became legendary. The musical tells the story of a husband and wife acting duo (Fred and Lilli) attempting to stage ''The Taming of the Shrew'', but whose backstage fights keep getting in the way. The musical opened on Broadway at the
New Century Theatre
The New Century Theatre was a Broadway theater in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, at 205–207 West 58th Street and 926–932 Seventh Avenue. Opened on October 6, 1921, as Jolson's 59th Street Theatre, the theater was desig ...
in 1948, running for a total of 1,077 performances. Directed by
John C. Wilson
John C. Wilson (August 19, 1899 – October 29, 1961) was an American theatre director and producer.
Early life
Born in Trenton, New Jersey Wilson started out his working life as a stockbroker. He married Natalia Pavlovna Paley on September 8, 193 ...
with choreography by
Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm (born Johanna Eckert; 3 March 1893 – 3 November 1992) is known as one of the "Big Four" founders of American modern dance. She was a dancer, choreographer, and above all, a dance educator.
Early life, connection with Mary Wigman
Bo ...
, it starred
Patricia Morison
Eileen Patricia Augusta Fraser Morison (March 19, 1915 – May 20, 2018) was an American stage, television and film actress of the Golden Age of Hollywood and mezzo-soprano singer. She made her feature film debut in 1939 after several years on ...
and Alfred Drake. The production moved to the West End theatre, West End in 1951, directed by Samuel Spewack with choreography again by Holm, and starring Patricia Morrison and Bill Johnson (musical theatre actor), Bill Johnson. It ran for 501 performances. As well as being a box office hit, the musical was also a critical success, winning five Tony Awards; Tony Award for Best Author, Best Authors (Musical), Tony Award for Best Original Score, Best Original Score, Tony Award for Best Costume Design, Best Costume Design, Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Musical and Best Producers (Musical). The play has since been revived numerous times in various countries. Its 1999 revival at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, Martin Beck Theatre, directed by Michael Blakemore and starring Marin Mazzie and Brian Stokes Mitchell, was especially successful, winning another five Tonys; Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actor (Musical), Best Costume Design, Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, Best Director (Musical), Tony Award for Best Orchestrations, Best Orchestrations, and Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Revival (Musical).
The first ballet version of the play was Maurice Béjart's ''La mégère apprivoisée''. Using the music of Alessandro Scarlatti, it was originally performed by the Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris in 1954. The best known ballet adaptation is John Cranko's ''The Taming of the Shrew (ballet), The Taming of the Shrew'', first performed by the Stuttgart Ballet at the Staatsoper Stuttgart in 1969. Another ballet adaptation is Louis Falco's ''Kate's Rag'', first performed by the Louis Falco Dance Company at the Academy of Arts, Berlin, Akademie der Künste in 1980. In 1988, Aleksandre Machavariani composed a ballet suite, but it was not performed until 2009, when his son, conductor Vakhtang Machavariani, gave a concert at the Georgian National Music Center featuring music by Modest Mussorgsky, Sergei Prokofiev and some of his father's pieces.
Film
Television
Radio
In 1924, extracts from the play were broadcast on BBC Radio, performed by the Cardiff Station Repertory Company as the eight episode of a series of programs showcasing Shakespeare's plays, entitled ''Shakespeare Night''. Extracts were also broadcast in 1925 as part of ''Shakespeare: Scene and Story'', with Edna Godfrey-Turner and William Macready, and in 1926 as part of ''Shakespeare's Heroines'', with Madge Titheradge and Edmund Willard. In 1927, a forty-three-minute truncation of the play was broadcast on BBC National Programme, with Barbara Couper and Ian Fleming (actor), Ian Fleming. In 1932, National Programme aired another truncated version, this one running eighty-five minutes, and again starring Couper, with Francis James as Petruchio. In 1935, Peter Creswell directed a broadcast of the relatively complete text (only the Bianca subplot was trimmed) on National Programme, starring Mary Hinton and Godfrey Tearle. This was the first non-theatrical version of the play to feature Sly, who was played by Stuart Robertson. In 1941, Creswell directed another adaptation for BBC Home Service, again starring Tearle, with Fay Compton as Katherina. In 1947, BBC Light Programme aired extracts for their ''Theatre Programme'' from John Burrell (theatre director), John Burrell's Edinburgh Festival production, with Patricia Burke and Trevor Howard. In 1954, the full-length play aired on BBC Home Service, directed by Peter Watts, starring Mary Wimbush and Joseph O'Conor, with Norman Shelley as Sly. BBC Radio 4 aired another full-length broadcast (without the Induction) in 1973 as part of their ''Monday Night Theatre'' series, directed by Ian Cotterell, starring Fenella Fielding and Paul Daneman. In 1989, BBC Radio 3 aired the full play, directed by Jeremy Mortimer, starring Cheryl Campbell and Bob Peck, with William Simons as Sly. In 2000, BBC Radio 3 aired another full-length production (without the Induction) as part of their ''Shakespeare for the New Millennium'' series, directed by Melanie Harris, and starring Ruth Mitchell and Gerard McSorley.
In the United States, the first major radio production was in July 1937 on Blue Network, NBC Blue Network, when John Barrymore adapted the play into a forty-five-minute piece, starring Elaine Barrie and Barrymore himself. In August of the same year, CBS Radio aired a sixty-minute adaptation directed by Brewster Mason, starring Frieda Inescort and Edward G. Robinson. The adaptation was written by Gilbert Seldes, who employed a narrator (Godfrey Tearle) to fill in gaps in the story, tell the audience about the clothes worn by the characters and offer opinions as to the direction of the plot. For example, Act 4, Scene 5 ends with the narrator musing "We know that Katherina obeys her husband, but has her spirit been really tamed I wonder?" In 1940, a thirty-minute musical version of the play written by Joseph Gottlieb and Irvin Graham aired on CBS as part of their ''Columbia Workshop'' series, starring Nan Sunderland and Carleton Young. In 1941, NBC Blue Network aired a sixty-minute adaptation as part of their ''Great Plays'' series, written by Ranald MacDougall, directed by Charles Warburton, and starring Grace Coppin and Herbert Rudley. In 1949, Cumulus Media Networks#ABC Radio, ABC Radio aired an adaptation directed by Homer Fickett, starring Joyce Redman and Burgess Meredith. In 1953, NBC broadcast William Dawkins' production live from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The cast list for this production has been lost, but it is known to have featured George Peppard. In 1960, NBC aired a sixty-minute version adapted by Carl Ritchie from Robert Loper's stage production for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, starring Ann Hackney and Gerard Larson.
References
Notes
Citations
All references to ''The Taming of the Shrew'', unless otherwise specified, are taken from the Oxford Shakespeare (Oliver, 1982), which is based on the 1623 First Folio. Under this referencing system, 1.2.51 means Act 1, Scene 2, line 51.
Editions of ''The Taming of the Shrew''
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External links
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''The Taming of the Shrew''– at Project Gutenberg.
''The Taming of the Shrew''– scene-indexed HTML version of the play.
''The Taming of the Shrew''– PDF version, with original ''First Folio'' spelling.
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at Shakespeare Illustrated.
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* (''BBC Television Shakespeare''s 1980 version).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taming Of The Shrew, The
The Taming of the Shrew,
1590s plays
English Renaissance plays
Plays set in Italy
Love stories
Plays adapted into ballets
British plays adapted into films
Verona in fiction
Works about wedding
Frame stories