What’s it about? Petruccio, who desperately wants money, meets some gentlemen who are in love with a beautiful young lady named Bianca. However, Bianca’s father will not allow her to marry until her older sister, Katherine, is married. The problem is that Katherine is so strong-willed and “shrewish” that nobody is interested in her at all. The gentleman convince Petruccio to woo and marry Katherine because of her money, and Petruccio then takes it upon himself to make his new wife act in a manner that more closely meets his approval.
What is it really about? One unpleasant man marries one unpleasant woman because he wants her money. He works to break her spirit. (Spoiler: He succeeds. Debatably.)
No, really. What’s it ACTUALLY about? Taming of the Shrew is a play about gender roles and whether or personality traits are innate or learned.
My thoughts:
Taming of the Shrew can be a rather difficult play for modern audiences. The issues surrounding gender, including what closely resembles spousal abuse, can make it seem rather dated–even offensive. Like something out of the worst depths of 1950s sexism. Interestingly, some people use this play to “prove” that Shakespeare was sexist, while others use it as an example of an early feminist text.
When reading and watching this play, my thoughts mainly centered on something quite different, however. I think it is possibly one of the best plays to demonstrate the openness of Shakespeare’s work. What do I mean by that?
One of the first things a modern reader may notice when reading one of the Bard’s plays is how sparse they are. We have the spoken lines, of course, but there are very, very few stage directions or other instructions. We have no idea whether a character is to say his/her lines “ironically,” “angrily,” “teasingly,” etc. This means that there is a great deal that is left up to the reader. Without this coaching from the writer, we can turn the plays, characters, and ideas into almost anything we want. This is why it is possible for people to read Taming of the Shrew and draw completely opposing, yet equally valid, conclusions from it.
To me, this is a large part of what makes Shakespeare so great. The lessons that you can draw from his work are infinite, and can change very much as you read the same play at different points in your life. The text itself is only the very beginning of the play; we provide everything else when we bring our own experiences and values to the reading. I love how much freedom this gives the reader. Literature in general tends to be quite open on the whole, but Shakespeare seems to be even more so.
For more, I highly recommend this video by the wonderful Stevie, who makes videos about books on YouTube. (She’s at @sablecaught here on Tumblr.) She talks about this same idea.
Genre: Comedy
Date written: Between 1590-1592
Highlights:
Favorite exchange – “Myself am moved to woo thee for my wife.” “Moved? In good time. Let him that moved you hither remove you hence. I knew you at the first you were a movable.” From Act 2, Scene 1.
Favorite bit to watch – The 1967 version with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is fantastic. The wooing scene, part of which can be seen in this video, takes particular advantage of their chemistry. I would highly recommend it.
Favorite character – It would have to go uncreatively to Katherine. She’s just such a fascinating character, given the time period. I love her feistiness and total disregard for what other people think. Her unpleasantness is another story…
Most interesting/confusing moment – I’ve heard Katherine’s speech about obedience characterized as “bizarre.” It is definitely the most difficult speech to reconcile from a feminist perspective, so for that reason, it is the most interesting part of the play to discuss.
My question – What is the purpose of the play within the play? It’s often cut in productions; do we actually lose anything when it’s cut?
