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    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"
    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"
    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"
    Ebook57 pages38 minutes

    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Shakespeare for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Shakespeare for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateSep 20, 2016
    ISBN9781535839945
    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" - Gale

      1

      The Taming of the Shrew

      William Shakespeare

      1592

      Introduction

      Shakespeare is thought to have written The Taming of the Shrew between 1590 and 1594, although the only version that has survived is the one published in the First Folio in 1623. It appears to have been staged several times during Shakespeare's lifetime at both the Globe and the Blackfriars theaters, and a sequel written by John Fletcher between 1604 and 1617 attests to its popularity. It was also produced in 1633 at the court of Charles I.

      The play has a complex structure. It begins with a two-scene Induction or introductory segment, which concerns an elaborate practical joke played by a nobleman on a drunken tinker. At the end of the Induction the various characters settle down to watch a play. This play within a play, which in turn consists of a main plot and a complex subplot, constitutes the main action of The Taming of the Shrew.

      The depth and complexity of The Taming of the Shrew is evidenced by the wide range of interpretations that attend it, both on stage and in literary criticism. Moreover, modern interpretation of the play is complicated by the centrality to the play of issues that are hotly debated in our own time—in particular, the question of what roles men and women can and should play in society and in relationship to each other. The play raises probing questions about society and relationships. Is Petruchio a loving husband who teaches his maladjusted bride to find happiness in marriage, or is he a clever bully who forces her to bow to his will? Does Katherine's acquiescence in playing the part of obedient wife reflect a joyous acceptance of her assigned role as a married woman and the beginning of a fulfilling partnership with her husband? Does it, instead, mean that she has learned to play the obedient wife in public so as to get her own way in private? Or does it reflect the defeat of a spirited and intelligent woman forced to give in to a society that dominates and controls women and allows them only very limited room for self-expression? The answers to these questions may have less to do with the play itself than with readers' attitudes about the issues and ideas it explores.

      Plot Summary

      Induction

      At the beginning of The Taming of the Shrew, Christopher Sly, a drunken tinker, is expelled from a tavern and falls asleep on the ground. He is discovered by a lord and his huntsmen. As a joke, the lord orders his men to dress Sly in fine clothes, lay out a feast, and put him to bed at the lord's home in the best chamber. When Sly awakes, lord and servants conspire to convince him that he is really a nobleman.

      Meanwhile, a traveling group of actors has come to the lord's home, and he asks them to perform for his guest. He only tells them not to react to the odd behavior of the other lord in the house. Sly is told that a comedy will be played for him to aid his recovery. The lord's page (a young male attendant) dresses like a woman and pretends to be Sly's wife, delighted that he has finally come to his senses after all those years of believing he was a beggar. After some initial confusion and a great deal of convincing by the servants, Sly accepts that he is a nobleman. Sly will comment briefly on the play at the end of act 1, scene 1, then disappear from the text.

      Act 1

      The play-within-a-play begins. Lucentio, son of a wealthy Pisan

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