Taming of the Shrew: Texts and Contexts / Edition 1

by William Shakespeare

Overview

The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's most popular yet controversial plays. The Introduction considers its reception in the light of the hostility and embarrassment it often arouses, taking account of both scholarly defences and modern feminist criticism of the play.

For this updated edition Ann Thompson has added new sections to the Introduction which describe the 'deeply problematic' nature of debates about the play and its reception since the 1980s. She discusses recent editions and textual, performance and critical studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900312108365
Publication date:	03/15/1996
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.97(w) x 8.17(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Widely esteemed as the greatest writer in the English language, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an actor and theatrical producer in addition to writing plays and sonnets. Dubbed "The Bard of Avon," Shakespeare oversaw the building of the Globe Theatre in London, where a number of his plays were staged, the best-known of which include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth. The First Folio, a printed book of 36 of his comedies, tragedies, and history plays, was published in 1623.

Date of Death:

2018

Place of Birth:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Place of Death:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Read an Excerpt

Renowned as Shakespeare's most boisterous comedy, The Taming of the Shrew is the tale of two young men -- the hopeful Lucentio and the worldly Petruchio -- and the two sisters they meet in Padua. Lucentio falls in love with Bianca, the apparently ideal younger daughter of the wealthy Baptista Minola. But before they can marry, Bianca's formidable elder sister, Katherine, must be wed. Petruchio, interested only in the huge dowry, arranges to marry Katherine -- against her will -- and enters into a battle of the sexes that has endured as one of Shakespeare's most enjoyable works.

Table of Contents

	List of illustrations	viii
	Preface	ix
	Abbreviations and conventions	x
	Introduction	1
	Date and theatrical context	1
	The Shrew in the context of Shakespeare's own work	4
	Sources	9
	The Taming of the Shrew on stage	17
	Critical approaches	25
	Postscript: working on the play	41
	Recent textual, critical and stage interpretations	42
	Note on the text	50
	List of characters	52
	The Play	54
	Textual analysis	163
	Appendixes
1	Passages from A Shrew	183
2	The staging of Induction 2	189
3	Music in the play and Hortensio's gamut (3.1.64-75)	194
	Reading list	197