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The Source
The main plot, or the shrew-taming story, has a long history in European literature. Shakespeare’s plot is not necessarily adapted from any one play, as are some of his other works, but fused together from many popular sources. Shakespeare would have been familiar with such shrew-taming stories as Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath, John Heywood’s Merry Play between John John the Husband, Tyb his Wife and Sir John the Priest, the anonymous Tom Tyler and his Wife, and more recently to Shakespeare’s time, a ballad called “A Merry Jest of a Shrewde and Curste Wyfe... “
The subplot of the beautiful younger sister with competing suitors, however, can be traced more specifically to George Gascoigne’s Supposes (1566), which itself was a prose play based on Ariosto’s I Suppositi (1509). These plays are derived from Italian comedies which can be traced all the way back to the ancient Roman comedies of Terrence and Plautus. From Gascoigne’s play, Shakespeare lifts not only the story for his subplot, but the many disguises and deceptions as well as the “stock” characters (the young lovers, old Gremio, the crafty servants). Even the character names of Petruchio and Litio are from Supposes, though they are different characters in Gascoigne’s plot (the names Tranio and Grumio are from Plautus’s Mostellaria).
There is also an anonymous play, The Taming of a Shrew, which has for years been considered either a rough first draft by Shakespeare, a play by another playwright that Shakespeare adapted, or a later bowdlerized version of the play copied by a third party. In a Shrew, the plot and characters are basically the same, except that the Induction characters (Christopher Sly, for example) appear more frequently and end the play, there are three sisters instead of two, the characters of Gremio and Tranio don’t appear, and Hortensio is known in a Shrew as Polidor. Though there are many thoughts and opinions as to how a Shrew fits into The Taming of the Shrew equation, no concrete evidence exists to prove any hypothesis correct.
Synopsis
The following synopsis is edited from that written by Charles and Mary Lamb in 1806 as a way of introducing and simplifying Shakespeare for young people.
Katharine, the Shrew, was the eldest daughter of Baptista, a rich gentleman of Padua. She was a lady of such an ungovernable spirit and fiery temper, such a loud-tongued scold, that she was known in Padua by no other name than Katharine the Shrew. It seemed very unlikely, indeed impossible, that any gentleman would ever be found who would venture to marry this lady, and therefore Baptista was much blamed for deferring his consent to many excellent offers that were made to her gentle sister Bianca, putting off all Bianca's suitors with this excuse, that when the eldest sister was fairly off his hands, they should have free leave to address young Bianca.
It happened, however, that a gentleman, named Petruchio, came to Padua, purposely to look out for a wife, who, nothing discouraged by these reports of Katharine's temper, and hearing she was rich and handsome, resolved upon marrying this famous termagant, and taming her into a meek and manageable wife. And truly none was so fit to set about this herculean labour as Petruchio, whose spirit was as high as Katharine's, and he was a witty and most happy-tempered humorist, and withal so wise, and of such a true judgment, that he well knew how to feign a passionate and furious deportment, when his spirits were so calm that he himself could have laughed merrily at his own angry feigning, for his natural temper was careless and easy; the boisterous airs he assumed when he became the husband of Katharine being but in sport, or more properly speaking, affected by his excellent discernment, as the only means to overcome, in her own way, the passionate ways of the furious Katharine.
A courting then Petruchio went to Katharine the Shrew; and first of all he applied to Baptista her father, for leave to woo his gentle daughter Katharine, as Petruchio called her, saying archly, that having heard of her bashful modesty and mild behaviour, he had come from Verona to solicit her love. He said: 'My business is in haste, signior Baptista, I cannot come every day to woo. You knew my father: he is dead, and has left me heir to all his lands and goods. Then tell me, if I get your daughter's love, what dowry you will give with her.' Baptista thought his manner was somewhat blunt for a lover; but being glad to get Katharine married, he answered that he would give her twenty thousand crowns for her dowry, and half his estate at his death: so this odd match was quickly agreed on, and Baptista went to apprise his shrewish daughter of her lover's addresses, and sent her in to Petruchio to listen to his suit.
In the meantime Petruchio was settling with himself the mode of courtship he should pursue; and he said: 'I will woo her with some spirit when she comes. If she rails at me, why then I will tell her she sings as sweetly as a nightingale; and if she frowns, I will say she looks as clear as roses newly washed with dew. If she will not speak a word, I will praise the eloquence of her language; and if she bids me leave her, I will give her thanks as if she bid me stay with her a week.'
A strange courtship they made of it. She in loud and angry terms showing him how justly she had gained the name of Shrew, while he still praised her sweet and courteous words, till at length, hearing her father coming, he said (intending to make as quick a wooing as possible): 'Sweet Katharine, let us set this idle chat aside, for your father has consented that you shall be my wife, your dowry is agreed on, and whether you will or no, I will marry you.'
And now Baptista entering, Petruchio told him his daughter had received him kindly, and that she had promised to be married the next Sunday. Kate denied him, but he said to her: 'Give me your hand, Kate; I will go to Venice to buy you fine apparel against our wedding day. Provide the feast, father, and bid the wedding guests. I will be sure to bring rings, fine array, and rich clothes, that my Katharine may be fine; and kiss me, Kate, for we will be married on Sunday.'
On the Sunday all the wedding guests were assembled, but they waited long before Petruchio came. At last he appeared; but he brought none of the bridal finery he had promised Katharine, nor was he dressed himself like a bridegroom, but in strange disordered attire, as if he meant to make a sport of the serious business he came about.
Petruchio could not be persuaded to change his dress; he said Katharine was to be married to him, and not to his clothes; and finding it was in vain to argue with him, to the church they went, he still behaving in the same mad way. All the while they were being married he stamped and swore so, that the high spirited Katharine trembled and shook with fear. Never sure was there such a mad marriage; but Petruchio did but put this wildness on, the better to succeed in the plot he had formed to tame his shrewish wife.
Baptista had provided a sumptuous marriage feast, but when they returned from church, Petruchio, taking hold of Katharine, declared his intention of carrying his wife home instantly: and no remonstrance of his father-in-law, or angry words of the enraged Katharine, could make him change his purpose. He claimed a husband's right to dispose of his wife as he pleased, and away he hurried Katharine off.
Petruchio mounted his wife upon a miserable horse, lean and lank, which he had picked out for the purpose, and himself and his servant no better mounted.
At length, after a weary journey, during which Katharine had heard nothing but the wild ravings of Petruchio they arrived at his house. Petruchio welcomed her kindly to her home, but he resolved she should have neither rest nor food that night. The tables were spread but Petruchio, pretending to find fault with every dish, threw the meat about the floor, and ordered the servants to remove it away; and all this he did, as he said, in love for his Katharine, that she might not eat meat that was not well dressed. And when Katharine, weary and supperless, retired to rest, he found the same fault with the bed, throwing the pillows and bedclothes about the room, so that she was forced to sit down in a chair, where if she chanced to drop asleep, she was presently awakened by the loud voice of her husband, storming at the servants for the ill-making of his wife's bridal-bed.
The next day Petruchio pursued the same course, still speaking kind words to Katharine, but when she attempted to eat, finding fault with everything that was set before her. 'Ah,' said she, 'did he marry me to famish me? Beggars that come to my father's door have food given them. But I, who never knew what it was to entreat for anything, am starved for want of food, giddy for want of sleep, with oaths kept waking, and with brawling fed; and that which vexes me more than all, he does it under the name of perfect love. The soliloquy was interrupted by Petruchio: he, not meaning she should be starved, brought her a small portion of meat, and said: 'Here, love, you see how diligent I am, I have dressed your meat myself. I am sure this kindness merits thanks. What, not a word? Nay, then you love not the meat, and all the pains I have taken is to no purpose.' He then ordered the servant to take the dish away. Extreme hunger, which had abated the pride of Katharine, made her say: 'I pray you let it stand.' But he replied: 'The poorest service is repaid with thanks, and so shall mine before you touch the meat.' On this Katharine brought out a reluctant 'I thank you, sir.' And now he suffered her to make a slender meal, saying: 'Much good may it do your gentle heart, Kate; eat apace! And now, my honey love, we will return to your father's house, and revel it as bravely as the best, with silken coats and caps and golden rings, with ruffs and scarfs and fans and double change of finery'; and to make her believe he intended to give her these things, he called in a tailor and a haberdasher, who brought new clothes he had ordered for her. The haberdasher presented a cap, saying: 'Here is the cap your worship bespoke'; on which Petruchio began to storm afresh, desiring the haberdasher to take it away. Katharine said: 'I will have this; all gentlewomen wear such caps as these.' 'When you are gentle,' replied Petruchio, you shall have one too, and not till then.’ ‘I like the cap,’ said Katherine, ‘and I will have this cap or none.' 'You say you wish to see the gown,' said Petruchio, still affecting to misunderstand her. The tailor then came forward and showed her a fine gown he had made for her. Petruchio, whose intent was that she should have neither cap nor gown, found as much fault with that. Katharine said, she never saw a better fashioned gown. This was enough for Petruchio, and privately desiring these people might be paid for their goods, and excuses made to them for the seemingly strange treatment he bestowed upon them, he drove the tailor and the haberdasher out of the room; and then, turning to Katharine, he said: 'Well, come, my Kate, we will go to your father's even in these mean garments we now wear.' And then he ordered his horses, affirming they should reach Baptista's house by dinner-time, for that it was but seven o'clock. Now it was not early morning, but the very middle of the day, when he spoke this; therefore Katharine ventured to say, being almost overcome by the vehemence of his manner: 'I dare assure you, sir, it is two o'clock, and will be supper-time before we get there.' But Petruchio meant that she should be so completely subdued, that she should assent to everything he said, before he carried her to her father; and therefore he said it should be what time he pleased to have it, before he set forward; 'For,' he said, 'whatever I say or do, you still are crossing it. I will not go to-day, and when I go, it shall be what o'clock I say it is.' Another day Katharine was forced to practice her newly found obedience, and not till he had brought her proud spirit to such a perfect subjection, that she dared not remember there was such a word as contradiction, would Petruchio allow her to go to her father's house. Even while they were upon their journey, she was in danger of being turned back again, only because she happened to hint it was the sun, when he affirmed the moon shone brightly at noonday. 'Now,’ said he, ‘It shall be the moon, or stars, or what I list, before I journey to your father's house.' Katharine, no longer Katharine the Shrew, but the obedient wife, said: 'Let us go forward, I pray, now we have come so far, and it shall be the sun, or moon, or what you please, I vowed it shall be so for me.' What you will have it named, even so it is, and so it ever shall be for Katharine.' Now then he suffered her to proceed on her journey; but further to try if this yielding humour would last, he addressed an old gentleman they met on the road as if he had been a young woman. He asked Katharine if she had ever beheld a fairer gentlewoman. The now completely vanquished Katharine quickly adopted her husband's opinion, and made her speech in like sort to the old gentleman. 'Why, how now, Kate,' said Petruchio; 'I hope you are not mad. This is a man, old and wrinkled, faded and withered, and not a maiden, as you say he is.' On this Katharine said: 'Pardon me, old gentleman; the sun has so dazzled my eyes, that everything I look on seemeth green. Now I perceive you are a reverend father: I hope you will pardon me for my sad mistake.' 'Do, good old grandsire,' said Petruchio, 'and tell us which way you are traveling. The old gentleman replied: 'My name is Vincentio, and I am going to visit a son of mine who lives at Padua.' Then Petruchio knew the old gentleman to be the father of Lucentio, a young gentleman who was to be married to Baptista's younger daughter, Bianca, and he made Vincentio very happy, by telling him the rich marriage his son was about to make: and they all journeyed on pleasantly together till they came to Baptista's house, where there was a large company assembled to celebrate the wedding of Bianca and Lucentio, Baptista having willingly consented to the marriage of Bianca when he had got Katharine off his hands.
When they entered, Baptista welcomed them to the wedding feast, and there was present also another newly married pair.
Lucentio, Bianca's husband, and Hortensio, the other new married man, could not forbear sly jests, which seemed to hint at the shrewish disposition of Petruchio's wife, and these fond bridegrooms seemed high pleased with the mild tempers of the ladies they had chosen, laughing at Petruchio for his less fortunate choice. Petruchio took little notice of their jokes till the ladies were retired after dinner, and then he perceived Baptista himself joined in the laugh against him: for when Petruchio affirmed that his wife would prove more obedient than theirs, the father of Katharine said: 'Now, in good sadness, son Petruchio, I fear you have got the veriest shrew of all.' 'Well,' said Petruchio, 'I say no, and therefore for assurance that I speak the truth, let us each one send for his wife, and he whose wife is most obedient to come at first when she is sent for, shall win a wager which we will propose.' To this the other two husbands willingly consented, for they were quite confident that their gentle wives would prove more obedient than the headstrong Katharine. Lucentio first sent his servant to desire Bianca would come to him. But the servant returned, and said: 'Sir, my mistress sends you word she is busy and cannot come.' Now it was Hortensio's turn to send for his wife; and he said to his servant: 'Go, and entreat my wife to come to me.' But the servant returned without his mistress. 'Sir,' said the servant, 'my mistress says, you have some goodly jest in hand, and therefore she will not come. She bids you come to her.' Petruchio then sent his servant, saying: 'Sirrah, go to your mistress, and tell her I command her to come to me.' The company had scarcely time to think she would not obey this summons, when she entered, saying meekly to Petruchio: 'What is your will, sir, that you send for me?' 'Where is your sister and Hortensio's wife?' said he. Katharine replied: 'They sit conferring by the parlour fire.' 'Go, fetch them hither!' said Petruchio. Away went Katharine without reply to perform her husband's command. 'Here is a wonder,' said Lucentio, 'if you talk of a wonder.' 'And so it is,' said Hortensio; 'I marvel what it bodes.' 'Marry, peace it bodes,' said Petruchio, 'and love, and quiet life, and right supremacy; and, to be short, everything that is sweet and happy.' Katharine's father, overjoyed to see this reformation in his daughter, said: 'Now, fair befall thee, son Petruchio! you have won the wager, and I will add another twenty thousand crowns to her dowry, as if she were another daughter, for she is changed as if she had never been.' 'Nay,' said Petruchio, 'I will win the wager better yet, and show more signs of her newbuilt virtue and obedience.' Katharine now entering with the two ladies, he continued: 'See where she comes, and brings your froward wives as prisoners to her womanly persuasion. Katharine,' said Petruchio, 'I charge you tell these headstrong women what duty they owe their lords and husbands.' And to the wonder of all present, the reformed shrewish lady spoke as eloquently in praise of the wife-like duty of obedience, as she had practiced it implicitly in a ready submission to Petruchio's will. And Katharine once more became famous in Padua, not as heretofore, as Katharine the Shrew, but as Katharine the most obedient and duteous wife in Padua.
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Notes on the text
A shrew - The shrew is an insect-eating rodent found throughout the world, and once thought to be venomous. It’s appearance is mouse-like, though it has a longer, pointier nose. The term came to be associated with a scolding, nagging, ill-tempered woman (see “Humors” under the Elizabethan overview) who typically disrespected either her husband or father. The character of Katherine in the play is commonly referred to as a Shrew.
Betrothals and Weddings - Marriages during the Elizabethan era were usually arranged by families, and had nothing whatsoever to do with love. As a matter of fact, it was considered foolish to marry for love, though love might result later. Here’s how marriage worked. A marriage contract would be drawn up between families with the father of the bride assuring a dowry, or bride price, of cash, goods, and property, and the father of the groom assuring a jointure, which was a guarantee of money and property if the groom should die. in The Taming of Shrew, Baptista narrows his suitors for Bianca to two: Lucentio and old Gremio. Both men must explain in Act II, Scene 1 what guarantees they will bring to the marriage in case they die.
Masters and servants - Most plays written during the Elizabethan era concerned nobles or royalty. Since lords and ladies typically had serving men and women, servants played a vital role in the dramatic action of most plays. In The Taming of the Shrew there are several servants: Tranio, personal attendant or groom to Lucentio; Biondello, also a servant to Lucentio; Grumio, personal attendant or groom to Petruchio; and Curtis and other servants to Petruchio. Some characteristics of good Elizabethan servants were the following: attentive, always there when you need them but never hovering, modest, humble, candid, respectable, and always doing the master credit. A master, in turn, must always be: patient, sincere, generous, fatherly, and always allow the servant to do their job. The servant Tranio, who reverses roles with his master, Lucentio, is doing whatever he can to assist his master in winning the hand of the girl he loves. Grumio, Petruchio’s servant, acts somewhat as a bodyguard.
About William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in April, 1564. It is thought that he was educated at the King’s New School, where he studied Latin and the literature of Virgil, Ovid, and Plutarch. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582, and had three children: Susanna (1583), and twins Judith and Hamnet (1585). No one knows when Shakespeare actually moved to London, but it is thought to have been sometime before 1589 when his first plays, Henry VI, Titus Andronicus, and The Comedy of Errors, were the hits of the London season. Shakespeare was an actor as well as a playwright.
In 1594, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men was formed, and for the next ten years it was London’s premier acting company. This was due, perhaps, to the brilliance of Shakespeare’s writing. In 1603, with the succession of James I, Shakespeare’s company was given the royal patent, which meant they won the King’s approval as the best theater company in London, and became known as the King’s Men. Not only did the King’s Men perform at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater (of which he had been part owner since 1599) but they also gave performances at the Court of the King.
Some of Shakespeare’s more popular plays include Hamlet, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, and Othello.
Around 1610-11, Shakespeare moved back to Stratford a wealthy man, and died there in April, 1613. He was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.
Details about the play
The Italian City-States — The Taming of the Shrew is set in Padua, Italy in the 16th century, and contains references to a host of other prominent Italian cities and city-states (Pisa, Mantua, Genoa, etc.). After the collapse of the Roman Empire and before Italy was reunified in the last third of the 19th century, the country was a patchwork of realms, most often at odds with each other. The Medieval and Renaissance city-states were distinct cultural and political units whose forms of government and means of self-expression varied from realm to realm.
The major Italian city-states of Medieval times and the Renaissance were (from the North down): Milan (ruled by the Sforza family), Venice (ruled by the Doge), Ferrara (ruled by the Este family), Genoa, Florence (ruled by the de Medici family), Rome and the Papal state (controlled by the Catholic Church), Naples, and Sicily.
The Elizabethans: an overview — The Elizabethan era, as it is commonly known, is named after Elizabeth I, also known as the Virgin Queen (1533-1603), daughter of the second wife (Anne Boleyn) of King Henry VIII, who is best remembered for beheading most of his six wives. After the death of her older half-sister, Mary I, Elizabeth was crowned in 1558, and ruled England until she died in 1603. Under her rule England asserted itself vigorously as a major European power in politics, commerce, and the arts. Most of William Shakespeare’s plays were written during Elizabeth’s reign, and his plays were sometimes performed in her presence. Here are some interesting facts about life in England during the Elizabethan era.
Elizabethan society was in many ways still dominated by the feudal and manorial system inherited from the Middle Ages (roughly 1000-1500). In the country, a land “lord” inherited the right to occupy and use a certain amount of land. Most everyone else worked the land, usually farming or shepherding, to support the “lord’s” manor.
Towns, on the other hand, had their own independent social structure. Towns had been established during the Middle Ages to encourage commerce. They were independent of the feudal hierarchy, owing allegiance directly to the King or Queen, and they enjoyed extensive privileges of self-government. Townspeople were typically craftsmen and tradesmen who had their own shops and businesses.
Schooling was basically for boys. Boys who attended school usually did so from age 7 to roughly 15. Girls usually stayed at home and learned housekeeping skills, though girls from prominent families learned reading and arithmetic. The following is a sampling of a typical day in a boy’s education: 7:00-7:30 - Dancing; 7:30-8:00 - Breakfast; 8:00-9:00 - French; 9:00-10:00 - Latin; 10:00-10:30 - Writing, Drawing; 10:30-1:00 - Prayers, Recreation, Dinner; 1:00-2:00 - Cosmography (the universe); 2:00-3:00 - Latin; 3:00-4:00 - French; 4:00-4:30 - Writing; 4:30-5:30 - Prayers, Recreation, Supper
Elizabethan literature is considered to be the finest in the history of the English language. The Elizabethan age saw the flowering of poetry (the sonnet, the Spenserian stanza, dramatic blank verse), the golden age of drama, and a wide variety of wonderful prose (historical novels, versions of the Holy Scriptures, literary criticism, and the first English novels). Writers such as Sir Philip Sidney (Arcadia), Edmund Spenser (The Fairie Queen), Christopher Marlowe (Faust), and Shakespeare (plays, poems, sonnets) flourished.
Plays were not the only entertainment. Audiences also flocked to such bloody spectacles as public hangings, bear and bull baiting, and cockfights.
The Elizabethans knew little about healthy eating. The upper classes consumed huge quantities of meat but not a lot of fruits and vegetables. This made them liable to suffer from scurvy and other diseases. Poorer people usually ate what they could, pigeons and rabbits, and bread made from barley or rye.
Most people bathed only once a year. They thought bathing was unhealthy. Elizabeth herself was said to have worried her doctors because she took a bath once a month.
The Elizabethans didn’t know much about sanitation. They dumped garbage into city streets and open ditches. This ruined the water sources and caused plagues and epidemic diseases. They didn’t connect diseases with trash. It was “common knowledge” that diseases were spread by bad smells. Therefore, people usually carried herbs and flowers to sniff when bad smells came their way.
According to Elizabethan physiology, a “humor” was one of four elemental bodily fluids: phlegm, black bile, blood, and yellow bile - each relating to a specific temperament of mood. Diseases and emotions were determined by the balance of the humors, the ideal state occurring when all four were in proper proportion to the others (what we would call ‘homeostasis’ today). When one humor dominated, a person was unbalanced, exhibiting one mood or quirk to the exclusion of others. A person suffering from an excess of phlegm is sluggish, pale and slow; the splenetic or choleric person (black bile) is quick to anger and unmerciful; the sanguine person (blood) is excessively jovial and lusty; and the melancholic person (yellow bile) is maudlin, lovesick, and languid. An example of humors found in The Taming of the Shrew can be found in Tranio’s description of Petruchio’s choice of clothing: “Tis some odd humor that pricks him to this fashion.”
Sample prices of Elizabethan Goods and Services: 1 penny = $2 today; 1 shilling (12 pennies) = $25 today; 1 pound (20 shillings) = $500 today
What they earned: Shepherd: 6 pennies per week with food; Craftsman: 4 - 10 pounds per year; Esquire: 500 - 1000 pounds per year; Knight: 1000-2000 pounds per year; Nobleman: 2500 pounds per year
What it cost: Loaf of bread = 1 penny; Cherries (1 lb.) = 3 pennies; Fresh salmon = 13 shillings; Cheese (1 lb.) = 1 1/2 pennies; Beef (1 lb.) = 3 pennies; Ale (1 quart) = 1/2 penny; Sugar (1 lb.) = 20 shillings; Cloves (1 lb.) = 11 shillings; Bible = 2 pounds; Soap (1 lb.) = 4 pennies; Scissors = 6 pennies; Tooth pulled = 2 shillings; Theater ticket = 1, 2 or 3 pennies; Horse = 1 - 2 pounds
From: Daily Life in Elizabethan England
Shakespeare’s Globe Theater: Did you know...?
According to recent discoveries made at the Globe excavation site, the playhouse may have had as many as twenty sides, giving it a circular appearance. It was an open-air theater that held about three thousand spectators.
Performances were given every day but Sunday, and plays ran from two to five in the afternoon, so that sunlight wouldn’t bother the audience and the players.
As two o’clock neared, a raised flag and a trumpet fanfare proclaimed that the performance was about to begin. The flag indicated the day’s feature: black signified tragedy; white, comedy; and red, history.
Patrons were transported across the River Thames to Southwark by “wherry boats.” At one time over two thousand wherries made their way to and from the theater district.
As people entered the theater they would drop their admission into a box (hence “box” office).
Vendors offered ale, water, oranges, nuts, gingerbread, and apples, all of which were occasionally thrown at the actors.
There was not one rest room for all three thousand spectators. Nor were there any intermissions. The playhouse thus smelled of urine, garlic, ale, tobacco, and sweat (remember that Elizabethans didn’t bathe)!
There was no producer or director; the actors were in complete control of the production.
Scenery and props were minimal. Lighting was the natural light that filtered in through the open roof. Actors described the setting through dialogue called ‘scene painting.’ (Horatio in Hamlet says, “But look, the morn in russet mantle clad...” letting us know that it is dawn.)
Costumes were often the castoffs of the aristocratic patrons and could be velvet, silk, gold, and lace. Actors also wore makeup, an abomination to the Puritans who tried to close the theaters. (After 70 years of trying, the Puritans at last triumphed. In August 1642 Parliament passed an ordinance that shut down all theaters)
Since women were forbidden to act on the public stage, female roles were played by prepubescent boys - one reason why there’s so little actual sex in the plays. Shakespeare turned this restriction into an advantage, evoking desirability through language and dramatic action.
Like all the other playhouses, the Globe had its own acting company, which was under the patronage of a nobleman. The patron system grew out of the Puritan city father’s decision to implement an ancient statute prohibiting “masterless men,” which stated that every man without a master was regarded as unemployed and a threat to law and order. Thus each company had a noble “master.” Shakespeare’s company was initially The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, but with the accession of James I in 1603, they became the prestigious King’s Men, the premier company in London.
Plays belonged to the acting company and not to the playwright. Shakespeare didn’t own or have any right to publish his own plays.
After 1608, the King’s Men began to use the old Blackfriars monastery as their winter playhouse. An enclosed private theater with a capacity of seven hundred, the Blackfriars catered to a select audience who could afford its higher admission price. Illuminated by candlelight, the indoor playhouse was ideal for such claustrophobic interior dramas as Macbeth. Although Shakespeare’s later plays were also performed at the Globe, they are more refined than those written for the boisterous audience at the public playhouse.
The Globe burned down in 1613, when a prop cannon exploded during the first performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII.
Commedia dell’arte
Seaside Music Theater’s production of The Taming of the Shrew is based on the theatrical style known as the Commedia dell’arte.
The commedia dell’arte was one of the most unique developments in the history of the theater in Western Europe. It originated in Italy in the sixteenth century, and its influence spread throughout Europe, becoming one of the most potent forces in shaping comedy in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, with echoes continuing into the twentieth century and today.
Basically, the commedia dell’arte (the comedy of art) was improvised, ensemble comedy that followed a scenario rather than written dialogue. Within these improvised, stock scenarios were set speeches and soliloquies, and directions for lazzi routines; slapstick antics, acrobatics, or jokes employed for broad comedy. The scenarios were frequently borrowed from classic Roman theater, though the origins are completely unknown.
Known for their recognizable masks and costumes, stock characters were the mainstay of the commedia repertoire. Their later incorporation into the plays of Moliere and Shakespeare made them immortal. There were zannis, or buffoons, who were poor, stupid servants such as Harlequin and Pulcinello; the romantic hero and heroine like Fortunio and Isabella, who had to overcome trials and tribulations in order to marry; the old, addled fool, Pantalone, who either had a young wife, or was seeking one; the large, braggart soldier, Capitano, who usually turned out to be cowardly; the quack physician, Dottore, who was typically older and whose knowledge of medicine was questionable. Each of these characters wore unique masks (except the young lovers who wore none), and had a set physicality easily recognized by the audience.
The commedia troupes typically traveled in wagons, which carried all sets, costumes and props. This allowed the troupes to set up their shows in town squares or courtyards all over Italy.
Construct a Shakespearean insult
To construct an insult that would have been hurled during Shakespeare's day, take one word from each of the three columns below, and preface it with "Thou."
1.......... | 2 .......... | 3 .......... |
artless | base-court | apple-john |
bawdy | bat-fouling | baggage |
beslubbering | beef-witted | barnacle |
bootless | beetle-headed | bladder |
churlish | boil-brained | boar-pig |
clouted | clay-brained | bugbear |
dankish | dismal-dreaming | clotpole |
dissembling | dizzy-eyed | canker-blossom |
droning | doghearted | codpiece |
goatish | fly-bitten | giglet |
gorbellied | folly-fallen | haggard |
loggerheaded | half-faced | hedge-pig |
lumpish | full-gorged | harpy |
mangled | guts-griping | joithead |
mewling | ill-breading | lewdster |
pribbling | knotty-pated | lout |
puny | milk-livered | malt-worm |
rank | motley-minded | measle |
reeky | onion-eyed | miscreant |
roguish | plume-plucked | moldwarp |
saucy | rough-hewn | nut-hook |
spongy | shard-borne | pigeon-egg |
surly | sheep-biting | pumpion |
unmuzzled | spur-galled | ratsbane |
villainous | swag-bellied | strumpet |
warped | tickle-brained | varlet |
weedy | toad-spotted | vassal |
yeasty | unchin-snouted | wagtail |
The Taming of the Shrew filmography
There have been several film and filmed stage versions of The Taming of the Shrew; most available at the library or to purchase online.
1929 - Douglas Fairbanks as Petruchio and Mary Pickford as Kate. Directed by Sam Taylor.
1966 - Richard Burton as Petruchio and Elizabeth Taylor as Kate. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
1976 - stage version taped at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater. Marc Singer is Petruchio and it was directed by William Ball.
1979 -BBC-TV film featuring John Cleese as Petruchio.
The Taming of the Shrew offshoots:
Kiss Me, Kate - The Taming of The Shrew is the basis for this 1948 Cole Porter smash musical. The story revolves around the tempestuous relationship of a couple of actors who are rehearsing a production of Shrew. Porter used many lines from the play as song titles and lyrics, including “I’ve Come To Wife it Wealthily in Padua,” “I Am Ashamed That Women are So Simple,” “Where is the Life That Late I Led?” and the title song “Kiss Me, Kate.” A film of Kiss Me, Kate was made in 1953, starring Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson. Other songs in the show include “So In Love” and “Wunderbar.”
10 Things I Hate About You - This 1999 film is loosely adapted from The Taming of The Shrew. Starring Julia Stiles as Kat Stratford and Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona, the film was set in “Padua High School” in Seattle. Bianca, Kat’s younger sister is a high school sophomore, and isn’t allowed to date until her older sister, a senior, goes out first. But no one wants to date Kat, who rubs everyone the wrong way. In order to be able to date Bianca, Cameron (played by Joseph Gordon Levitt) fixes Kat up with Patrick, a rebel, who’s the new boy in town!
Especially for Students...
In live theatre, unlike movies and television, the actors can hear (and often see) you as easily as you can hear and see them. If you comment out loud at a live show, or read or eat, you disturb not only other members of the audience but also the people on stage, thus diminishing the performance and, ultimately, your enjoyment of it.
This doesn't mean you have to remain silent. Actors want you to respond with laughter and applause; but such responses should always be genuine and appropriate to the moment. Such inconsiderate behavior as shouting, catcalling or sustained whispering, even during blackouts, can ruin the concentration of actors and audience members alike. And throwing paper or objects of any kind towards the stage is not only rude, it's also extremely dangerous to the performers.
In the event of any student misbehavior, the relevant school will be contacted and its principal informed.
We want you to enjoy your visit to Seaside Music Theater, and we rely on you to exercise your common sense and mature judgment. Thank you for being a valuable part of our audience this season.