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The Taming of the Shrew

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Love and wit conquer all in Shakespeare's sparkling comedy of self-delusion and disguise.

Padua holds many suitors for the hand of fair Bianca, but Bianca may not be married until her spinster sister, Kate, is wed. Could any man be rash enough to take on Kate?

The witty adventurer Petruchio undertakes the task. While he sets about transforming Kate from foul-tempered termagant to loving wife, young Lucentio and his clever servant, Tranio, plot to win Bianca.

Frances Barber and Roger Allam are Kate and Petruchio. Lucentio is played by Alan Cox.

291 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1593

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About the author

William Shakespeare

32.1k books43.4k followers
People note exceptional verbal wit, psychological depth, and emotional range of English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, who included such historical works as Richard II , comedies like Much Ado about Nothing , and such tragedies as Hamlet , Othello , and King Lear and also composed 154 sonnets before people published posthumously First Folio , which collected and contained edition of 36 plays in 1623.

People know and associate Avon, also Upper Avon, a river of south-central England, with Shakespeare.

He and Anne Hathaway, his wife, married in 1582.

Forest of Arden, a formerly very extensive wooded area, north of Stratford-upon-Avon of central England provided the setting for As You Like It of Shakespeare.


People widely regard William Shakespeare (baptized 26 April 1564) as the greatest writer in the language and the pre-eminent dramatist of the world. They often call him simply the national "bard of Avon." Surviving writings consist of 38 dramas, two long narratives, and several other books. People translate them into every major living language and performed them most often.

Anne bore him Susanna Shakespeare, and twins Hamnet Shakespeare and Judith Shakespeare. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, the company, later known as the King's Men.

Shakespeare wrote throughout the span of his life. He started writing in 1589 and afterward averaged 1.5 dramas a year. From 1590, Shakespeare produced most of his known literature. He early mainly raised genres to the peak of sophistication and artistry before 1601. Next, he wrote mainly Macbeth and similar dramas, considered some of the finest examples in the language, until 1608. In his last phase, he wrote also known romances and collaborated until 1613.

He apparently retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later on day of Saint George, his 52nd birthday. Few records of private life of Shakespeare survive with considerable speculation about such matters as his sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether he wrote all attributed literature.

People inscribed many books of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime, and in 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues issued all but two now recognized dramas of Shakespeare. Shakespeare, the great master of language and literature authentically wrote not all that people attribute.

People respected Shakespeare in his own day, but his reputation rose to its present heights not until the nineteenth century. The romantics in particular acclaimed genius of Shakespeare, and the Victorians hero-worshiped him with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry." In the 20th century, new movements in scholarship and performance repeatedly adopted and rediscovered his dramas. People consistently perform and reinterpret his highly popular dramas today in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

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Profile Image for Lisa.
1,056 reviews3,314 followers
April 17, 2018
Oh well, Shakespeare! What do you expect me to make of this, Sir? Me, being a Kate, but not starved, tortured, and humiliated into obedience, submission, complete surrender?

How shall I read this play, that made me literally feel a knot in my stomach, that filled me with nausea, anger, and sadness? My first reaction was to think:

“Thank you, Sir, that’s enough. I’ll have none of this anymore, you may be my literary hero, but this is TOO MUCH!”

Then all those other authors came to mind, those brilliant authors who wrote about misogyny, colonisation and taming of human minds, and I reconsidered. If I read Shakespeare’s taming of Kate as a moral play, I have to reject it with disgust, regardless of what the customs of the time were. But as a parable on how to break a spirit, it is quite unsurpassed in its cruelty and effectiveness, and as such, it holds a truth that still, unfortunately, is quite unchallenged in many parts of society.

At the beginning of the play, Kate is a “wild-cat”, a falcon that cherishes her own way of living and thinking and speaking, and fears no man. She doesn’t know the treacherous power of the falconer, who uses her talents to tame her, as Petrucchio himself puts it: “My falcon now is sharp”. Chinua Achebe, in the title for his classic novel Things Fall Apart, chose a a line from a poem by Yeats to allude to the same kind of relationship between European colonisers and free African men, with a similar end result of complete breakdown of the falcon’s way of life after being forced to surrender to the game of the falconer:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Survival of the cruellest and most ruthless players, the rule seems to be. It is extremely painful to follow Kate’s path from an educated, strong-willed, thinking young woman to a brainwashed “puppet”, similar to the alternative Nora in Ibsen’s rewritten ending of A Doll's House: forced to surrender.

“Why, sir, I trust I may have leave to speak;
And speak I will; I am no child, no babe:
Your betters have endured me say my mind;
And if you cannot, best you stop your ears.
My tongue will tell the anger of my heart;
Or else my heart, concealing it, will break:
And rather than it shall, I will be free
Even to the uttermost, as I please, in words.”

Wouldn’t those have been wonderful last words for a strong heroine, standing her ground? Better than what came after her ordeal, in any case, a sermon held in front of her husband, who celebrates and cashes in money after betting that he can prove that he has broken his wife’s spirit completely, spoken as an appeal to the other men and women in the play as well. Kate now is claiming women should love the masters that force their will upon them:

“Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such a woman oweth to her husband…”

She adopts this attitude, of missionary female submission, after going through an episode where Petrucchio makes her claim that the sun is the moon or whatever else he calls it. This brainwashing method calls to mind the horrible torture in Orwell’s 1984, where citizens are pushed to the point of accepting whatever falsehood Big Brother chooses to sell as truth of the day. If Big Brother says 2+2=5, then that is true. Period. Neither Orwell nor Shakespeare leave it at that, though. The taming is not complete until Winston whispers in the end: “I love Big Brother”, and that is precisely what Kate does as well. Having been pushed over the edge, she accepts, and embraces, her prison and loves her jailer. The Spanish Inquisition worked with similar methods.

So, what do I make of this piece? I hate it. And I admire Shakespeare for putting abuse of power on stage so clearly. For his female characters are strong falcons, they are intelligent and free in their own chosen life style. But they break under cruel torture and horribly unjust social conditions, just like any human being does. Achebe’s Okonkwo is a proud man, but he breaks under the superior weapons of the European usurpers. Winston is a rebel, but Big Brother has better tools of control.

I will close the review with an echo of Kate’s words when she was still a bird outside the cage, free to use her words to speak her mind. As long as those words are not erased from the play, but hold their position in the history of Kate, she will never completely surrender:

“Why, sir, I trust I may have leave to speak;
And speak I will; I am no child, no babe:
You betters have endured me say my mind;
And if you cannot, best you stop your ears.
My tongue will tell the anger of my heart;
Or else my heart, concealing it, will break:
And rather than it shall, I will be free
Even to the uttermost, as I please, in words.”

And Nora, keep running from A Doll's House!
Profile Image for Ahmad Sharabiani.
9,564 reviews47 followers
November 13, 2021
The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare

The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592.

The main plot depicts the courtship of Petruchio and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew.

Initially, Katherina is an unwilling participant in the relationship; however, Petruchio "tames" her with various psychological torments, such as keeping her from eating and drinking, until she becomes a desirable, compliant, and obedient bride.

The subplot features a competition between the suitors of Katherina's younger sister, Bianca, who is seen as the "ideal" woman.

The question of whether the play is misogynistic has become the subject of considerable controversy, particularly among modern scholars, audiences, and readers.

Characters:
Katherina (Kate) Minola – the "shrew" of the title
Bianca Minola – sister of Katherina; the ingénue
Baptista Minola – father of Katherina and Bianca
Petruchio – 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 – pretends to be Vincentio
Haberdasher
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 – a drunken tinker
Hostess of an alehouse
Lord – plays a prank on Sly
Bartholomew – Lord's page boy
Lord's Huntsman
Players
Servingmen
Messenger

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز پنجم ماه جولای سال2007میلادی

عنوان: رام کردن زن سرکش؛ نویسنده: ویلیام شکسپیر؛ مترجم: محسن قاسمی؛ تهران، پارسه، سال1395؛ در178ص؛ موضوع نمایشنامه های کمدی از نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 16م

عنوان: رام کردن زن سرکش؛ نویسنده: ویلیام شکسپیر؛ مترجم: فریده مهدوی دامغانی؛ اهواز، تیر، سال1377؛ در148ص؛

این نمایش دارای یک پیش پرده و پنج پرده است
شخصیت‌های پیش پرده: «کریستوفر سلای: یک سرهم‌بند مست»؛ «یک لرد»، «یک بانو»، «یک امربر»، «بازیگران»، «شکارچیان» و «خدمت گزاران»؛

پیش نمایش: «کریستوفر سلای» درویش آب زیرکاه شهر، شبی مست و خراب، در گوشه ی خیابان افتاده‌ است؛ یک «لرد» او را به قصر خود می‌برد؛ این «لرد» برای تفریح و خنده، دستور می‌دهد: پیش از آنکه مردک، از خواب مستی بیدار شود؛ او را به بهترین اتاق‌های قصر ببرند، و بهترین البسه فاخر را بر او بپوشانند؛ وقتی «کریستوفر سلای»، از خواب مستی بیدار می‌شود، خود را در میان خیل خدمتکاران رنگارنگ می‌بیند، که در حال تعظیم و تکریم به او هستند؛ از جمله پسری، که در لباس و آرایش زنان، نقش همسر او را بازی می‌کند؛ این همسر، با نوازش، به وی تبریک می‌گوید، که او سرانجام از حالت غش و اغمای پانزده ساله مرض، و از دست دادن مشاعر، بهبود یافته‌ است؛ برای جشن و سرور و طرب، به منظور جلوگیری از بازگشت مرض، بر اثر فکر و خیال، دستور داده می‌شود، گروهی از بازیگران دوره گرد را، به قصر آورند، و نمایش «رام کردن زن سرکش» را، در حضور عالیجناب بازی کنند

شخصیت‌های نمایشنامه: «باپتیستا مینولا: نجیب‌ زاده‌ ای ثروتمند، اهل پادوآ.»؛ «کاترینا: دختر بزرگ و زیبای باپتیستا، تنها عیبش ستیزه‌ جویی و گستاخی تحمل ناپذیر است.»؛ «بیانکا: خواهر کوچک‌تر و نقطه مقابل کاترینای وحشی؛ الاهه‌ ای از مهربانی و ظرافت.»؛ «پتروکیو: بی‌ تربیتی کله‌ پوک، ابلهی فحاش و در عین حال نجیب‌زاده‌ ای از ورونا که تصمیم دارد کاترینا را رام و تصاحب کند.»؛ «وینچنتیو: نجیب‌زاده‌ ای سالخورده از پیزا.»؛ «لوچنتیو: پسر وینچنتیو؛ جوانی مقبول و بامحبت، عاشق بیانکا.»؛ «هورتنسیو و گرمیو: خواستگاران بیانکا.»؛ «ترانیو و بیوندلو: خدمتکاران لوچنتیو.»؛ «گرومیو و کرتیس: خدمتکاران پتروکیو.»؛ «یک خیاط»، «یک بیوه زن»، «یک خراز.»؛

چکیده نمایشنامه: «باپتیستا مینولا» بازرگانی بسیار ثروتمند اهل «پادوآ» دو دختر دارد؛ دختر بزرگ‌تر «کاترینا»، به سبب کارها و روحیه شیطانی و تخسی ای که دارد، در شهر و دیار خود انگشت نماست، و از همین رو بی شوهر مانده‌ است؛ حال آنکه خواهر کوچک ترش، «بیانکا»، که محجوب و سر به زیر است، خواستگاران بسیار دارد، ولی پدر از پذیرفتن، و دادن پاسخ مساعد به خواستگاران خودداری می‌کند؛ مگر آنکه اول برای دختر بزرگ‌تر شوهری پیدا شود...؛

نقل از متن: (لوچِنتیو: آه! ترانیو! منی که همواره در آرزوی دیدن شهر زیبای «پادوا» به سر میبردم، ـ این مهد هنرهای زیبا! ـ اکنون به ایالت پربرکت «لُمباردی»، این باغ خندان و خرّم «ایتالیا»ی بزرگ، قدم نهاده ام...! من با اجازه محبّت آمیز پدرم به اینجا میآیم، و موافقت او و همراهی دوستانه و صمیمانه تو، چیزهایی هستند که با کمک آنها به اینجا رسیده ام...؛ آه! ای خدمتگزار باوفایم...! ای آن که اخلاص و وفاداریت همواره بر من ثابت شده...! هوای اینجا را زین پس تنفّس کنیم، و در کمال شادمانی و خوشوقتی، به آموزشِ دروسی از علوم طبیعی و ادبیات مشغول شویم...! شهر «پیزا» که به داشتن شهروندانی بسیار جدّی و موّقر شهرت بسزا دارد، شاهد تولّدم بود! و پدرم «وینچِنسیو»، تاجری که محدوده ی کارش در سراسر عالم گسترده است، از خاندان «بِنتیوُلیو» است؛ و حال، پسر «وینچِنسیو» که در شهر «فلورانس» پرورش یافت، برای تحقّق بخشیدن به تمام آرزوها و امیدهایی که برایش دارند، و نیز برای افزایش ثروت و اقبال خویش، ناگزیر است دست به اعمالی شرافتمندانه و نیک بزند...؛ ازین رو، میل دارم در تمام مدّت تحصیلم، رفتار و کرداری نیک داشته باشم، و با آن بخش از فلسفه رویارو شوم که از نیکبختی و سعادتی دادسخن میدهد که رفتار نیک، قادر است در وجود انسان پدید آورَد؛ خواهشم این است که از اندیشه ات برایم سخن بگویی، زیرا «پیزا» را ترک گفته و به «پادوا» آمده ام، و به راستی که چون مردی هستم که آبگیری کم عمق را ترک گفته، تا به درون اقیانوسی ژرف فرو رود، تا بدینسان، از شدّت تشنگی خود بکاهد.)؛ پایان نقل

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 08/10/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 21/08/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Profile Image for Anne.
4,214 reviews69.9k followers
April 12, 2023
Huh. This certainly didn't age well, did it?

And I get it. You can't really judge an old ass play by today's moral standards.
Except you kind of can.

description

So. Kate is kind of a screechy bitch who doesn't want to get married. Her father (idiotically) proclaims that he won't allow his younger daughter, Bianca, who is beautiful & chill, to get married until someone takes Kate off of his hands.
Along comes Petruchio, who doesn't give a shit how awful Kate is as a human being, he just wants her fat dowry.

description

Meanwhile, there's this whole side story about the suitors who are fighting over Bianca.
It includes Shakespeare's prerequisite switcheroo of two people who each pretend to be the other, ushering in hijinks that could only happen back in the days before the internet & photo IDs.
Lucentio: Hey, I've got an idea, Tranio! Let's go 10 miles down the road, and I'll pretend to be a Latin tutor so I can get close to the hot chick. Then you pretend to be me and work on her daddy!
Tranio: Fantastic idea, boss! Can't think of a thing that could go wrong!


description

Of course, Bianca isn't the shrew, so this really isn't about her or the idiots who love her for her docile beauty. This is about Kate.
Poor, feisty, doomed Kate.

description

I know this is supposed to be a comedy, but Petruchio is fucking awful. Just the worst. He kind of tricks Kate's dad into thinking that Kate actually wants him, makes a complete ass of himself at the wedding, and then drags his new bride off for a honeymoon on the Isle of Stockholm Syndrome.

description

At which point, Petruchio doesn't allow Kate to eat or sleep until she becomes so hungry and woozy she agrees with whatever nonsensical thing comes out of his mouth.
TA-DA! HE WINS!
Kate is no longer a shrew.
She comes when he calls, destroys articles of clothing she likes when he tells her they are ugly, and even gives an impassioned speech to the other (less biddable) wives - scolding them for not being grateful & obedient to their lord and masters.
I may or may not have thrown up a bit during that part. <--I'll let you decide

description

It all ends blissfully with Petruchio getting patted on the back by the other men whilst on his way to get laid. Those other poor saps are now looking at their wives sideways, because thanks to a lack of zzz's and nutrients, Petruchio now has the most subservient woman of them all.
Huzzah!
And don't we all love a good Happily Ever After?

description

Best part is that this is a play within a play.
Yes, this adorable story is actually being acted out to benefit an assy practical joke.
At the beginning of the story, there's this lord who runs across a drunk hobo. Ok. He's actually a tinkerer, but anytime you fall asleep outside due to alcohol, I say it's hoboesque enough to earn you the label.
Anyway. I guess because this rich Renaissance frat boy didn't have anything better to do, so he decided to it would be hi-larious to get this guy they found in the ditch to believe he's a crazy nobleman who only thinks he's a boozy bum. The lord and his servants then go through some elaborate shit to pull off the world's most tasteless prank, including having his page dress up like a noblewoman and make out with this guy.
I just...
What the fuck, Shakespeare?!


I listened to this as the full-cast audio version, which I absolutely recommend as a lot of fun.
Profile Image for Nayra.Hassan.
1,259 reviews5,886 followers
March 9, 2022
شرسة؟ام متمردة
عصبية؟ ام غيورة
سيئة الأدب؟ام تعيسة
خشنة ؟ام خائفة من العنوسة
نمرة؟ ام مستقلة

Watchful-Brave-Gaur-max-1mb

انها المواجهة الأزلية بين الانوثة و الذكورة..المباراة الصريحة الابدية التي لا غالب فيها و لا مغلوب..و لكي نبتلعها يغلفها لنا شكسبير بالكوميديا🍬

اذا اردت حقا ان تفهم كاثرين بعيدا عن تنميطها يجب ان تجيب على كل ما سبق من أسئلة فلو كانت تلك هي طباعها الاصيلة لما تغيرت و لو بقلع الضروس
. .قدم شكسبير للأدباء مفتاح درامي أبدي للبطلة سليطة اللسان غليظة التصرفات ذات المزاج الناري ..عندما تلتقي بمن يغامر و يقبل الزواج منها دون ان يراها. .

بيتروشيو مجرد شاب صياد ثروات مستغل اناني مادي مصمم على ان يصبح سيدا لزوجته و ارادته حديدية

بذكاء فطري عرف ان الحرمان من الطعام و النوم يروضون الوحوش فما بالنا بفتاة ثرية جميلة لم تألف الحرمان؟ الجوع جعلها تدعو الشمس🌞 قمرا. .و العجوز جميلا !!إنها الطاعة العمياء اذن

بيتريشو شخصية مثيرة للجدل و غلفه شكسبير بكل ما هو بغيض في نوع من الرجال الذين يبررون قسوتهم وسيطرتهم على المرأة و وقتها ومواردها و ممتلكاتها : بالحب ..لا و كأن هذا لا يكفي هو مقتنع أنه انقذها من مصيرها كعانس !! اذا فهو يعمل لصالحها

و من محاسن الصدف حقا انني لا أحب ريتشارد بيرتون و لا رشدي اباظة ..لا لن يحدث ابدا..لذلك🌟🌟 فالنجوم الناقصة في صحتك🍸 يا بيتريشو
Profile Image for Sean Barrs .
1,121 reviews46.5k followers
October 31, 2016
I really don’t buy the irony. Here is a play by a very young Shakespeare trying to appeal to the masses; here is a play that purposely appeals to the misogynistic beliefs of its early audiences, and I really don’t like it.

This is what should have happened at the end:

Katherine:

I’m a Shrew; I’m a woman who stands up
For herself and for her sisters alike
I have a voice; I will not be tamed by
Men who think themselves overlords!

Instead we have a rather meek speech in which a broken woman who has been deprived of sleep and food agrees to live under her husband’s thumb. Some may call this the comedy element, but I just can’t see it in that light. I didn’t find anything funny about the situation. Thankfully, Shakespeare learnt to do much better.
Profile Image for Emily May.
2,052 reviews311k followers
September 4, 2016
It makes some people feel better to believe that the rampant misogyny in this play is supposed to be ironic. Well, whatever. I still don't much enjoy watching a woman having her spirit broken down until she's nothing but a shell of what she once was.
Profile Image for Lydia.
45 reviews11 followers
November 5, 2007
Lucentio: Hey, I'm Lucentio. Who's that hot girl?
Bianca: That would be me. And hotness is about all I have going for me. Because I only have about 5 lines.
Lucentio: Wanna have sex get married?
Baptista: I'm her father, you whippersnapper. Get in line. She can't get married until her older sister does.
Lucentio: Who's that?
Katherina: ROAR! GNASH! GNARL! I don't want to get married, but I live in Elizabethan England so I must. I also have a violent streak and beat up my sister all the time because she's a wuss.
Lucentio: Damn. Guess I'll disguise myself then, because this is a Shakespeare comedy.
Petruchio: WAASSSSSSUP???!?!?!?!!?
Hortensio: Hey buddy!
Petruchio: My dad's dead, yo. I need a rich woman. You know any?
Hortensio: Well, there's this shrew I know. I'm trying to get with her sister. I figure the best way to get with her is through disguise, like that other guy.
Petruchio: Enough about you. Where's the rich chick?
Baptista: She's right here! KATHERINE!
Katherina: WHAT?
Baptista: Marry this guy!
Katherina: NO!
Baptista: YES!
Katherina: FINE! I hate you! You just don't understand! And you like Bianca best!
Petruchio: Shut up! Hey, guess what. We got married offstage, and I dressed up like a jackass.
Katherina: This sucks.
Petruchio: Okay, let's go home. PS you don't get to eat or sleep.
Katherina: But I'm hungry and tired.
Petruchio: Too bad.
Katherina: AARHRGRGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lucentio: Remember me? I'm putting even more people in disguises! It's zany! Also, I totally married that chick in secret.
Bianca: Huh?
Lucentio: Shut up.
Petruchio: Here we are! We came back for your wedding.
Lucentio: Sweet! I see you tamed that shrew but good.
Petruchio: For reals.
Lucentio: But she still isn't as obedient as my wife.
Petruchio: You wanna bet?
Lucentio: You're on.
Hortensio: Me too! I got married too!
Lucentio: Whatever. Servant, call my wife.
Servant: She won't come.
Hortensio: Call my wife.
Servant: She won't come.
Petruchio: That's what she said! I mean, other servant, call my woman.
Katherina: Yeah?
Petruchio: Tell 'em about it.
Katherina: Women suck.
Petruchio: Kiss me, Kate!
CURTAIN
Okay, here's the deal. The Taming of the Shrew is a well-written and genuinely funny play that glorifies spousal abuse. You have to forgive a lot because of when it was written and how it was written, with the framing device and all that jazz. But it still draws laughs from brainwashing your wife. Uncool. As a theater practitioner, you have to make some decisions. Do you cut most the abuse? Do you change the intention of the final speech? Do you keep the blatant misogyny? Whatever you do, you end up with something either very far from what Shakespeare wrote or something very far from what we (in theory) believe today.
Profile Image for Henry Avila.
491 reviews3,277 followers
June 21, 2020
The gentle gentleman, William Shakespeare pokes glorious fun at customs, marriages , greed and scoundrels, especially pretentious men and women. .. A practical joke can be carried to the extreme, in the northern Italian city of Padua, in the time of the brilliant Renaissance, a poor intoxicated man ( a tramp in fact), strangely named Christopher Sly, is found by an amused nobleman, outside a filthy tavern, sleeping on the dirt in the street, people walking by ignoring the unfortunate human. Until this Lord has an idea, take him to his impressive mansion and pretend that the lush, is really the owner, exchange identities, the nobleman becomes a servant and Sly, the powerful aristocrat, a long illness had made him think, the dreams of a lowly situation in life, were correct . He awakes in his luxury, a miracle, after so many hard years the diluted man comes to his senses they say, everyone acts like this is the lord of the manor. Thrilled, after some effective persuasion, the truth of this he learns about a beautiful wife ( a boy dressed like a woman), begins ordering his smiling "servants" (barely keeping from laughing out loud), to get liquor of an inferior quality, which is not present, he has to receive a better drink, a costly wine never experienced by him. A troupe of actors arrive on site, to perform (Shakespeare loves a play in a play), the bored, sleepy Christopher , gives permission reluctantly to get this over with, as quickly as possible , he rather go to bed, there is a reason now to do so . The play begins, "The Taming of the Shrew", Baptista Minola, a very wealthy merchant, a widower , in the same city has two pretty , marriageable daughters, the calm, kind , charming Bianca, with many suitors, and her older sister Katherine, who does not have any... her sharp tongue, violent, and combative nature, keeps the frightened men, far far away. The father decrees that Katherine must marry first, causing much turmoil, the very generous dowry of both , still cannot get anyone to come forth, the shrew is too well known in town. Until Petruchio, a rich gentleman from Verona, comes to Padua, he wants more wealth and will marry for it, isn't afraid of difficulties, he has only an eye for the gold. Also the son of a well- to- do nobleman, from Pisa, Lucentio, studying at the famous university here sees Bianca, instant love , but the Katherine problem continues, no hope, he will not give up the prize, his feelings are too strong. Disguises himself as a teacher, Minola needs one for his younger daughter, in order to be near Bianca, under an assumed name of Camibio, the mutual attraction is apparent to all, but the clueless father. Now if the brave or is it the foolish Petruchio, can somehow get Katherine to marry him, everyone will live presumably happily ever after , that is what fairy tales state. Would they mislead the public? An diverting satire not to be taken seriously.
Profile Image for Bill Kerwin.
Author 3 books83.2k followers
August 23, 2019

Re-reading the play this time, I liked it a little better than I thought I would. I predicted that the brutal treatment of Katharine by Petruchio would ruin the play for me, but it didn't. From the induction involving Christopher Sly, the text of "The Taming of the Shrew" is full of so many transformations (tinker to lord, page to lady, servant to rich young man, rich young man to teacher of grammar, rich suitor to music teacher, wandering scholar to prosperous merchant, etc.) as well as so many literary allusions to Ovid and other metamorphoses, that Kate's transformation from shrew into obedient wife seems just one more mythological marvel produced by the magic of the stage, with Petruchio as the play's protean Prospero.

But I'm making the play seem better than it is. It is a very slight entertainment indeed, a farce whose lack of even comic seriousness is one of the reason why its brutality and misogyny are relatively inoffensive.
Profile Image for Michael Finocchiaro.
Author 3 books5,805 followers
April 6, 2022
Not the bard’s greatest work, Taming of the Shrew tends more towards gender stereotypes (plus a few anti-Semitic asides) and, to my view, lacked memorable monologues. The humor was occasionally ok but no belly laughs provoked for me. The play within a play idea was interesting, but William sort of left the ending hanging. I suppose I should seek some archival footage of stage or screen interpretations of this one.
On to Henry VI Parts 1-3!

Fino's Reviews of Shakespeare and Shakespearean Criticism
Comedies
The Comedy of Errors (1592-1593
The Taming of the Shrew (1593-1594)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594-1595)
Love's Labour's Lost (1594-1595)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-1596)
The Merchant of Venice (1596-1597)
Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1599)
As You Like It (1599-1600)
Twelfth Night (1599-1600)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600-1601)
All's Well That Ends Well (1602-1603)
Measure for Measure (1604-1605)
Cymbeline (1609-1610)
A Winter's Tale (1610-1611)
The Tempest (1611-1612)
Two Noble Kinsmen (1612-1613)

Histories
Henry VI Part I (1589-1590)
Henry VI Part II (1590-1591)
Henry VI Part III (1590-1591)
Richard III (1593-1594)
Richard II (1595-1596)
King John (1596-1597)
Edward III (1596-1597)
Henry IV Part I (1597-1598)
Henry IV Part II (1597-1598)
Henry V (1598-1599)
Henry VIII (1612-1612)

Tragedies
Titus Andronicus (1592-1593)
Romeo and Juliet (1594-1595)
Julius Caesar (1599-1600)
Hamlet (1600-1601)
Troilus and Cressida (1601-1602)
Othello (1604-1605)
King Lear (1605-1606)
Macbeth (1605-1606)
Anthony and Cleopatra (1606-1607)
Coriolanus (1607-1608)
Timon of Athens (1607-1608)
Pericles (1608-1609)

Shakespearean Criticism
The Wheel of Fire by Wilson Knight
A Natural Perspective by Northrop Frye
Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber
Shakespeare's Roman Plays and Their Background by M W MacCallum
Shakespearean Criticism 1919-1935 compiled by Anne Ridler
Shakespearean Tragedy by A.C. Bradley
Shakespeare's Sexual Comedy by Hugh M. Richmond
Shakespeare: The Comedies by R.P. Draper
Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro

Collections of Shakespeare
Venus and Adonis, the Rape of Lucrece and Other Poems
Shakespeare's Sonnets and a Lover's Complaint
The Complete Oxford Shakespeare
Profile Image for James.
Author 20 books3,963 followers
August 20, 2017
Book Review
The Taming of the Shrew is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays and comedies, produced in the mid-1590s. We read this play in 8th or 9th grade as one of the introductions to Shakespeare in an English course. I'd rank this somewhere in the middle in terms of his comedies as well as works in general. It's got several funny moments (ironic humor) but it's also a bit weaker in terms of style and hidden meanings among all the words and characters. The plot is strong, and copied by many in the last 420+ years. Two men want to date / marry two women; sisters, brothers or friends, doesn't really matter. But only if both girls are married at the same time, thus forcing the hand where 1 man must step up and "take one for the team."

Some argue the play is sexist. I won't debate that, only say it is over 400 years old and probably more forward-thinking than most others at the time. Not saying it's right or fair, tho. What does a man do when he agrees to marry the "shrewish" girl... especially when she won't have anything to do with him. Inject some humor, fiendish plot and sarcasm, of course. What makes this an interesting play is there is a lot of action and definition in the characters. There's enough to go around, unlike some of the other works where you can't quite tell which characters are important... and sometimes mix up a few. Much easier to stay focused here. But it's not as funny as you'd like it to be. I like plays with strong female characters. Katherine is strong but unfortunately has a few weak moments. And the ending doesn't fit for me.

But... as far his plays go, definitely worth a read!

About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.

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Profile Image for Bradley.
Author 4 books4,347 followers
February 9, 2017
As with all of Shakespeare's plays, there's always a different interpretation always handy at foot, be it a woman's duty to place her hand under her husband's foot or not.

As it is, though, I can both be supremely annoyed with a society that demands that women be always so obedient, culturally, and be wickedly satisfied that Kate and Petruchio have worked out a true meeting of the minds and wills in such a way as to transcend all other's expectations.

There's a little something for everyone in this classic comedy, whether or not you subscribe to the patriarchy or the matriarchy. Kate gets a lot out of the situation because she's discovered just how much power she really holds with the right partner who respects her, and Petruchio finds a mate that will always be his equal in wit and will. Is there another definition of happiness?

Ignore the setting if it upsets you. These men in this man's world, even Petruchio's methods of "taming" his wife. The method merely demonstrated his deeper positive qualities by the negative, just as Kate's shrewishness belied a razor sharp wit.

Don't we all have such depths and thorns?

I've seen this one done in many different Veins, now, and the one constant is this: There are no victors, merely endless combatants that sometimes sue for peace. It could be a true power struggle or perhaps it is just an eventual meeting of the minds. What do we prefer? That's interpretation. :)
Profile Image for Dolors.
551 reviews2,532 followers
September 26, 2017
I was curious about the controversy generated by the dynamics between genders that academics and readers have discussed for years in this early romantic comedy, which brought some memorable moments that hilariously reminded me of Much ado about nothing.

Sarcasm, bickering and jocular scenes abound in this play, but there is an extra dose of provocative innuendo. Even the title is condemnable for its lack of political correctness, as it implies that Kate, the female protagonist and eldest daughter of the wealthy merchant Batista from Padua, is known by her sharp tongue and in need of “taming” in order to be marriageable.

In the course of a relatively short but quite action-ridden plot with numerous identity swaps and plays within plays, we observe the drastic evolution of a woman who morphs from a free individual whose words cut like the most sharp-edged sword to the perfect role model of a subjugated, submissive wife held captive in a patriarchal system ruled by fathers and husbands.
Kate’s younger sister Blanca is the female counterpoint to Kate’s unorthodox defiance. Blanca’s traditional, more malleable behavior attracts suitors from all kinds and a very humorous mess ensues with no lack of piquant exchanges that culminates in a double wedding and the apparent triumph of male supremacy.

The contempt in which the male characters treat their female equals in this play is nothing short of abhorrent, but as I advanced reading, I realized that the female characters are the only ones to evolve throughout the course of the story. Their psychological portraits are much more complex, their states of mind are more delineated, and the reader gets a sense of the double meanings that impregnates their monologues. Contrarily, the men are presented as gullible buffoons who lose their bearings in useless competition, their minds when sex and drinks appear on the scene and who can’t help bragging without never fully registering what is going on.

Therefore… I wonder. I wonder whether Shakespeare meant to present the battle between the sexes as literal as he made his characters speak in this comedy. Couldn’t it be possible that Kate’s last monologue, which closes the play, is in fact a declaration of silent war where words are replaced by play-acting?

“Why are our bodies soft, and weak, and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions and our hearts
Should well agree with our external parts?”


The verses above suggest sneaky behavior, the kind of awareness fit for survival through cunning and constant scheming, using the female body as bait to ensnare and dominate while giving the false impression of complete subjugation.
I might be reading this wrong, but Shakespeare was an impudent teaser, and I see the female characters in this play rule their male peers… in words, intelligence and action.
So my advice: flip the coin and give this play a second reading!
Profile Image for Lyn.
1,910 reviews16.8k followers
April 4, 2017
Taming of the Shrew was, I think, one of Shakespeare’s better comedies, though not one of his better plays.

In fairness, I think I’d like to see this performed and I may enjoy it much more, and a wiser person than I has observed that plays are meant to be seen, not just read. I would perhaps amend that observation that to be fully appreciated, a play should be seen AND read. A clever producer could have fun with this antiquated misogyny.

This explores betrothal and arranged marriages more than romance and has some psychological and societal issues as well. I have read some other reviews that deal with misogyny, but I think that is unfairly focused on a sixteenth century playwright, Shakespeare described the times in which he lived, and in that time, Petruchio would have a more proprietary relationship with his wife.

Still, this makes for a very interesting contrast with our times. I liked the way the play began, and performed, as a play within a play. Entertaining, probably more entertaining and humorous when seen.

description
Profile Image for Jason Koivu.
Author 7 books1,321 followers
November 14, 2014
They say TV and video games are a bad influence, well, this play has been corrupting minds since 1590!

It's crap like this that makes people think that playing mind games with one another is the correct path to true love. It says that lying about who you are and what your intentions are, as well as flat out pretending to be something you're not, that is the way, says The Taming of the Shrew, to win love and warp a person into who you want them to be. Poppycock, I say!

Hold on please...

...

...

...

...just give me a sec. I'm almost off my high horse. *grunt* There we go!

The Taming of the Shrew is good, solid entertainment and nothing more. You have to look at it like that or otherwise rail against its inequities towards women. It is a play of its time and it's time was not a good one for women's rights.

So, as a play, this is fun. We have multiple deceptions, some for jest, some for love, and who can complain of entertainment filled with love and laughs? Few, I'm sure. This shouldn't be taken much more seriously than that. And as long as no one takes this thing seriously, it is harmless fun indeed.

If for no other reason, I appreciate this play for giving me a chance to say poppycock!
Profile Image for Jason.
137 reviews2,511 followers
June 21, 2014
I’m not even kidding. This play is more violent than King Lear. True, nobody dies in it—after all, it is a comedy (although whether you find it funny or not is a different matter)—but it is violent nonetheless. You know that sick feeling that manifests itself in the pit of your stomach when watching scenes of domestic violence or otherwise abusive relationships in movies or on TV? Isn’t it funny then how dormant that feeling seems to be when watching instead scenes of bloodbath-laden homicide à la Quentin Tarantino? Well, maybe it’s just me, but that is what made this play so difficult for me to read. Not difficult in the sense that it’s Shakespeare and Shakespearean language is difficult—it is difficult, but again, that’s a different matter. I suppose in the end, I am just much less comfortable with people disrespectfully slapping each other around than I am with them thrusting swords into each other’s breast plates.

This play actually started off great. I loved the frame story here: a drunkard being beguiled into believing, upon waking from his alcohol-induced doze, that he had been asleep for years. But the fun ended there. Never before has my estimation of a book plummeted as quickly as it did while reading this play. I guess in the early 1600s a performance showcasing Ike Turner’s treatment of Tina would be super freaking hilarious, but I didn’t find it very funny, nor was I entertained enough by the other parts of the play to compensate for its cruelty.

Now I must locate my wife so that I might bid her, no entreat her, no COMMAND her in her wifely duties to remove this play from my presence!
Profile Image for Carol She's So Novel ꧁꧂ .
848 reviews734 followers
February 7, 2019
3.5★

Read Here

I'm meant to be going to a Pop Up Globe production of this play & I'm sure when I see it staged, it will all seem like Jolly Good Fun. & it was amusing in parts. But Katarina is extremely unlikeable, Petruchio's methods seem cruel & the ending was very abrupt.

Maybe I'll feel differently after I see this staged. I really enjoyed the Taylor/Burton film.


I'll keep you posted. 😊

Edit; A good time was had by all at the Pop Up Globe (well other than the shrinking wine glasses)

I've done a review on my shiny new blog!



https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
Profile Image for Ruxandra (4fără15).
251 reviews6,226 followers
January 4, 2021
though it's definitely not Shakespeare's best, I really liked it! it was quite funny (I strongly recommend that you pick an annotated edition, with full explanatory notes), but it also made me think (was Shakespeare ironic? is Katherine's final speech evidence that the shrew has been tamed, or has she simply learned how to outplay Petruchio, using his own tricks? what about Bianca and the Widow's outspoken disobedience in the final scene? so many things to consider!!)
Profile Image for Darwin8u.
1,628 reviews8,793 followers
March 7, 2017
"I am ashamed that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace,
Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love, and obey."

-- William Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew, Act V, 2

description

The second play in my First Folio journey is 'The Taming of the Shrew'. The obvious discussion surrounding this play has to be Shakespeare's views, as expressed in this play, of women. I think any defense of Shakespeare's attitudes are silly. Shakespeare was a contradiction, especially towards women. Some of his best characters and lines are delivered by women. They are often strong, strong-willed, intelligent, cunning, etc., but he also obviously falls/dips into the attitudes of his time (late 16th century). I am less concerned with Shakespeare's attitudes towards women than I am about Trump's or the Duggars and that ilk. Actually, I probably side more with Harold Bloom, who thought the bard clearly preferred women to men (excepting Hamlet and Falstaff) on this issue.

The other piece that might get overlooked in Shakespeare's second play is how early in his career Shakespeare is completely bending the structure of his plays. This one is basically a play within a play (later to be repeated in Hamlet and others) and most of the players in the play in a play are playing parts. Oooo Meta. So, while I'm not thrilled with some of the attitudes (and I think those are more of his characters' attitudes and not his) the dialogue and characters are great. The play within a play, however interesting served no great purpose that I could figure out.

Reading this play alarms me not because of any attitudes it expresses, but because in almost 400+ years, many haven't moved that far FROM those sexist attitudes. So, as far as Kate is concerned. I'm with HER!

There were also several nice lines, specifically:

- "And melancholy is the nurse of frenzy."
- "Affection is not rated from the heart."
- "That being mad herself, she's madly mated."
- "And do as adversaries do in law,
Strive mightily but eat and drink as friends."
Profile Image for Ivana Books Are Magic.
523 reviews241 followers
September 26, 2019
When I was a student of English literature, I obviously read all of Shakespeare's plays (and more than once). Since then, I have reread some of them, but not this one. I tend to prefer his tragedies to his comedies. I'm pretty sure I read The Taming of the Shrew more than once, but not in the last few years. It is not one of his plays that I reread regularly, but I do have fond memories of reading it. In fact, this is a play I would recommend everyone to read, if for nothing else than for its cultural significance. This is a play that has inspired so many movies and public discourse, that it can be considered a part of our modern culture. The Taming of a Shrew continues to be an inspiration to many. In many ways, it is such a puzzle. There are so many ways in which one can read and interpret it.

The Taming of the Shrew is not exactly my favourite play by Shakespeare, but I do like that it still makes me think and ponder its meanings. Moreover, it is certainly an interesting play. What I find so fascinating about it is the fact I can't figure out a proper reading for it. Every time I read it, I feel like I'm reading a different play. What was Shakespeare really trying to say? Was he being ironic when he wrote it or did he mean it in earnest? Did he really believe that women need to be obedient to be good or was it just clever satire?
Profile Image for Nayra.Hassan.
1,259 reviews5,886 followers
July 7, 2022
شرسة؟ام متمردة
عصبية؟ ام غيورة
سيئة الأدب؟ام تعيسة
خشنة ؟ام خائفة من العنوسة
نمرة؟ ام مستقلة

Watchful-Brave-Gaur-max-1mb

انها المواجهة الأزلية بين الانوثة و الذكورة ..المباراة الصريحة الابدية التي لا غالب فيها و لا مغلوب..و لكي نبتلعها يغلفها لنا شكسبير بالكوميديا🍬

اذا اردت حقا ان تفهم كاثرين بعيدا عن تنميطها يجب ان تجيب على كل ما سبق من أسئلة فلو كانت تلك هي طباعها الاصيلة لما تغيرت و لو بقلع الضروس
. .قدم شكسبير للأدباء مفتاح درامي أبدي للبطلة سليطة اللسان غليظة التصرفات ذات المزاج الناري ..عندما تلتقي بمن يغامر و يقبل الزواج منها دون ان يراها. .

بيتروشيو مجرد شاب صياد ثروات مستغل اناني مادي مصمم على ان يصبح سيدا لزوجته و ارادته حديدية

بذكاء فطري عرف ان الحرمان من الطعام و النوم يروضون الوحوش فما بالنا بفتاة ثرية جميلة لم تألف الحرمان؟ الجوع جعلها تدعو الشمس🌞 قمرا. .و العجوز جميلا !!إنها الطاعة العمياء اذن

بيتريشو شخصية مثيرة للجدل و غلفه شكسبير بكل ما هو بغيض في نوع من الرجال الذين يبررون قسوتهم وسيطرتهم على المرأة و وقتها ومواردها و ممتلكاتها : بالحب ..لا و كأن هذا لا يكفي هو مقتنع أنه انقذها من مصيرها كعانس !! اذا فهو يعمل لصالحها
من
و من محاسن الصدف حقا انني لا أحب ريتشارد بيرتون و لا رشدي اباظة ..لا لن يحدث ابدا..لذلك🌟🌟 فالنجوم الناقصة في صحتك🍸 يا بيتريشو
Profile Image for AiK.
656 reviews208 followers
December 2, 2023
На первый взгляд, эта комедия может показаться антифеминистичной, прямо указывающей женщине на ее роль в семье и необходимости покорно подчиниться мужу.
Но я выражу свое мнение по поводу этой пьесы в многоголосый хор трактовок. Катарина знает, что она красива и богата, но она, очевидно, достаточно умна, чтобы согласиться на брак с первым предложившим руку и сердце благородным и богатым женихом, малознакомым, ибо тогда браки совершались скоро, и узнать своего избранника почти не было шансов. К тому же она понимает, что зачастую за богатством и титулами прячутся посредственность или глупость, а еще и многие другие пороки, которые она рискует узнать только после свадьбы. Она не хочет выходить замуж. Ей ничего не остается делать в этом патриархальном обществе, как бунтовать, что она и делает, пытаясь отпугнуть любого, кто к ней попытается приблизиться. Бьянка же покорна своей судьбе, она тиха, мила и делает то, что должна делать девушка на выданье, изображая из себя идеальную будущую жену и стараясь выглядеть в выгодном свете. Не так ли ведут себя большинство девушек до свадьбы? Стратегия Бьянки – не отпугнуть женихов и выбрать из них одного самого-самого – богатого, титулованного, и решение она принимает больше на основании внешних данных, богатства одежды и имущества, которое она получит во владение, вступив в этот брак. Она совершенно точно ни одного из них не любит, ответив на вопрос Катарины, что та может выбрать любого – лишь бы открыть ей дорогу к замужеству. Гениальность Шекспира в том, что он видит эти два принципиально разных поведения девушек на выданье, и большинство поступает, как Бьянка.

Конфликт разрешается тем, что отец, понимая, что он скорее всего будет обречен остаться со старшей дочерью в старых девах, и будучи не в состоянии самостоятельно найти для нее подходящего жениха, решает поставить условием выдать замуж младшую дочь только после того, как выдаст замуж непокорную старшую, рискуя остаться с двумя старыми девами. Женихи заинтересованы в том, чтобы доступ к руке и сердцу Бьянке был открыт, находят неординарного человека. Сами они посредственные и ни одному из них не приходит в голову побороться за сердце Катарины. Они слишком мелки для нее.
Времена были таковы, что, если жених сказал, что поладил с ней, то у невесты не спрашивают согласия. «Так вот отцовская забота ваша —Меня за полоумного просватать, Разбойника, нахала, грубияна, Что наглостью рассчитывает взять!» Петруччо умен, он сразу понимает «Она сварлива так, для виду только».
Петруччо демонстрирует абсурдность ее поведения, что иногда граничит с нахальством, ведя себя абсурдно и довольно по-хамски. Катарина разбивала лютню о голову ни в чем неповинного учителя музыки, кидалась вещами, Петруччо же опаздывает на свадьбу, одетый в бедное платье. На уговоры переодеться, он отвечает: «Она со мной венчается, не с платьем.» Во время церемонии в церкви он чертыхается, пинает священника, в общем ведет себя неадекватно, как вела себя Катарина, протестуя против замужества. О реакции Катарины, Шекспир пишет скупо «Она тряслась». Поэтому, здесь – широкое поле для предположения. Она увидела, как нелепо выглядели ее выходки. Это позволило остановить их хотя бы на людях. Он собирается сразу после церемонии ехать к себе домой. Катарина не хочет, она полна собственного достоинства и свободолюбива. «Прошу к столу пожаловать, синьоры. Из женщины не трудно сделать дуру, Когда она боится дать отпор.» Петруччо не отказывает ей прямо: «Они пойдут к столу, как ты велела. Прошу повиноваться новобрачной,», но говорит ей прямо в соответствии с варварскими законами того времени «А ты теперь имущество мое: Мой дом, амбар, хозяйственная утварь, Мой конь, осел, мой вол — все что угодно.» Катарина молча уходит с ним, поскольку понимает, что ее сопротивление бесполезно. По дороге (скорее всего подстроено Петруччо) Катарина упала с оступившейся лошади в грязь. Петруччо набросился на слугу, Катарина еле оттащила его от слуги. Голодной и замерзшей Катарине не дают поесть под предлогом, что мясо подгорело. Петруччо не дает ей спать. Слуги говорят, что он «Он ее бьет ее же оружием.», потому что единственное, как она может бунтовать - только неадекватным поведением. Честно сказать, здесь сомнительна правильность и этичность такой мужниной стратегии, и может ли женщина полюбить человека за такое поведение? Но в народе есть поговорка «Клин клином вышибают». Катарина в недоумении: «Я голодна, смертельно спать хочу, А спать мешают бранью, кормят криком, И самое обидное — что он Любовью это смеет объяснять,» Его методы укрощения похожи на методы дрессировки собак – еду после благодарности, показывает хорошие наряды, но отбраковывает и предлагает одеть, что есть. Она готова на все, лишь бы получить еду, сон и одежду. В дороге он провоцирует нелепые споры, она сначала возражает, потом понимает, чтобы доехать побыстрее, лучше согласиться. Говоря иначе, он приучает ее, что согласия с ним достичь она сможет лаской, а не протестом. Она понимает, что споры ни к чему не ведут, лучше согласиться, и продолжать движение.
Петруччо ведет себя, как мужлан, не стесняется в выражениях, даже в гостях, веля жене привести других дам: «Тащи-ка их сюда. А не пойдут —Пинками их гони без церемоний! Ступай и приведи обеих к нам.»
Он излагает тот средневековой идеал супружества, основанный на власти мужа: «Сулит оно любовь, покой и радость, Власть твердую, разумную покорность, Ну, словом, то, что называют счастьем.» Покорность разумная – что это такое? Катарина демонстрировала ранее непокорность, называемое строптивостью. Покорность неразумная – это покорность, основанная на страхе, бездумная покорность. Покорность разумная – это понимание, на чьей стороне власть, и подчинение власти, примерно также, как сотрудники подчиняются начальству или как она в монологе сказала «Как подданый обязан государю».
Повторюсь, это средневековой идеал модели семьи. Этим и объясняется монолог Катарины: «Муж — повелитель твой, защитник, жизнь, Глава твоя.» Вплоть до двадцатого века женщины не могли заработать себе на хлеб (но, очевидно, все же выполняя неоплачиваемыю работу по дому, в том числе богатые дамы, управляя домом), и семейная модель выглядела так, как описывает Катарина. «В заботах о тебе Он трудится на суше и на море, Не спит ночами в шторм, выносит стужу, Пока ты дома нежишься в тепле, Опасностей не зная и лишений. А от тебя он хочет лишь любви, Приветливого взгляда, послушанья —Ничтожной платы за его труды. Как подданный обязан государю, Так женщина — супругу своему.»
И только когда женщины стали работать в массовом порядке, семейная модель изменилась, и там, где сильнее всего неравенство в оплате труда мужчин и женщин и вклад в семейный бюджет со стороны женщины меньше, там сильнее сохраняется патриархальная модель семьи, там мужчины продолжают вести себя, как главы.
Поэтому логика слов Катарины понятна, но от этого подчинения мужу (в силу отсутствия собственных доходов) она не перестала быть умнее, сильнее характером, независимее, чем она была до замужества. Этот монолог не о том, что у мужчины должна быть власть в семье над женщиной. Этот монолог о том, как достичь согласия в семье в конкретных условиях бесправия женщин, когда она не зарабатывает, а муж работает. В наши времена работающая Катарина прочитала бы монолог о том, как ладить в семье бесконфликтно на условиях равенства мужа и жены.
Profile Image for Anthony Vacca.
423 reviews295 followers
January 29, 2016
The Taming of the Shrew is definitely not the late 16th century proto-feminist masterpiece you’ve been hankering for, but what it lacks in positive portrayals of the “fairer sex,” is overshadowed by the bounding leaps of comic gusto on display in every line of verse. Simply put, TTotS is a caustic farce of the war between the sexes (the “merry war” that, due to inbreeding and lack of imagination, would eventually devolve into the barely functioning aborted mutant that is the modern day RomCom) that revels in its own irreverence and indecency. A wealthy Neapolitan nobleman is cursed with a total babe of a daughter, Bianca, with the unfortunate caveat of an unruly, acerbic older daughter—the Shrew of the title, Kate. While he would love to just go ahead and toss Bianca to the suitors who sniff at her skirts like a pack of TexAveryesque wolves, there’s no way in hell he’s going to let her get married and end up stuck with the unmarriageable Kate for the rest of his life. Luckily, Petruchio, who is in town visiting one of his friends, Hortensio—a suitor of Bianca—has no problem at all with immediately marrying someone solely for money marrying Kate. And you’d better believe he’s going to break his wife of any bad attitude she thinks she’ll be having with him. What follows is a fast-paced comedy characterized by its charming cruelty and bawdy wit. Scholars agree that this is most likely Shakespeare’s second play to be written and performed, and already the Bard of Avon’s preternatural talents are on full display. Everything you love in a Elizabethan Comedy is here, folks: disguises, sarcastic servants, snarky banter, a play within a play, puns at a machine gun pace, dimwitted fools, malapropisms and, of course, convenient marriages. Go ahead and leave your contemporary conventions and social sensitivities (which are obviously essential and important, so don’t give me any shit, thanks) at the door, and settle-in for some old-fashioned, mean-spirited laughs.

Misogyny doesn’t get any more fun than this! (Someone please quote me on this.)
Profile Image for Whitney Atkinson.
978 reviews12.8k followers
September 19, 2017
I think it can go undisputed how misogynistic this is, but in a way, its ability to anger me was impressing? Idk. The content sucked, but I think it sucked for a reason. I don't think Shakespeare hates women and thinks they're inferior to men, yet I wish this had more of a comeback arc. I loved when Katharina was sassy and angry and at the end of the book she ended up so subdued, and I was waiting for her to snap back, but she never did. I'm disappointed.
Profile Image for Araz Goran.
831 reviews4,220 followers
May 4, 2018
حقيقة الأمر لم أتوقع أن تكون ا��مسرحية بهذه الروعة وهذه الفكاهة العجيبة , دائماً ما تطاردني أعمال شيكسبير فأتوانى عن القراءة له وهذه المرة جربت حظي مع هذه المسرحية التي لم أسمع بها كثيراً كباقي مسرحياته الشهيرة, ورب ضارة نافعة , هذه المسرحية لها عنوان آخر أكثر شهرة وهي " ترويض الشرسة " ولكن وجدت ترويض النمرة أكثر جاذبية وكذلك الترجمة الأدبية الراقية التي زادت من إعجابي بأجواء المسرحية وهزليتها ..


مسرحية شيكسبيرية أكثر من رائعة , بموضوعها الطريف وشخصياتها الغربية وأجوائها الساحرة والتي ذكرتني بـ تاجر البندقية..
Profile Image for Michael.
Author 2 books1,415 followers
May 17, 2017
This is a deeply troubling and often frankly misogynistic play, and I'm not here to defend those aspects of it. However I saw a version of it years ago that turned the misogyny on its head in a way that I thought was interesting, and perhaps truer to the many levels on which Shakespeare worked. It was a "Shakespeare in the Park" production, in New York, starring Morgan Freeman and Tracey Ullman, and you can imagine how fantastic that was. The best part was how they did the end of the play--that long, troubling speech by Kate where she prostrates herself before Petruchio and declares her obedience. What the director of that production realized, brilliantly, is that the speech goes on way, way too long! In fact, it becomes self-parody, a way for Kate to mock Petruchio with the words he wants to hear. Tracey Ullman played it to perfection. She kept pausing in the speech, goading Morgan Freeman into thinking she was done, and then she piled on some more, and then kept pausing and piling on until it was clear she was making fun of him, thereby undermining everything she was saying. It was utterly brilliant and has become my "gold standard" for how to perform--and understand--the play.
Profile Image for Oguz Akturk.
285 reviews567 followers
September 11, 2022
YouTube kanalımda Shakespeare'in hayatı, mutlaka okunması gereken kitapları ve kronolojik okuma sırası hakkında bilgi edinebilirsiniz: https://youtu.be/rGxh2RVjmNU

SHAKESPEARE'DEN BERFİN ÖZEK'E

Kadınlar... Birazdan yazacağım şeyler hiç hoşunuza gitmeyecek. Zira Shakespeare okumaları için 2. durağım olan Hırçın Kız kitabını okumam sırasında öğrendiklerim maalesef benim de hiç hoşuma gitmedi.

Biraz kitap dışı bir konudan bahsedeyim öncelikle. İtalyanca virtu sözcüğü, Latince virtus'tan ve virtus da erkek anlamındaki "vir"den geliyor. Peki virtu ne demek? Virtu, erdem demek. Bu kelime, İtalyan erkekler tarafından erdemin sadece erkeklere özgülüğünü göstermek için icat edilmiş, öyle de kalmış. Bırakın dönemi, kelimelerin bile ataerkilleştirildiği bir dönemden bahsedeceğim size, toplanın...

Shakespeare'in bu kitabının orijinal adı "The Taming of the Shrew" yani tıpatıp çeviri yapacak olursak "Cadalozu Evcilleştirmek" manasına geliyor. "Tame" kelimesi aslında hayvanları evcilleştirmek için kullanılan bir kelime ve kadınlar arasından erkeklerin isteklerine itaat etmeyenleri de "shrew" kelimesiyle cadaloz ve cadı kadın diyerek etiketlemişler. Bu konu bana nereden tanıdık geldi diye araştırdığımda ise Prag'da gezdiğim bir İşkence Müzesi'nde gördüğüm alet aklıma geldi. Onun adı: "Scold's bridle"

Erkeklere itaat etmeyen kadınlara özel olarak tasarlanmış bu alet, kadınların konuşmasını ve bağırmasını engellemek için kafalarına yerleştirilen metal bir aletmiş. Kökeni 16. yy'ın ortalarından sonraki İskoçya ve İngiltere'ye dayanıyormuş. Zaten Shakespeare de bu kitabı 16. yy sonlarında yazdığına ve İtalya'daki komedya kültüründen etkilendiğine göre kitabında hırçın kadın evcilleştirilmesi - dominant ve maço erkek olumlaması kullanması aslında normal bir durum gibi görülmesi gerek.

İşin ilginç tarafı, daha bugün okuduğum bir haberde asitli saldırıya maruz kalan Berfin Özek'in sevgilisini affettiğini, sevdiğini ve onunla evlenmek istediğini okudum. İşte, Shakespeare'in bu kitabındaki Katherine karakterinin başlarda çok hırçın olup da sonradan erkek hakimiyetini bir tehditle, bir eril hegemonyayla kabullenip onun himayesi altına girmeyi istemesi de bu yüzden çok tanıdık geliyor. Hatta bakınız, Ekşi Sözlük'te bu konunun başlığı bile vardır: https://eksisozluk.com/hatunlarin-efe...

Kadınlar, biliyorum, tarih boyunca pek çok acı deneyimlediniz. Zamanı geldi Hypatia oldunuz ve sorguluyor olmanız birilerine battı, öldürüldünüz. Biliyorum, Farkhunda oldunuz ve üzerinize aslında hiç dememiş olduğunuz bir konuda iftira atıldı, öldürüldünüz. Biliyorum, Anne Frank oldunuz ve hiçbir suç işlemediğiniz halde toplama kamplarının içerisine atıldınız, binlerce acıyla yıkandınız...

O yüzden Virginia Woolf'un dediği gibi,
Ey kadınlar, sizin de kendinize ait bir odanız ve paranız olsun, siz de yazın ve erilliğin önünüze geçmesine izin vermeyin!
O yüzden Didem Madak'ın yaptığı gibi,
Ey kadınlar, eril hakimiyetinde dönen bu dünyada edebiyata da, ev düzenine de, toplum yaşamına da kadınlığınızla dokunun!

"Bu dünyaya, yemeğin pişmesini, bebeğin doğmasını, çamaşırların kurumasını beklerken, çamaşırların kuruduğunu, yemeğin piştiğini ve bebeğin doğduğunu yazan bir kadının gelmesini diliyorum." Pulbiber Mahallesi, (s. 54)

Erilliğin karşısında dişilliğinizle yükselin!
Benim bunları dememe ihtiyacınız olmadan ve yine Woolf'un dediği gibi kadınlık olgusunun korunmaya muhtaç bir varoluş olmaktan kurtulduğu zaman kadınlık olduğunu söylemesiyle birlikte özgürlüğünüze kavuşun!

Siz, tomaların önünde duran siyahlı ve kırmızılı kadınlar oldunuz.
Siz, Sukeyne bint Hüseyin olup kocanıza itaat etmediniz.
Siz, Nilgün Marmara, Didem Madak, Birhan Keskin olurken aklınızda Wollstonecraft işletim sistemiyle yaşadınız.

Erkekler olarak kadınları değil, öncelikle kendimizi evcilleştirmeliyiz.
Profile Image for Abigail Hartman.
Author 2 books46 followers
February 26, 2013
I can see why this play is little appreciated nowadays - it runs so completely counter to the modern notions of "gender equality" and feminism. I freely confess that Petruchio's methods with Katharina are rough (in an indirect manner; from passionate reviews I expected him to beat her every day before breakfast, but in fact he uses crazier, more shrewish means). On the other hand, she frankly deserves what she gets. She was not "strong-minded" - she was downright nasty, and the way Petruchio brings their relationship around to something like what it ought to be was hilarious. He was mercenary; she was a shrew; but in the end, I think they were the couple best suited to each other. To modern ears the moral Katharina pronounces at the end will probably be grating, and probably it was meant by Shakespeare to be rather tongue-in-cheek (it is a comedy); but it is not far off the mark, for all its hyperbole.

Lighthearted, insane, and very politically incorrect, I think "The Taming of the Shrew" might have displaced "Much Ado About Nothing" as my favorite Shakespearean comedy.

Also, I wish an adaptation had been made with Anthony Andrews as Petruchio.
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