the taming of the shrew study guide

7/27/2019 The Taming of the Shrew Study Guide

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The Taming of the ShrewStudy Guide

Abilene Shakespeare FestivalJune 27-29, July 5-6 2013Directed by Gary Varner


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William Shakespeare lived from 1564-1616. He was an actor and playwright

for The Lord Chamberlains Men (later called The Kings Men) in London.

He was also a shareholder in the company, which meant it was very important

for his plays to attract an audience so he could make a living. This was one of

the first examples of commercial theatre in western history. Elizabethan

theatre troupes produced as many plays as possible to make a profit.

Shakespeare wrote approximately 38 plays.

Shakespeares company built the Globe Theatre in 1598. It was one of four

major theatres in Londons Bankside district. Three stories high, it could


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accommodate 1500 people. The Globe was open to audiences in the

summer, and plays were usually produced by daylight.

A day at the Globe would be an exciting day. There would be a holiday

atmosphere, with merchants selling goods and food outside the theatre.

During a performance, there would be around 3,000 people inside and

outside the Globe. Food was also sold inside the theatre during breaks in the

performance. Nobles would pay up to 5 pennies to sit in the lords rooms at

the top of the theatre cushions were extra. Lower classes paid one penny to

stand in the theatre pit (aka groundlings). Very rich nobles would pay to sit

on the side of the stage itself. It was typical for audiences to freely express

their distaste or satisfaction for the action on stage. The theatre crowd would

be loud, restless, and smelly. It was not uncommon for nobles to purchase

flowers or sachets to hold in front of their noses in order to combat the smell

from the groundlings.

It was also very important that the action on the stage hold the attention of the

audience so they would want to pay to come back for more. Elizabethan

theatre was commercial theatre. Actors were shareholders, so to make a

profit, they produced as many plays as possible during a season. The Globe

was known to produce as many as 20 different plays a month. This meant the

actors had to be quick to learn lines and able to improvise when necessary.

It was difficult to advertise plays in advance for several reasons. The general

public could not read or write, so written advertisements would not be

advantageous. Lack of copyright laws meant that other companies could steal


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ideas, or even entire scripts if they had advanced notice. Threat of

government censorship was always an issue, and outbreaks of Plague meant

theatres would be shut down at a moments notice. Because of this, many

Elizabethan theatres devised a system of communication to let the public

know when a performance was planned. At the top of each theatre there was a

flagpole. A white flag would be raised in the morning to indicate a comedy

would be performed that afternoon. A black flag meant a tragedy would be

performed, and a red flag meant a history play would be performed. The flag

would remain raised until the end of the performance.

WhydidShakespearewriteTheTamingoftheShrew?Acommercial

artistknowsthequickestwaytoruinistoalienateoroffendthe

audience.SowhywouldShakespearetakeonthewomanquestion,an

issuethatwouldhavebeencontroversialeveninhisowntime?

ElizabethanaudienceswouldhavebeenfamiliarwiththestoryofShrew

fromfolklore.InMedievalMysteryplaysNoahswifewasportrayedasa

shrew.ChaucersWifeofBathtellsastoryaboutwhoisthemasterin

marriage.AdamandEvewereportrayedasacouplestrugglingforpowerinmarriage.AndversionsofKateandPetruchioswooing,

wedding,andbeddingarefoundinfoldtalesacrossEurope,India,and

theAmericas.Shakespearesaudiencewouldalsohavebeenfamiliar

withsermonsandpamphletsondecorousmaritalbehavior.


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Todaysaudiencehasamuchdifferentlensthroughwhichtoviewthis

story.Manycontemporaryaudiencemembersareuncomfortablewith

PetruchiostreatmentofKate,andsomefeelthatthemessageofthe

playdoesnotjivewithgenderequalityandindependence.Shakespeare,

however,maynothavebeenasfarremovedfromcontemporarysensibilitiesassomemightthink.SherriThorne,inheressayfor

AcademicForum21(2003-2004)states:

Shakespearedoesnotsupportthisviolenttreatmentofwomen,nor

doeshewalkthroughthestreetsofLondoncampaigningfortheirbetter

treatment.Instead,hewritesacomedyentitledTheTamingoftheShrew

anduseshumortogaintheattentionofhisaudience.Byemphasizing

theridiculousnatureofbothPetruchiosextremeandabusivetaming

methodsandKatherinesoutrageousandshrewishbehavior,

Shakespearecajolestheaudienceintoreconsideringitsideasaboutanditstreatmentofwomen.Satirehasalwaysbeenawriterstoolfor

pointingoutflawsinsociety,andShakespeareskillfullyusesthis

comedytodemonstratethepositivequalitiesofarespectfuland

affectionaterelationshipoveronedominatedbyeitherashrewishwife

oranabusivehusband.(www.hsu.edu)


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Did you know..

Thisstoryhasbeentoldonfilmseveraltimes:

1967FilmwithElizabethTaylorandRichardBurton

1953MusicalKissMeKatebyColePorter


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1999Film10ThingsIHateAboutYouwithHeathLedgerandJuliaStiles

Its a Comedy!!!

Inthe16thCentury,whileShakespearewaswritinginEngland,Italyhad

itsownformofcommercialtheatre:CommediaDellArte.Commedia

wasapopularformofimprovisedcomedyusingstockcharactersand

scenarios,muchliketodayssitcoms.Commediatroupestravelled

Europeperformingtoearnaliving.ShakespearescharactersinTamingoftheShrewhavemanyparallelstothestockcharactersofCommedia.


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The stock characters of Commedia DellArte

Burrattinoisaservant(orzanniwhichtranslatesclown).Hehasanextremelygoodnature.Heisnotparticularlysmart,andoften

inclinedtowardgluttony.Heiseasilybroughttotearsbyanykindof

badnews(suchasdiscoveringhehaseatenallthemacaroni).His

primarycomictraitisthatheissoft-heartedtoexcess.Amodern-day

televisionexampleofthischaracterisBurtonGusGusterfromPsych.

Scapinoisazanni(clown/servant)whotendstomakeconfusionofanythingheundertakes.Self-preservationandself-interestarehismainconcerns.Heisaverycleverservant.Aschemerandascoundrel,and

proudofit.Scapinoisknownforhismaliciousintelligencecombined

withphysicalagility.AmodernversionofScapinoisBugsBunny.


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Pantiloneisamiserly,elderly,andusuallylecherousman.Heisusuallyawealthymerchant,butissostingyhelivesthelifestyleofa

beggar.Hisprimarycomictraitisstinginessandgreedusuallyof

money,butsometimesofwomen,power,food,orwhateverelse

captureshisfancyatthetime.Hissecondarycomictraitisthefactthatheisold.Jokesaboutprostatetrouble,brokenhips,andbackinmy

dayabound.PantiloneisusuallychasingtheInnamorata.Amodern

televisionversionofPantiloneisMr.BurnsfromTheSimpsons.


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Innamorataistheyoungfemalelover.Sheisnotespeciallywelldevelopedasacharacter,sinceheronlyfunctionistobeinlove.Sheis

generallyinlovewithherself,andwiththeideaofbeinginlovewiththe

inamorato.Hernamealwaysendswitha,suchasIsabella.AmoderndayversionofInnamoratawouldbeGisellefromEnchanted.

Innamoratoistheyoungmalelover.HeisthepromkingofCommedia.LikeInnamorata,hisfunctionistobeinlove.Hisname

alwaysendswithosuchasClaudioorLeandro.Amodernday

versionofInnamoratoisthePrincefromEnchanted.


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Capitanoisabraggartwithahugeego.Hethinksofhimselfasastandoutsoldierandgentleman,andquitetheladysman.However,

Capitanoisthefirsttorunawayatthefirsthintofdanger.Amodern

versionofCapitanoisDaffyDuck,orDwightSchrutefromTheOffice.


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Arleccino(orHarlequin)isoneofthemostwell-knowncommediacharacters.Heisanacrobatwithasharpwit.Hecanbechildlikeand

amorous.Heisknowntocarryaslapstickasaweapon(andhisbrandof

comedyiswhatwewouldcallslapstickcomedy).

ColumbinaisArleccinosfemalecounterpart.Sheistheworldlywise,wittyfemaleservant.Sheisintelligent,saucy,andcanholdherownina

roomfullofmen.IfArleccinomakesanappearance,Columbinawillnot

befarbehind.


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DottoreisanotheroldermanusuallythefatheroftheInnamorata.Heispompus,andknowssomethingabouteverything.Dottoreisvery

goodateloquentspeechesthatdonothaveapoint.Ifsomeoneonstage

isill,Dottorecanbecountedontohaveacurethatisusuallyworsethantheailment.AmodernversionofDottoreisFrasierCranefrom

TVsFrasier.

See if you can identify these characters when you watch TheTaming of the Shrew!


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Works Consulted

www.bardstage.org

www.bardweb.net

Bloom,Harold.ModernCriticalViews:WilliamShakespeareComedies&Romances.

ChelseaHousePublishers,1986.

www2.cedarcrest.edu/academic/eng/lfletcher/shrew/efurstnau.html

www.hsu.edu

www.humanracetheatre/org/commedia_dellarte_Aug_7_SCREEN.pdf

Mowat,BarbaraA.andPaulWerstine,ed.TheNewFolgerLibraryShakespeare:The

TamingoftheShrew.WashingtonSquarePress,1992.

www.rsc.org

www.shakespeareinamericancommunities.org

https://sites.google.com/site/italiancommedia/the-characters

www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CommediaDellArte

the taming of the shrew study guide

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