The Taming of the Shrew

Love and marriage are the concerns of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Lucentio’s marriage to Bianca is prompted by his idealized love of an apparently ideal woman. Petruchio's wooing of Katherine, however, is free of idealism. Petruchio takes money from Bianca’s suitors to woo her, since Katherine must marry before her sister by her father's decree; he also arranges the dowry with her father. Petruchio is then ready to marry Katherine, even against her will.

Katherine, the shrew of the play’s title, certainly acts much changed. But have she and Petruchio learned to love each other?—or is the marriage based on terror and deception? This is just one of the questions this play raises for us.

The dating of The Taming of the Shrew is complicated. A play of the same name, printed and performed in 1594, may have been an early or reported version. Shakespeare's play was printed in the 1623 First Folio. Its sources include other contemporary works.

Productions at the Folger

• The Taming of the Shrew (Folger Theatre, 2012)
• The Taming of the Shrew (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1998)

Early editions

First Folio

LUNA: First Folio: S2v - 2v1r

Hamnet: STC 22273 Fo. 1 no. 68

Second Folio

LUNA: Second Folio: S2v - V1r

Hamnet: STC 22274 Fo. 2 no. 07

First Quarto

LUNA: First Quarto

Hamnet: STC 22327 Copy 1

Modern editions

The Taming of the Shrew can be read online with Folger Digital Texts and purchased from Simon and Schuster. The play can also be purchased in Three Comedies, a collection that also includes A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night.

Hamnet link to Folger Edition: PR2753 .M6 2002 copy 2 v.30

Notes

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