The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare, Pelican) (Paperback)

by William Shakespeare (Author), Richard Hosley (Editor) "Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is a lively, vigorous and much-adapted play..." (more)
Key Phrases: editors emend, Signor Gremio, Signor Baptista, Signor Hortensio (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Comedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, produced about 1593 and printed in the Folio of 1623. Considered one of Shakespeare's bawdier works, the play describes the volatile courtship between the shrewish Katharina and the canny Petruchio, who is determined to subdue Katharina's legendary temper and win her dowry. The main story is offered as a play within a play; the frame story consists of an initial two-scene "induction": a lord offers the love story as an entertainment for tinker Christopher Sly, recovering from a drunken binge at an alehouse. Although Katharina repeatedly insults Petruchio, he woos, wins, and tames her by insisting that she is actually the soul of gentleness and patience. After their marriage, he makes her forgo food, sleep, and fancy clothing, and he outdoes her mean tongue by abusing the servants. In the final scene, Petruchio wins a bet that his wife is the most obedient after Katharina gives a speech extolling the virtues of wifely subservience. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
'Stanley Wells' OUP Complete Works of Shakespeare is now eight years old and has spawned a new Oxford Shakespeare which appears now in splendidly affordable volumes in that nonpareil of libraries of good reading The World's Classics.' The Oxford Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (March 30, 1964)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140714251
• ISBN-13: 978-0140714258
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,124,406 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clever and witty play, June 30, 2000

By	S. N. Harris (New Mexico) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Taming of the Shrew (The New Folger Library) (Library Binding)

Of all of Shakespeare's plays that I have read, this is the most enjoyable. The characters are real and engaging - the sweetly stupid Bianca and her hoard of suitors, Baptista, who is more interested in selling his daughters to rich husbands than making them happy, the sly and masterful Petruchio, and most of all, Katherine, the Shrew. The play is full of action, comedy, and enough mistaken and hidden identities to keep the reader happily confused.

Katherine, who appears to be "tamed" by Petruchio's cruelties, learns the art of subtlety and diplomacy that will enable her to survive in a society ruled by men. Her speech in the last scene is not a humbling affirmation of the superiority of men, but a tounge-in-cheek ridicule of Petruchio, Lucentio, and Hortensio, who think that a woman can be tamed like a wild animal by a few days of bumbling controll.

The Folger Library of Shakespeare's plays are the most readable editions that I have seen. There are detailed side notes and definitions of unfamiliar words, which are perfect for the reader who is not familiar with Shakespearean English.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oxford World's Classics is the best choice for Shakespeare, February 17, 2004

By	R. Rockwell (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Taming of the Shrew (The Oxford Shakespeare) (Paperback)

There are many reviews of the play below,, so I am reviewing this particular edition of tthe play. As someone reading all of Shakespeare for the second time, I am always alble to learn something from the World's Classics introduction. They are scolarly and complete and the text always has footnotes on the same page. I have tried other editions but these are the best.
The Taming of the Shrew although it does contain episodes that are misogynistic to modern ears does portray a couple truly in love. As an early play Shakespeare is beginning to find his own voice.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious and well constructed, March 8, 2000

By	Sean Ares Hirsch (Swan Lake, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Taming of the Shrew (The New Folger Library) (Library Binding)

If I had not been spoiled by Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors," this could very well have been my favorite comedy. It is comical that the 2 rival suitors for Bianca are able to work together to get Kate married somehow so as to free the "seemingly sweet" Bianca for possible marriage. Petruchio (Kate's eventual husband) offers us a comical passage in 2.1. Another humorous aspect of this play is all the alias identities. Lucentio alias Cambio, Tranio alias Lucentio, and Pedant alias Vincentio. I can not overemphasize Shakespeare's brilliance when all seems well. Towards the end, Petruchio and Kate seem to be doing fine and Lucentio and Bianca will marry. But leave it to Shakespeare. Vincentio (Lucentio's father) goes to visit his son only to be locked out of his son's house by Pedant alias Vincentio. This hilarious scene is such a perfect climatic point. We are exposed to comedy and tension simultaneously when the play suddenly becomes violent. But leave it to Shakespeare to reconcile everyone and end the play with all of the characters including Vincentio and Pedant alias Vincentio enjoying a merry feast!