Scene from Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrew' (Katharina and Petruchio)
Shakespeare · Drama

The Taming of the Shrew

William Shakespearec. 1591
Influence16th pct
Popularity59th pct

Read this if you…

  • like exploring art that has most people think is totally immoral/problematic now (almost more fun reading this knowing its messed up)
  • have already read the best shakespeare comedies and are checking boxes, still some shakespeare gold in there

Skip this if you…

  • aren't willing to go slow, read notes, look up analyses of famous passages (only way to "get" shakespeare)
  • foolishly think shakespeare is overrated
  • haven't read the classic comedies yet
  • don't like misogynistic themes

Why It Matters

This is the most controversial of Shakespeare's comedies, a battle of the sexes that ends with a woman submitting to her husband in public. Whether that ending is sincere, ironic, or a performance inside a performance has been argued for centuries with no agreement. Every generation that stages it ends up checking its own assumptions about gender and power against the play.

The Groblé Take

Lots of funny scenarios, payoff is a little dated, but still pretty funny. Petruchio is a very compelling character

Connections

Where to go next

Built Onwhat came beforeThe Taming of the S…Metamorphoses

  • Metamorphoses by Ovid. The Taming of the Shrew built on it. - Shakespeare frames the play's theme of transformation through Ovid from the very first scene — Sly's chamber is decorated with painted episodes from the *Metamorphoses*, Io and Daphne among them - Scholars call the *Metamorphoses* Shakespeare's favorite book, and the *Shrew* is one of the places it shows most - Read Ovid's tales of bodies and selves remade and you'll catch what the staging is quietly doing underneath the comedy
See the full map
Gallery

Depicted in Art

Petruchio confronts the tailor over Katherina's gown while she sits between them; the tailor recoils as Petruchio rejects the garment.

Washington Allston, 1809

Petruchio leans in the doorway controlling the room while Katherine turns her face away in contempt during Act II's first wooing scene.

Robert Braithwaite Martineau, 1855

Katherine sits frustrated as Petruchio waves the haberdasher and tailor away, refusing the cap and gown brought for her.

Charles Robert Leslie, 1832

The drunken tinker Sly sprawled before the bemused Lord and his servants in the play's Induction scene.

William Quiller Orchardson, 1867

Petruchio drags Katherine away from the wedding breakfast while Baptista, Bianca, and the guests protest behind them.

Francis Wheatley, 1795

A crowded Renaissance wedding feast with Petruchio and Katherine at the table, guests reacting to his outrageous behaviour.

Carl Gehrts, 1885

Editions

Recommended Editions

#1Top Pick$6.99$6.51

Folger Shakespeare Library

2004

Folger's the readable one. Text on one page, notes on the facing page, written in plain English instead of textbook-speak. Catches every word and reference you'd otherwise Google, without breaking the scene to do it.

Buy on Bookshop
#2

SparkNotes (No Fear Shakespeare)

2004

$7.99$7.45Buy
#3

Arden Shakespeare

2010

$130.00Buy

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Deep Dive

What It's About

Spoiler warning

This summary gives away plot details.

Notable Quotes

“Why, there's a wench! Come on, and kiss me, Kate.”

— Petruchio, Act V, Scene II

“This is a way to kill a wife with kindness.”

— Petruchio, Act IV, Scene I

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