Literary Criticism. Literary Criticism. Expert Criticism. However, while we know how Kiss Me, Kate came about - a musical inspired by the backstage bickering of the stars in Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne’s spectacularly successful 1935 production of The Shrew - we do not know what the origins of A Shrew are. Scholars have fought bitterly over the many theories put forward to explain A Shrew’s existence but no one has proved for certain what the provenance of this text really is. It might be an early version of The Shrew written by Shakespeare (or someone else); or a rewrite of The Shrew by Shakespeare (or someone else); it might be an adaptation for touring by Shakespeare (or someone else); it might be a badly remembered or pirated version of The Shrew mixed in with fragments from Christopher Marlowe.
Christopher Sly Whatever its origins, however, A Shrew offers some real gems that The Shrew does not. In the Folio, Sly, who is drunk, is thrown out of a tavern, falls asleep and is discovered by a lord who decides to play a trick on him. Literary Criticism. Feminist Interpretation. Erin Furstnau Shakespeare’s plays open themselves up to a world of interpretation. Whether in discourse, historical context, symbolism, or intentions to leave the audience in conflict with themselves, there is no dispute about his plays lending themselves to every reader’s response. My response to reading “The Taming of the Shrew” was a strange one. I understand that this play is meant to be one of Shakespeare’s comedies, and one of his most popular ones at that; however, there seemed to me to be an awkward seriousness in Petruchio’s treatment of Katherine that bordered on something darkly misogynistic rather than comedic.
Pederson explains the parallels between The Taming and Pygmalion, but that one thing in particularly is drastically different--the “transformed” woman’s final speech. In both The Taming and Pygmalion there is a similar frame of a subordinate figure, the characters of Christopher Sly and Alfred Doolittle, who transcends his own social status. Works Cited Bean, John C. Shakespeare Online. Shmoop Study Guide. The Taming of the Shrew is the story of how Petruchio, the money-grubbing wife hunter, transforms the aggressive and bad-tempered Katherine Minola into an obedient, honey-tongued trophy wife. Written by William Shakespeare between 1590 and 1594, it's one of Shakespeare's earliest Comedies – it's also one of his most controversial works. For modern audiences (let's face it, we're a lot more sensitive to social injustices), the play's critical controversy is perhaps second to that of The Merchant of Venice (Merchant of Venice is a play that portrays and analyzes blatant anti-Semitic attitudes and has sparked heated debate over its complex depiction of Shylock, the demonized Jewish villain that is forced to convert to Christianity at the play's end.)
The Taming of the Shrew has been criticized for its representation of abusive behavior and misogynistic attitudes toward women, and the play has pretty much been dogged since it was first performed. Cliffsnotes Study Guide. Sparknotes Study Guide. Summary: Induction I Outside an alehouse somewhere in the English countryside, a drunk beggar named Christopher Sly argues with the Hostess over some glassware he has broken in his inebriated clumsiness. While the Hostess leaves to find the local authorities, Sly passes out, and soon a lord returning from the hunt discovers him.
This lord decides to have a bit of fun with the sleeping beggar and orders his servants to take Sly back to his house and treat him as if he were a lord—to put him in a bed, place rings on his fingers, set a banquet for him, and so on. His huntsmen agree that doing so would be an excellent jest, and they bear Sly offstage. A troupe of players arrives, seeking to offer the lord their services.
The lord welcomes them to spend the night at his home, but he warns them that they must not laugh at the strange behavior of the other lord for whom they will perform. Summary: Induction II Analysis: Induction I–II The Induction is an unusual feature of this play. Modern Interpretation.