The taming of a shrew: being the original of Shakespeare's Taming of the shrew

by Frederick S. Boas

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

182 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2010

About the author

Frederick Samuel Boas (1862–1957) was an British scholar of early modern drama.

Reviews

[Roman Clodia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really only interesting to anyone wanting to assess (again) the relationships between Shakespeare's First Folio (1623) and earlier plays (usually, though not only, the so-called 'bad quartos').

This edition by F.S.Boas was printed in 1907 and so reveals the scholarship of its day when it was assumed that the anonymous A Shrew was an early source for Shakespeare's The Shrew in the First Folio (hence the title). More modern scholarship has changed that picture: it's now more or less generally accepted that there was an earlier The Shrew written by Shakespeare and that both A Shrew here and the First Folio The Shrew were later adaptations, A Shrew reconstructed probably from memory by one or more of the actors who played it.

This version is probably most interesting for the framing story of Christopher Sly: The Shrew (F1) starts with Sly then forgets about him so we have an incomplete frame. A Shrew has Sly's interpolations throughout the play and closes with a return to his story, all of which change the audience's reaction to the story of Kate and Petruchio (Petruchio renamed) who become a play-within-the-play. Whether or not Shakespeare's (putative) first lost The Shrew ended the frame or not is unknown.

A Shrew moves the action from Padua to Athens, another noted centre of learning; gives Kate two sisters rather than just Bianca, and changes all the names of the suitors - at heart, though, the plot is the same with the exception of Christopher Sly.

So an interesting text for what it reveals about authorship and play composition in the Renaissance, and the questions it poses about authenticity in relation to Shakespearean texts - but it's not a particularly interesting play in itself for the casual reader.

[Jim Razinha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The more I read Shakespeare, the more I know I can't read Shakespeare. And, the more I appreciate those who can and can turn out a great performance (which is what I expect next week in Dallas's Shakespeare in the Park as they put this one on...they are always excellent.)

So, I will have this on hand to read along while watching...because while the performance will always be superior to the read for me, I still have a hard time following with my hearing. My downloaded copy is from 1917 and this is the closest match of the ones I stopped looking through. Odd mix of form the Bard used...the usual pentameter and less formatted interludes.

[M.L. Rio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not near as good as Shakespeare's later version but still contains some priceless early modern soundbites; i.e., "What, do you bid me kiss your arse?"

[Brecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

so funny