Classics

The Taming of the Shrew (No Fear Shakespeare)

The Taming of the Shrew (No Fear Shakespeare)

  • Downloads：7726
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-09-02 07:53:54
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：William Shakespeare
  • ISBN：141140100X
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
  • Download

Summary

No Fear Shakespeare puts Shakespeare's language side-by-side with a facing-page translation into modern English—the kind of English people actually speak today。

ebook （online read） can be found here

Renowned as Shakespeare's most boisterous comedy， The Taming of the Shrew is the tale of two young men， the hopeful Lucentio and the worldly Petruchio， and the two sisters they meet in Padua。

Lucentio falls in love with Bianca， the apparently ideal younger daughter of the wealthy Baptista Minola。 But before they can marry， Bianca's formidable elder sister， Katherine， must be wed。 Petruchio， interested only in the huge dowry， arranges to marry Katherine -against her will- and enters into a battle of the sexes that has endured as one of Shakespeare's most enjoyable works。

Download

Reviews

Connor Smith ，

a） now I want to read the tamer tamedb） I choose to read this as a proto-feminist work

Charlene ，

For school。 very misogynistic

aelin ，

that's way too sexist even for old Bill that's way too sexist even for old Bill 。。。more

Noah Kidd ，

"The Taming of the Shrew" has， understandably， become synonymous with sexism。 The title of the play alone is explicitly misogynistic by modern standards。 The central element of the plot （the taming of a bestial woman by a strong-willed man） seems shamelessly misogynistic。 Katherine's closing monologue exhorting her fellow women to blindly obey their husbands has the appearance of a call for women's subjugation。 In short， it is easy to come to the conclusion that this play is a sexist screed。The "The Taming of the Shrew" has， understandably， become synonymous with sexism。 The title of the play alone is explicitly misogynistic by modern standards。 The central element of the plot （the taming of a bestial woman by a strong-willed man） seems shamelessly misogynistic。 Katherine's closing monologue exhorting her fellow women to blindly obey their husbands has the appearance of a call for women's subjugation。 In short， it is easy to come to the conclusion that this play is a sexist screed。The apparent sexism of the Taming of the Shrew tends to provoke two responses from modern audiences。 The first response is to defend Shakespeare by interpreting his play as an elaborate condemnation of sexism。 This to me seems to reflect wishful thinking。 For one thing， a general criticism of the plight of women would have been very exceptional for the time。 While some people recognized particular injustices against women （for instance， many people in late 16th century England argued that physical violence against wives was unacceptable）， it would be extraordinary if Shakespeare actually intended this play as a condemnation of sexism。 Furthermore， the primary duty of any playwright was to entertain。 It seems unlikely to me that Shakespeare would structure an entire play around sending an anti-misogynist message。 It seems much more likely to me that Shakespeare wrote this play first and foremost to entertain。 He probably chose to write about a husband taming his wife because he knew it would gain the attention of his audience and make them laugh。 The men in the audience would find the bestial depiction of a wife hysterically funny while the women would appreciate the buffoonish portrayals of men and the over-the-top depiction of marital discord。 The second response of audiences has been to interpret this play as nothing more than a sexist screed and an outrageous expression of 16th century misogyny。 I think that this interpretation is a little extreme。 While this play certainly is an outrageous expression of 16th century misogyny， The Taming of the Shrew portrays Katherine's husband， Petruchio， in absurd terms。 He is dishonest， obstinate， manipulative， and abusive。 He even commands his wife to say that the sun is the moon and won't proceed further until she has done so。 Throughout his entire "taming" of Katherine， Petruchio debases himself shamelessly。 He behaves like a madman。 If this play is simply a sexist exhortation for women to obey their husbands， why is the husband portrayed as a stubborn， manipulative liar who debases himself in his pursuit of dominance， all the while making unreasonable demands like "say that the sun is the moon？"Both of these aforementioned interpretations strike me as unsatisfactory。 It is unlikely that Shakespeare intended this play as a condemnation of sexism， but it can't quite be summed up as a sexist screed， either。 Instead， I think this play is a satirical take on the discord of marriage。 Shakespeare amused his Elizabethan audiences by portraying the relationship between husband and wife as an animalistic struggle for dominance， in which the wife obstinately asserts herself and the husband debases himself in his stubborn determination to get his way。 This is not to say that the play doesn't reflect many sexist ideas， preoccupations， and biases。 Many elements of this play are clearly misogynistic and should be recognized as such。 But I'm not sure we should go so far as to condemn the work as a whole as a sexist screed。 Maybe this play could be more fairly described as a satirical take on marital discord with strong sexist elements。 In any case， this play is funny enough and entertaining enough to be worth reading and watching。 Above all， it is an interesting play because it has been sparking conversations about gender， sexism， and misogyny for centuries。 For anyone interested in these conversations， The Taming of the Shrew is must-read material。 。。。more

Gemma ，

I hate Shakespeare

Linda Steiger ，

Re-read this reading Anne Tyler's "Vinegar Girl，" one the entries in the Hogarth Press Project inviting contemporary authors to re-imagine a play （of their choice） by Shakespeare。 Well， I confess， I'm not sure what to think about "Shrew"！ Never one of my favorite Shakespeares。 This is a play about gender roles in marriage， about disguises and the inability of some people to see through them， and about madness （mad people can’t see through disguises？ that's not true）， and it's a farce， flavored w Re-read this reading Anne Tyler's "Vinegar Girl，" one the entries in the Hogarth Press Project inviting contemporary authors to re-imagine a play （of their choice） by Shakespeare。 Well， I confess， I'm not sure what to think about "Shrew"！ Never one of my favorite Shakespeares。 This is a play about gender roles in marriage， about disguises and the inability of some people to see through them， and about madness （mad people can’t see through disguises？ that's not true）， and it's a farce， flavored with some broad self-reflective slapstick comedy that ends with a long， somewhat strange， speech by Kate on obedience of wives to husbands， a speech that is like finger-nails squeaking on a blackboard for a woman today。 I think it's better played than read， as it’s very dependent on repartee， on “business” （both verbal and physical）， and on a kind of wink-wink back and forth wit。 There's lots of disagreement among play-goers and critics alike about what it all means。 Taken straight （I mean at a simple literal level）， "Shrew" can easily be read as about domestic abuse （misogyny） used to enforce a social hierarchy that in the Sixteenth Century universally placed married women below their husbands on the “Great Chain of Being。” Widows might be “merry，” but wives were supposed only to be obedient and dutiful。 Girls needed to be married off appropriately by their fathers （the paterfamilias）; marriage represented her coming of age， and was the only way she could achieve full adulthood and become “independent” of the family， in both economic and individual terms。 Bearing children was a woman’s primary role， and the legitimacy of those children （which made them able to inherit under the law） meant church approved marriage before the birth was required。 Everything else a woman might do was secondary。 She was the vessel through which the patrimony flowed。 However， this old idea was even as Shakespeare wrote， being undermined by a definitely odd-ball queen [Elizabeth I]。 She understood the role of women so well that she refused， out of patriotism， out of concern for her country （she said）， to marry anyone at all。 Marriage would not the politic choice for a queen， said Eliza--so she developed and wore her own disguise as the Virgin Queen， with "favorites" but not lovers （ha！）。 No Victoria for her， populating the thrones of Europe with her children， mother of England， of Europe， with Albert by her side （dear Bertie）。 No！ The proper choice for England thought Queen Bess was spinsterhood， since marriage to any foreign Royal or noble Englishman would necessarily place her country under the foot of one of her political rivals （Spain， France）， or， if she married an Englishman， elevate a rival family and “usurp” her throne， technically speaking。 I mean look what happened to her dad--Henry 8， and her mom， the infamous Ann Boleyn， That would be untenable， so Elizabeth doesn’t marry。 She maintains position as outspoken， powerful， dominant figure， while she allows various men to court her in absentia， and amuses herself by holding them all off。 She takes lovers but bears no children （abortions？ exposure？ who knows） and several times she jails her lovers if they became importunate。 Unmarried no child of hers would be legitimate anyway， and illegitimate children are a very bad thing for the sovereign: they can easily become pretenders to the throne and launch a war; and she knew all about that！ Three hundred years later， Victoria handled the marriage question differently （it was a different Age）， turning herself into a child-bearing machine （that was a risk: she might have easily died in child birth）。 But Vickie did fine， using her fertility to create an empire of connections for England。 For Lizzie， no resolution to the marriage question was better than any resolution。 And that was the context in which Shakespeare wrote “Shrew”—his first “comedy，” written in 1993/4， when Elizabeth （b。 1533）was well beyond child bearing years， and firmly situated on her throne （the Armada defeated in 1588 and Mary Queen of Scots executed 1587）。 Note， QEI played the marriage game to the end of her life （d。 1603）—a cat and mouse game， as it were。 Anyway， I don’t like the simple straight reading of "Shrew" as a play about misogyny， though it’s definitely there to be found。 Nor do I like Harold Bloom’s alternate reading—Bloom claims that Kate fell in love with Petruchio “at first sight” and so quickly figured out that if to obey him meant she could not rule him。 I watched for evidence of this as I re-read the play， but didn’t see it at all。 How could Kate fall in love at first sight （if at all） with Petruchio， who is a thoroughly obnoxious man， mindlessly applying all contemporaneous procedures for “taming” （or “un-spoiling”） an unruly wife: verbal contradiction; public and private shaming。 It begin with the marriage celebration itself when he punches out the priest and storming away， and goes on and on。 Anyway， how could he love her？ as he decides to marry Kate sight unseen。 He knows of her nasty reputation， but he’s broke and she’s rich and her father has put out word that he’ll give her away to the first bidder。 （Nice guys！） He wants to get her out of his house because she’s a big pain in the ass （she punches her sister in an early scene）。 Kate’s sister Bianca is almost as bad， but prettier， more compliant but she possesses a smaller dowry。 And anyway Dad （Baptista） says his eldest daughter must marry first， which is what sets Bianca’s suitors out to find a husband for Kate: voila Petruchio。 Baptista may prefer the more compliant Bianca， but he treats both daughters as objects for barter。 I puzzle over all the disguises in this play too， well aware it’s a frequent device in Shakespeare’s comedies to distance particular characters from the rules of social hierarchy and gender— recall that Portia disguises herself as a young male law student to take on Shylock。 Shakespeare often treats traditional social rules as unreasonably limiting。 In "Shrew，" disguise is a device used by her suiters to get past Papa and court Bianca alone。 It can be confusing when the play is read; often works better on stage。 Lucentio， the pretend tutor， courts Bianca and wins her love--apparently Bianca easily sees through his disguise—while Lucentio's servant Tranio， in disguise， cons Baptista into signing the marriage agreement。 Really？ This works？ Point being， I guess， that marriage involves two different jobs--winning the girl’s love， and making a business deal with the father。 Gremio， another of Bianca's suitors， disguises himself as a lute teacher to compete for Bianca but fails due to a bad joke: he is， says Bianca， too “fretful”！ （ha-ha！） Well， the play is a farce。 But the madness just goes on and on and on。 。。。more

readbyjulia ，

Absolutnie cudowne。

janie ，

3。5"i burn， i pine， i perish" — i don't know what it is about this line， but i just stared at it in awe for a little bit。 it's simply magnificent， methinks。this play had me for a bit。 i was enjoying it。 there was a lot of quick back and forth and i found it to be a page turner。 i found a great audiobook version that had a full cast which helped put some great voices to the play。 but then， things started going downhill， mostly with the misogyny。 especially with the mental abuse that is perpetuate 3。5"i burn， i pine， i perish" — i don't know what it is about this line， but i just stared at it in awe for a little bit。 it's simply magnificent， methinks。this play had me for a bit。 i was enjoying it。 there was a lot of quick back and forth and i found it to be a page turner。 i found a great audiobook version that had a full cast which helped put some great voices to the play。 but then， things started going downhill， mostly with the misogyny。 especially with the mental abuse that is perpetuated against katherina—not letting her eat or sleep until she submits to petruchio。 forcing her to watch petrucio abuse and berate people in his employ， subconsciously reaffirming to katherina that this will happen to her should she make him unhappy。 in essence， i fundamentally disagree with the notion that a woman needs to be tamed， regardless of the period that it was written in。 partially， there was some similarity to Pygmalion for me。 i didn't much enjoy that play myself， but at the very least took comfort in the slight fact that， by the end， eliza had gained some of her own agency back。 at the very least， pygmalion stood very strongly on the point of gender solidarity， something that this play severely lacked in my own opinion。 。。。more

Scott ，

My favorite comedy by Bill。

Michael A。 Johnston ，

Some cheesy humor （I'm ok with that） and some ideas on the place of women in society that really needed to have died out in the sixteenth century。 Some cheesy humor （I'm ok with that） and some ideas on the place of women in society that really needed to have died out in the sixteenth century。 。。。more

Gabi ，

☆ 2。5 ☆

Joshua ，

Problematic play， but what a fascinating performance history。 The introduction and commentary materials are very helpful， but can be a bit esoteric。

Sandhya ，

Not as good as she’s the man

Mitu Raj ，

Probably the most hilarious and witty work of Shakespeare。

Sab ，

Adivinen a quien se le ocurrió comprar una antología con tres obras corridas de Shakespeare。Ahora adivinen quien tiene ganas de tirar a la basura dicho libro y no puede porque TODAVIA le falta leer Otelo。Si con El Rey Lear me dio bloqueo lector， con La fierecilla domada -aunque fuera una lectura mucho más ligera- hirvió de rabia cada partícula verdemorada feminista de mi existencia。 Para ser una comedia nunca en mi vida me había reído tan poco。 Para la época， Catalina （la "fierecilla"） tiene un Adivinen a quien se le ocurrió comprar una antología con tres obras corridas de Shakespeare。Ahora adivinen quien tiene ganas de tirar a la basura dicho libro y no puede porque TODAVIA le falta leer Otelo。Si con El Rey Lear me dio bloqueo lector， con La fierecilla domada -aunque fuera una lectura mucho más ligera- hirvió de rabia cada partícula verdemorada feminista de mi existencia。 Para ser una comedia nunca en mi vida me había reído tan poco。 Para la época， Catalina （la "fierecilla"） tiene un carácter terrible y por su naturaleza fuerte de opiniones resulta una mujer intolerable， pero hasta que no se case ella， su hermana menor Bianca no tiene derecho a siquiera conocer hombres， por lo que los pretendientes de Bianca resuelven conseguir a un "esposo" para Catalina。 Hasta ahí la reseña。 Y fuera de broma， Catalina es el menor de los problemas， y hasta cierto punto tiene más parte de víctima que de fiera: claramente su papá favorece a su hermana menor en todo， lo cual a la pobre Bianca tampoco le ayuda pues se carga encima el resentimiento inmerecido de su hermana。 Los pretendientes de Bianca， salvo uno， son un atajo de idiotas que de alguna manera se consiguen para su propósito a alguien peor， pues Petruchio además de interesado es un gusano y un cabrón。 Esta obra es un tributo a los hombres maltratadores， tóxicos y desgraciados de todo el mundo， y no concibo como el autor de obras tan bonitas como El mercader de Venecia y Los dos Hidalgos de Verona fue capaz de encontrar la gracia en un argumento como este。 Si han visto la película "10 cosas que odio de ti"， quédense con esa versión。 En serio。 。。。more

Dani Martinez ，

Should be considered a tragedy not a comedy honestly。 I enjoyed it but hated the fact that Katherine did end up being "tamed" Should be considered a tragedy not a comedy honestly。 I enjoyed it but hated the fact that Katherine did end up being "tamed" 。。。more

Captmashpea ，

This story is way more of a bummer then the positive feelings I have associated with the movie 10 Things I Hate About You。 The breaking of a spirit is disheartening to watch but reading the play with others sparked many conversations about different interpretations which is something that I love about Shakespeare the room for interpretation。 （Read Aloud with My Shakespeare Zoom Group）

The_noxbook ，

Uff。。。 Entiendo el contexto histórico y social de la obra y bla bla pero sinceramente a día de hoy creo que esta obra no merecía que yo perdiera mi tiempo。 Sé que no puedo juzgarla con ojos actuales， pero no lo puedo evitar。Rezuma misoginia por los cuatro costados。 No tengo necesidad de leer esto por muy afamado que sea como dramaturgo Shakespeare。 A mí no me ha domado vaya

Gina ，

At least we got 10 Things I Hate About You out of this mess。

Procrastinator ，

The most enjoyable aspect of this play was witnessing ridiculous and humoristiqe scenes of wordplay， banter and crossdressing， but at the same time experiencing a sinister and disturbing undertone。 Although The Taming of the Shrew isn't well-known， it is indeed very Shakespearean。 It covers themes of inequality and social hierarchy， depicting society's rigid definitions of roles， yet ambiguous and fluidity nature。 Sure， this play can be deemed as controversial as it does display abusive and sexi The most enjoyable aspect of this play was witnessing ridiculous and humoristiqe scenes of wordplay， banter and crossdressing， but at the same time experiencing a sinister and disturbing undertone。 Although The Taming of the Shrew isn't well-known， it is indeed very Shakespearean。 It covers themes of inequality and social hierarchy， depicting society's rigid definitions of roles， yet ambiguous and fluidity nature。 Sure， this play can be deemed as controversial as it does display abusive and sexist content （I understand if ppl dislike this， but I don't think its a good enough reason to completely reject the work and label it as 'a Shakespeare failure'。） In my opinion， this play serves to mock society's double standards rather than encourage the power-abuse towards the lower class （Katherina's last speech can be interpreted as victorious， rather than her conforming。） Only a work this good would be open to large interpretation， and spark controversy and contempt。 。。。more

Gabriela ，

I just read that there was a study conducted in 2005 on the understanding of Shakesperean English nowadays and one of the theatre critics involved （an English native speaker） confessesd he could only understand about 30% of the play in question。 So I find it much easier to accept my struggle， admit my defeat and look for a copy in Romanian。 I did love the parts I undestood though :）

Emaan ，

Can't believe shakespeare copied 10 things I hate about you 😔 Can't believe shakespeare copied 10 things I hate about you 😔 。。。more

Maru Areizaga ，

Mansplain， manifest， manipulate

Ailén ，

Podía sentir como crecía mi enojo a medida que avanzaban los actos， me niego a justificarla diciendo que eran "las creencias de la época"。 Es un claro ejemplo de violencia doméstica。 Podía sentir como crecía mi enojo a medida que avanzaban los actos， me niego a justificarla diciendo que eran "las creencias de la época"。 Es un claro ejemplo de violencia doméstica。 。。。more

Amphitrite ，

If you read this play， you know exactly why it's getting the one star。 I don't care what was appropriate for the time period because the male audience that found this funny in Shakespeare's time still exists in modern times。 If you read this play， you know exactly why it's getting the one star。 I don't care what was appropriate for the time period because the male audience that found this funny in Shakespeare's time still exists in modern times。 。。。more

Mollie ，

4 ⭐️’s （Great）。

Eskil ，

Buuuuuuudet er i hvert fall mye vill banning og harselering

Fatmah ，

في البدايه استمتع بالكتاب والله السهلة التي تم إيصالها كما أنها تحتوي على جانب فكاهي لايقاوم ولاكني في النهايات كانت ذكوريه جدا وأردت إنهاء الكتاب وكان هناك كلام واضح موجهه بقسوة إلى المراءة وهذا ماازعجني بشدة في نهاية الكتاب

noha ，

thanks， i hated it

Niké ，

Kdyby to nebylo k maturitě， tak bych to snad ani nedočetla。 Překlad pěkný， proti tomu jen snad ta počeštěná jména。 Ale ten příběh je děsný。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Taming of the Shrew (No Fear Shakespeare)

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Taming of the Shrew (No Fear Shakespeare)&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Taming of the Shrew (No Fear Shakespeare)&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0