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The Taming of the Shrew: A Level York Notes A Level Revision Guide

A Level Study Notes and Revision Guides

The Taming of the Shrew: A Level York Notes

William Shakespeare

Revise the key points

Read through the key points, then print the cards as a handy revision aid.

1 An English Induction

  • The Christopher Sly scenes are set in Warwickshire, Shakespeare’s home county.
  • There are references to inns, English hunting practices, English names.
  • The action and language contrasts with, and echoes, the Italianate main play.
  • References to wall paintings reflect transformation and sexual violence.

Context

The Taming of the Shrew: A Level

2 Petruccio’s house

  • Petruccio is landed gentry and has thirteen servants, which emphasises both his power and his wealth.
  • The scenes at the house link back to the Induction, with the Lord colluding with his servants.
  • Many of the servants have English-sounding names such as Walter, Sugarsop, etc.
  • Slapstick, visual comedy and rude humour and behaviour abound.

Context

The Taming of the Shrew: A Level

3 Marriage practices in the sixteenth century

  • The marriages in the play demonstrate a mix of English and Italian conventions.
  • Italian Renaissance marriages, such as the ones here, were used for political and tribal alliances.
  • It was normal for brides to have luxurious clothes; Petruccio’s behaviour is thus anti-convention.
  • Protestant marriages often linked husband to God and the king/queen, and wife to the kingdom or church, which makes Katherina’s final speech especially pertinent.

Context

The Taming of the Shrew: A Level

4 The trope of the shrewish wife

  • Historically, shrews were believed to behave aggressively and have a nasty bite, so Shakespeare is drawing on established ideas.
  • A ballad called A Merry Jest of a Shrewd and Curst Wife (c.1550) shows a disobedient wife punished far more severely than Kate for her rebellious nature, perhaps demonstrating Shakespeare’s more sympathetic approach.
  • Folk tales such as Cannetella (Italy) and The Haughty Princess (Ireland) also feature obstinate daughters.
  • John Fletcher wrote a sequel to the play, called The Tamer Tamed (c.1611).

Context

The Taming of the Shrew: A Level

5 The early comedies

  • The Taming of the Shrew is probably one of Shakespeare’s earlier comedies, performed between 1593 and 1595. Others include, The Comedy of Errors and Love’s Labours Lost.
  • Such comedies involved role reversals, misunderstandings, a love plot (or plots).
  • The early comedies are sometimes seen as not as ‘well-rounded’ as the later ones, such as Twelfth Night, which have more substantial subplots, and more shades of dark and light.
  • The Taming of the Shrew has plot anomalies, such as Hortensio suddenly ‘finding’ a rich widow, but it also hints at the blurred line between tragedy and comedy in Kate’s treatment.

Context

The Taming of the Shrew: A Level

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