THE TAMING SHREW - Royal Shakespeare Company

INTRODUCTORY NOTES
In 1928 Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch wrote in his Introduction to the New Cambridge edition of
The Taming of the Shrew:
‘Let us put it that to any modern civilised man, reading . . . the Shrew in his library,
the whole Petruchio business. . . may seem . . . tiresome - and to any modern
woman, not an antiquary, offensive as well.’
What was Shakespeare up to in this early play and how can it say something pertinent to us
in our own time? What can explain Katherine’s transformation from social rebel to
compliant wife? Was Shakespeare, creator of Portia and Rosalind, here in this play an
advocate of Elizabethan mercantile marriage and shrew-taming? Or was he describing
contemporary attitudes and practices for the reflection and possibly reformation of his
audiences? Whatever the answer to that question, what insight can this raucous battle of
the sexes in which the woman loses, give us into the nature and conduct of our own
relationships?
In recent years theatre directors have staged a variety of
answers to that question, ranging from a grim comment on
the continuing repression of women in our own society to
the idea that both Kate and Petruchio find comfort and
peace in mutually-accepted boundaries.
Several contemporary productions have presented Kate and
Petruchio as outsiders who are genuinely attracted to one
another and eventually forge a trusting relationship which
heals old wounds. The production directed by Lucy Bailey
adds to this perspective a very strong sexual attraction - an enormous bed is the central
feature of the set design. Crucially, these two social outcasts find in their relationship the
confidence to mock and reject the commercial, conformist values of the society that has
mistreated them in the first place.
ORIGINAL PERFORMANCE CONDITIONS
The Taming of the Shrew was written some time between 1592 and 1594. It was likely that it
was first performed at the Newington Butts Theatre, now under the southern roundabout of
the Elephant and Castle junction in London. Newington Butts was one of the earliest of
Elizabethan theatres, possibly the first dedicated Elizabethan playhouse.
Shakespeare may have written The Taming of the Shrew for the Earl of Pembroke’s men, one
of the professional theatre companies of the time.
For more about Elizabethan staging practices, read ‘Shakespeare’s theatre’ at:
www.rsc.org.uk/education/resources/social-historical-context
For more about the performance history of Shrew:
www.rsc.org.uk/explore/taming-of-the-shrew/performance-history
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