The Taming of the Shrew: A Norton Critical Edition (Norton Critical Editions)

Normally when buying an individual Shakespeare play, I would go with an Arden edition. In this case I was aware that there was an original source play called Taming a Shrew published anonymously in 1594.One of the peculiarities of the play is the Induction Scene with Christophero Sly appearing at the beginning of the play and a Lord spies as being drunk and decides with his servants to play a practical joke, and when Sly wakes up treat him like a Lord.It's quite an amusing sequence, yet we hear no more from this character Sly,and that storyline is left unresolved.I went with the Norton Edition hoping to get some clarity between this and the source play which begins with an induction by a character named Sly, and has Kate as a lead character.The Norton edition does contain extracts from source materials. I particularly liked reading the 1550 anonymous poem, and extracts from Ovid's Metamorphoses, and other plays, and contains about 8 pages of Taming a Shrew, where Sly reappears throughout the play, and the play itself is the dream of Sly.There is also an essay by Harold Bloom.Now, if you're like me you want the total understanding, so I also recommend the original play Taming a Shrew, published by Frederick Boas, a great scholar on both Kyd and Marlowe.If you are an Amazon Prime member as I write you can watch the Zeffirelli version of The Taming Of The Shrew (1967) for free. I don't know how long this will last.Some scholars are of the opinion that Shakespeare also wrote the original play. Making such a claim though is a double edged sword. If one credits the original play to Shakespeare, the play contains so many allusions to Marlowe and parallel lines with other Marlowe plays, that you would have to say the play either was written by Marlowe, or someone blatantly apeing Marlowe's style making him a plagiarist.The original play shares a common setting Marlowe's Hero and Leander, with reference to their story, and to the Hellespont and Sestos where their story is set. The Marlowe poem registered shortly before his death in 1593 under dubious circumstances would not be published until 1598.According to Henslowe's diary Taming a Shrew was performed multiple times in 1592 and afterwards. There is no performance record of the Shakespeare play before 1623. This is one of many examples of prototype anonymous plays issued which would be followed by Shakespeare plays with similar titles. Other examples would be Richard III 1594, Titus Andronicus 1594, Famous Victories of Henry V 1598, and King Leir 1605, all anonymous, and the Ur Hamlet of which only remnants survive attributed to Kyd.I recommend this edition, and if you wish to explore further, I recommend The Taming of a Shrew: Being the Original of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. I bought it at al another ibris online vendor.After writing this review I discovered a very reasonably priced option Three Shrew Plays: Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew; with The Anonymous The Taming of a Shrew & Fletcher's The Tamer Tamedwhich includes Fletcher's response play A Woman's Prize aka The Tamer Tamed.If I had to do this over again I would probably get that edition.I think you will love it, and I hope this was helpful.

I would have trouble rating anything by Shakespeare less than five stars, I believe he was an absolute genius in terms of understanding human psychology and expressing it in such an exfoliating manner that it in effect justifies the existence of the English language.This play is a wonderful example of playful deliberation on the part of a number of different characters. Petruchio seems to be the most obtuse character at first, opting for Kate on something of a whim, despite people around him giving him fair warning that she would be less than the ideal choice. Bianca is a much more "conventional" choice, if you will, and Shakespeare of course is subtle enough to choose names which echo many different dimensions of meaning (Bianca = white; Katherine = cat, feral, untamed), as a number of his puns will suggest. Grumio's name is actually Groom + Italian ending...I think that the comedy of conjugal union is in focus here, perhaps as less of the actual primary intent of the play, but as a byproduct of it.Consider the passage in Act 4, scene 5:PETRUCHIOCome on, i' God’s name, once more toward our father’s.Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the moon!KATHERINEThe moon? The sun! It is not moonlight now.PETRUCHIOI say it is the moon that shines so bright.KATHERINEI know it is the sun that shines so bright.HORTENSIO(to KATHERINE) Say as he says, or we shall never go.PETRUCHIOI say it is the moon.KATHERINEI know it is the moon.This is obviously a very abridged version, but it is one of the most interesting and revealing exchanges (much contained in parts I omitted); indeed, in order for any kind of union to happen in this world, there must be some degree of modification of one's own personal prisms through which the world is seen, and the "shared delusion" of the possibility of sharing one mind can only be sustained by an utmost betrayal of one's own mental processes; yet, as Wilfred Bion has said, it takes two people to think a thought, so we betray ourselves either way.Kate's speech at the end (infamous) has been interpreted in a number of ways, and many feel it is with a sense of irony that she espouses that which a spouse should do for the sake of her marriage... yet even if there is irony to it, it does not eliminate the fact that she will probably indeed act as she speaks, despite perhaps her better judgment. There is a greater conformity that needs to be tended to, one must not say no... That applies to us in so many realms of our lives; whatever liveliness is contained in us must, for some ineffable "greater good," be tamed and shaped into what has been expected of us. All the fantasy and playing about cannot shield our eyes from a fundamentally disturbing truth this play touches upon.

This is most definitely not the Norton Critical Edition that I paid for. I needed this for a class and there is no way that I will get another in time. Thanks a lot for costing me a letter grade that I have worked so hard for.

Any NCE of a novel or play is a must have for your personal library. I needed this book as a source for a research paper I'm writing. Originally, I ordered it from another library but I realized that I was going to have to turn in all my sources before my paper and I was worried about re-ordering sources. So, I just bought this one because it was only $9 and it's a NCE. seriously, what more needs to be said?

I've ordered this book twice, and both times I've received the wrong book. It's still the play, but it's not the Norton Critical Edition, but a paperback published by Filiquarian Publishing, in large print, and grey in cover color. The Norton Edition contains essays and feedback that are necessary for the class that I'm taking, so it's really important that I have this edition. This is the first time there's been a mixup with Amazon for me.Otherwise, the story's okay, though!

I don't presume to comment on Shakespeare, but of course I am not happy with Katharine's fate, obliged to marry a brute and pretend to like it in order to survive.

More of a fan of the tragedies and histories, but I will say this was a funny play. Was a required read for a Shakespeare class, worth the read.

Not one of my favorites from Shakespeare. I'd heard mixed reviews but overall I just couldn't stand it.