Read The Taming of the Shrew Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
The Taming of the Shrew (4 page)
Editorial Stage Directions
such as stage business, asides, indications of addressee and of characters’ position on the gallery stage are only used sparingly in Folio. Other editions mingle directions of this kind with original Folio and Quarto directions, sometimes marking them by means of square brackets. We have sought to distinguish what could be described as
directorial
interventions of this kind from Folio-style directions (either original or supplied) by placing them in the right margin in a different typeface. There is a degree of
subjectivity about which directions are of which kind, but the procedure is intended as a reminder to the reader and the actor that Shakespearean stage directions are often dependent upon editorial inference alone and are not set in stone. We also depart from editorial tradition in sometimes admitting uncertainty and thus printing permissive stage directions, such as an
Aside?
(often a line may be equally effective as an aside or a direct address—it is for each production or reading to make its own decision) or a
may exit
or a piece of business placed between arrows to indicate that it may occur at various different moments within a scene.
Explanatory Notes
explain allusions and gloss obsolete and difficult words, confusing phraseology, occasional major textual cruces, and so on. Particular attention is given to non-standard usage, bawdy innuendo, and technical terms (e.g. legal and military language). Where more than one sense is given, commas indicate shades of related meaning, slashes alternative or double meanings.
Textual Notes
at the end of the play indicate major departures from the Folio. They take the following form: the reading of our text is given in bold and its source given after an equals sign, with “Q” indicating a reading from the 1594 First Quarto text of
The Taming of a Shrew,
“F” from the First Folio of 1623, “F2” a correction introduced in the Second Folio of 1632, “F3” a correction from the Third Folio of 1664 and “Ed” one that derives from the subsequent editorial tradition. The rejected Folio (“F”) reading is then given. Thus for Act 2 scene 1 line 250: “
2.1.250 askance
= Ed. F = a sconce.” This means that we have preferred the editorial emendation “askance” which makes sense of the line “Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance,” whereas “a sconce” makes none and must be a scribal or printing error.
MAJOR PARTS
(
with percentages of lines/number of speeches/scenes on stage
): Petruchio (22%/158/8), Tranio (11%/90/8), Kate (8%/82/8), Hortensio (8%/70/8), Baptista (7%/68/6), Lucentio (7%/61/8), Grumio (6%/63/4), Gremio (6%/58/6), Lord (5%/17/2), Biondello (4%/39/7), Bianca (3%/29/7), Sly (2%/24/3), Vincentio (2%/23/3), Pedant (2%/20/3).
LINGUISTIC MEDIUM:
80% verse, 20% prose.
DATE:
Usually considered to be one of Shakespeare’s earliest works. Assuming that Quarto
The Taming of a Shrew,
registered for publication May 1594, is a version of the text rather than a source for it (see below), the play is likely to predate the long periods of plague closure that inhibited theatrical activity from summer 1592 onward, but there is no firm evidence for a more precise date.
SOURCES:
The Induction’s scenario of a beggar transported into luxury is a traditional motif in ballads and the folk tradition; the shrewish wife is also common in fabliaux and other forms of popular tale, as well as classical comedy; Socrates, wisest of the ancients, was supposed to be married to the shrewish Xanthippe; the courtship of Bianca is developed from George Gascoigne’s
Supposes
(1566), itself a prose translation of Ludovico Ariosto’s
I Suppositi
(1509), an archetypal Italian Renaissance comedy suffused with conventions derived from the ancient Roman comedies of Plautus and Terence. Some scholars suppose that
The Taming of a Shrew
(1594) is a badly printed text of an older play that was Shakespeare’s primary source, but others regard it as an adaptation of Shakespeare’s work; it includes the Christopher Sly frame, the taming of Kate (with a differently named tamer) and a highly variant version of the Bianca subplot.
TEXT:
The 1623 Folio is the only authoritative text; it seems to have been set from manuscript copy, possibly a scribal transcript that retains some of the marks of Shakespeare’s working manuscript. The 1594 Quarto
Taming of a Shrew
must be regarded as an autonomous work, but it provides a source for emendations on a few occasions where it corresponds closely to
The Shrew
.
LIST OF PARTS
in the Induction
Christopher
SLY
, a drunken beggar/tinker
A
LORD
HOSTESS
A
PAGE
named Bartholomew
Players
Huntsmen
Servants
BAPTISTA
Minola, a gentleman of Padua
KATE
(Katherina), his elder daughter, the “shrew”
BIANCA
, his younger daughter
PETRUCHIO
, a gentleman from Verona, suitor to Kate
LUCENTIO
, in love with Bianca (disguises himself as “Cambio,” a Latin tutor)
VINCENTIO
, Lucentio’s father, a merchant from Pisa
GREMIO
, an aged suitor to Bianca
HORTENSIO
, friend of Petruchio and suitor to Bianca (disguises himself as “Litio,” a music tutor)
TRANIO
, Lucentio’s servant
BIONDELLO
, a boy in the service of Lucentio
Petruchio’s servants
GRUMIO
CURTIS
A
PEDANT
A
WIDOW
A
TAILOR
A
HABERDASHER
Servants and Messengers (Petruchio has servants named
NATHANIEL
,
JOSEPH
,
NICHOLAS
,
PHILIP,
and
PETER
)
running scene 1
Location:
rural England
Enter Beggar and Hostess,
[
the beggar is called
]
Christopher Sly
SLY
I’ll
pheeze
1
you, in faith.
HOSTESS
A pair of stocks
2
, you rogue!
SLY
You’re a
baggage
3
, the Slys are no rogues. Look in the
chronicles
4
, we came in with Richard Conqueror: therefore
paucas pallabris
5
, let the world slide. Sessa!
HOSTESS
You will not pay for the glasses you have
burst
6
?
SLY
No, not a
denier
7
. Go by, Saint Jeronimy, go to thy
cold bed
8
and warm thee.
HOSTESS
I know my remedy: I must go fetch the
thirdborough
9
.
[
Exit
]
SLY
Third, or fourth, or fifth borough, I’ll answer him
by
law
10
. I’ll not budge an inch, boy. Let him come, and
kindly
11
.
[
He
]
falls asleep
Wind horns. Enter a Lord from hunting, with his train
LORD
Huntsman, I
charge
12
thee tender well my hounds.
Brach
13
Merriman, the poor cur is embossed,
And
couple
14
Clowder with the deep-mouthed brach.
Saw’st thou not, boy, how Silver
made it good
15
At the hedge-corner, in the
coldest fault
16
?
I would not lose the dog for twenty pound.
FIRST HUNTSMAN
Why, Belman is as good as he, my lord.
He
cried upon it at the merest loss
19
,
And twice today picked out the dullest scent.
Trust me, I take him for the better dog.
LORD
Thou art a fool. If Echo were as
fleet
22
,
I would esteem him worth a dozen such.
But
sup
24
them well and look unto them all:
Tomorrow I intend to hunt again.
FIRST HUNTSMAN
I will, my lord.
LORD
What’s here? One dead, or drunk? See, doth he breathe?
Sees Sly
SECOND HUNTSMAN
He breathes, my lord. Were he not warmed with ale,
This were a
bed but cold
29
to sleep so soundly.
LORD
O monstrous beast, how like a swine he lies!
Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image
31
.
Sirs, I will
practise on
32
this drunken man.
What think you, if he were conveyed to bed,
Wrapped in
sweet
34
clothes, rings put upon his fingers,
A most delicious
banquet
35
by his bed,
And
brave
36
attendants near him when he wakes,
Would not the beggar then
forget himself
37
?
FIRST HUNTSMAN
Believe me, lord, I think he
cannot choose
38
.
SECOND HUNTSMAN
It would seem
strange
39
unto him when he waked.
LORD
Even as a flatt’ring dream or worthless
fancy
40
.
Then take him up and manage well the jest:
Carry him gently to my fairest chamber
And
hang it round
43
with all my wanton pictures:
Balm
44
his foul head in warm distillèd waters
And burn
sweet
45
wood to make the lodging sweet:
Procure me music ready when he wakes,
To make a
dulcet
47
and a heavenly sound.
And if he chance to speak, be ready
straight
48
And with a
low
49
submissive reverence
Say ‘What is it your honour will command?’
Let one attend him with a silver basin
Full of rose-water and bestrewed with flowers,
Another bear the
ewer
53
, the third a diaper,
And say ‘Will’t please your lordship cool your hands?’
Someone be ready with a costly suit
And ask him what apparel he will wear.
Another tell him of his hounds and horse,
And that his lady mourns at his
disease
58
.
Persuade him that he hath been lunatic,
And when he says he
is
60
, say that he dreams,
For he is nothing but a mighty lord.
This do, and do it
kindly
62
, gentle sirs.
It will be pastime
passing
63
excellent,
If it be
husbanded
64
with modesty.
FIRST HUNTSMAN
My lord, I
warrant
65
you we will play our part,
As
66
he shall think by our true diligence
He is no less than what we say he is.
LORD
Take him up gently and to bed with him,
Some carry out Sly
And each one to his
office
69
when he wakes.
Sound trumpets
Sirrah
70
, go see what trumpet ’tis that sounds.
[
Exit a Servingman
]
Belike
71
, some noble gentleman that means,
Travelling some journey, to repose him here.
Enter Servingman
How now? Who is it?
SERVINGMAN
An’t
74
please your honour, players
That offer service to your lordship.
Enter Players
LORD
Bid them come near.— Now, fellows, you are welcome.
PLAYERS
We thank your honour.
LORD
Do you intend to stay with me tonight?
SECOND PLAYER
So please
79
your lordship to accept our duty.
LORD
With all my heart. This fellow I remember,
Since once he played a farmer’s eldest son.
’Twas where you wooed the gentlewoman so well:
I have forgot your name, but, sure, that part
Was aptly
fitted
84
and naturally performed.
FIRST PLAYER
I think ’twas Soto that your honour means.
LORD
’Tis very true, thou didst it excellent.
Well, you are come to me in
happy
87
time,
The
rather for
88
I have some sport in hand
Wherein your
cunning
89
can assist me much.
There is a lord will hear you play tonight;
But I am
doubtful
91
of your modesties,
Lest
over-eyeing of
92
his odd behaviour —
For yet his honour never heard a play —
You break into some
merry passion
94
And so offend him, for I tell you, sirs,
If you should smile he grows
impatient
96
.
FIRST PLAYER
Fear not, my lord, we can contain ourselves
Were he the
veriest antic
98
in the world.
LORD
Go, sirrah, take them to the
buttery
99
,
To a Servingman
And give them friendly welcome every one.
Let them
want
101
nothing that my house affords.
Exit one with the Players
Sirrah, go you to Barthol’mew my page,
And see him dressed in
all suits
103
like a lady.
That done, conduct him to the drunkard’s chamber,
And call him ‘madam’,
do him obeisance
105
.
Tell him from me,
as he will
106
win my love,
He
bear
107
himself with honourable action,
Such as he hath observed in noble ladies
Unto their lords,
by them accomplishèd
109
:
Such
duty
110
to the drunkard let him do
With soft low
tongue
111
and lowly courtesy,
And say, ‘What is’t your honour will command,
Wherein your lady and your humble wife
May show her duty and make known her love?’
And then with kind embracements, tempting kisses,
And
with declining head into his bosom
116
,
Bid him shed tears, as being overjoyed
To see her noble lord restored to health,
Who for this seven years hath
esteemèd him
119
No better than a poor and loathsome beggar:
And if the boy have not a woman’s gift
To rain a shower of
commanded tears
122
,
An onion will do well for such a
shift
123
,
Which in a
napkin
124
being close conveyed
Shall
in despite
125
enforce a watery eye.
See this
dispatched
126
with all the haste thou canst.
Anon
127
I’ll give thee more instructions.
Exit a Servingman
I know the boy will well
usurp the grace
128
,
Voice, gait and action of a gentlewoman:
I long to hear him call the drunkard husband,
And
how
131
my men will stay themselves from laughter
When they do homage to this simple peasant.
I’ll
in
133
to counsel them. Haply my presence
May well abate the over-merry
spleen
134
Which otherwise would grow into extremes.
[
Exeunt
]
running scene 1 continues
Enter aloft the drunkard
[
Sly
]
with Attendants, some with apparel, basin and ewer, and other appurtenances, and Lord
SLY
For God’s sake, a pot of
small
1
ale.
FIRST SERVINGMAN
Will’t please your lordship drink a cup of
sack
2
?
SECOND SERVINGMAN
Will’t please your honour taste of these
conserves
3
?
THIRD SERVINGMAN
What
raiment
4
will your honour wear today?
SLY
I am Christophero Sly, call not me ‘honour’
nor ‘lordship’. I ne’er drank sack in my life: and if you give me
any conserves, give me
conserves of beef
7
: ne’er ask me what
raiment I’ll wear, for I have no more
doublets
8
than backs, no
more stockings than legs, nor no more shoes than feet —
nay, sometime more feet than shoes, or such shoes as my
toes
look through the over-leather
11
.
LORD
Heaven cease this
idle humour
12
in your honour!
O, that a mighty man of such descent,
Of such possessions and so high esteem,
Should be infusèd with so foul a
spirit
15
!
SLY
What, would you make me mad? Am not I
Christopher Sly, old Sly’s son of
Burtonheath
17
, by birth a
pedlar, by education a
cardmaker
18
, by transmutation a bear-
herd, and now by present profession a
tinker
19
? Ask Marian
Hacket, the fat
ale-wife
20
of Wincot, if she know me not: if she
say I am not fourteen pence
on the score
21
for sheer ale, score
me up for the lying’st knave in Christendom. What, I am not
bestraught
23
! Here’s—
THIRD SERVINGMAN
O, this it is that makes your lady mourn!
SECOND SERVINGMAN
O, this is it that makes your servants
droop
25
!
LORD
Hence comes it that your kindred shuns your house,
As
27
beaten hence by your strange lunacy.
O noble lord, bethink thee of thy birth,
Call home thy
ancient
29
thoughts from banishment
And banish hence these abject lowly
dreams
30
.
Look how thy servants do attend on thee,
Each in his office ready at thy beck.
Wilt thou have music? Hark!
Apollo
33
plays,
Music