The Taming of the Shrew - William Shakespeare - So You Haven't Read 

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Fun fact - a few years ago, the Royal Shakespeare Company put on a version where all the roles were genderswapped. Not just men playing women or vice versa, but showing an exact version except in a matriarchal society where Catherina was a man and Petruchio a woman, but otherwise played straight. It really helped to sell how uncomfortable it was.

Something we need to take into consideration is that "Comedy" and "Tragedy" have drastically different definitions/connotations back then compared to now. Comedy = Disorder -> Order (often ending in marriage) while Tragedy = Order -> Disorder. A Comedy of Errors begins with characters scattered and ends with everyone married to who they wanted. Hamlet is a tragedy, the queen has been recently remarried and by the end everyone is dead. Shakespeare liked to play around with these mechanics by including plays by adding additional steps or having plays become tragedies or comedies based on the perspective of individual characters. Much Ado About Nothing could be seen as Order -> Disorder -> Order (Marriage -> Death -> Marriage) while Romeo and Juliet is the opposite with Disorder -> Order -> Disorder (Death -> Marriage -> Death). In The Merchant of Venice, the story is a Comedy for the Christian characters (Bassanio/Portia/Antonio) while it can be seen as a tragedy from the perspective of Shylock, the primary Jewish character.

Bonanza does a pretty solid adaptation of this. Major change is, the man is prepping the woman for her betrothed, and in the end it turns out the husband, being a Spaniard, was HOPING for a loud, willful woman.

I’m still kinda on Red from OSP’s side with this one. It does feel more like a classic case of brainwashing, even if it is meant to be a comedic, satirical mirror to society at the time. It just doesn’t quite sit right with me… (maybe my mom was trying to shield me from my dad’s anger a lot, and that could tie into it…)

There's an argument I like that says this play was meant to be a satiric reflection on the "ideals" of society during Shakespeare's days and of how actually far from reality those ideals tend to be. Idk if that was part of the actually point of the play, but I thought the argument fit pretty well regardless. I mean, you have Bianca, who represents the general view of an ideal maiden, but isn't. Katharine is the general depiction of a shrew but is also the only one with a sane head and her turning is more jarring. Petruchio, a man who plays more as the comic relief or fool, all bound in squalor and an inability to control himself as anything near a proper "gentleman," despite being the main love interest and de facto "hero" of the story. Bianca's suitors, who are "upright" gentlemen in the eyes of society, but don't amount to much more than Petruchio at their core,... I can go on.

In 1997, the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada put on this play. After the final scene, where Petruchio has won his bet, they showed Katherina and Petruchio laying in bed, surrounded by cash, tossing it into the air in celebration. That reworked the previous scene from a demonstration of Petruchio's power over his wife into one where the two worked together to lighten the pockets of the real chauvinists. Absolutely magnificent, I saw it twice.

The 1980s romantic comedy series "Moonlighting" did a version of "The Taming of the Shrew" updated for modern times. Near the end Katherina (Cybill Shepherd) refuses to call the sun the moon. Petruchio, (Bruce Willis) who has genuinely fallen in love with Katherina and no longer wants to break her spirit or win the wager, tells all gathered that if his wife says the sun is in the sky, then it is not because she's a shrew, but because she has wisdom.

I had this argument about Heart of Darkness with someone once. They were saying that Heart of Darkness has no value to modern readers because it's racist. My argument is that it has value because Heart of Darkness was very progressive for its time. The value in Heart of Darkness is the lesson of how politics and opinions shift over time and how what is progressive today will be considered backwards in the future. In short, time makes fools of us all. The book's value to the modern reader has changed from what value it had in its own time, but that doesn't mean it's lost value.

This has always been my favorite work of ol Will. I don't find it problematic at all. It's a satire masking as a real lecture masking as a satire. It doesn't absolutely lecture, but it doesn't hide anything either. It asks questions and offers ideas without declaring what is absolute.

I saw this at the Globe Theatre in London ten years ago, and it was great! What made it stand out was a little bit of business the first time we see Kate and Bianca. Instead of the usual staging of Kate abusing poor, helpless Bianca, here they had Bianca being just as vicious, if not more so, to Kate. However, she is fortunate enough to be standing where she saw their father approaching first and immediately turned on the waterworks and went crying to Daddy that she was being victimized. Kate feels betrayed that their father automatically takes Bianca’s side, and the audience was immediately on Kate’s side-as soon as Bianca turned on a dime, the entire crowd went, “Ooooooooo!”

From the perspective of a director, I think the fundamental problem with staging Taming is the same problem that Much Ado About Nothing has where the famous parts of the play aren't actually the point of focus. Structurally, the stuff with Katherine and Petruchio is the B story to a convoluted marriage and mistaken identity plot where everyone has identical sounding Italian names. So, the things that make the play infamous, cataloged here, the things that are worth contending with creatively, are surrounded by bullcrap. And that's something that you need to contend with in adaptation, because do you try to make the mistaken identity plot interesting, or do you yadda yadda the intended structure? Obviously there are other answers, but that's the thing that's made me allergic to it. I don't want to have to deal with Lucentio, I'm gonna go stage A Doll's House.

Some years back, I heard an Irish folk tale from the same tradition (possibly descended directly from Taming of the Shrew; possibly just from the same sources), where, rather than being entirely one-sided, the "taming" results in what amounts to a private code/in-joke for the couple - a way of saying "no, really, do this" rather than the wife being entirely submissive to the husband.

My partner directed a production of Taming just before the pandemic in Brooklyn. She racked her head what to do for the ending so that Katherina wins in the end, without actually changing the text. Her idea that after everyone exists the party and the dialogue has ended, she takes out a knife and exists with a smile.

10 Things I Hate About You is a great adaptation of the play

My first introduction to this was through my ex, not school. And, it was a movie where Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were playing the lead roles.

Honestly, Taming of the Shrew is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, problematic nature of it and all. I love it because it is problematic and it is interesting seeing the warped nature of the past. Also, the comedy is glorious.

I'm not of the view that Shakespeare is the bestest ever, but a comedy can definitely have characters do stuff that's not great, either that's the joke, or they're the joke.

So much like "The Prince" this play is should be seen as one long post that ends with a "/s"

We did the Taming of the Shrew in 6th grade for the entire school, including the kindergarteners, and before I stopped most of my acting it was the first (and last) time I was ever one of the main characters - yeah, I was Petruchio. Wild stuff. Flipped trays and the whole deal.

John Cleese plays Petruchio in a hilarious BBC production from the 70s

you know what might make a good episode for October is a “so you haven’t read…” about Sleepy Hollow! (I mean, there could be plenty of other horror-themed books they could do it on, but, to me anyway, that story will always be the quintessential Halloween story!)

This reminds me of when I read "The Merchant of Venice" and was very taken aback on my first read.

As a headstrong woman, I have to say I have always loved this play. I think with anything that is written we often bring ourselves to it and read it through our own lens of understanding. This has been one of my favorite place since I was a kid I had the whole thing memorized when I was in grade 12. Lol

I'm writing my essay right now, and I haven't read the book, so I just looked up "taming of the shrew extra credits". Thanks so much!

We just had or rather have a discussion about the work of Karl-May in Germany. A publisher was going to publish some books to accompany a new kids version of Winnetou. But canceled it because of social media backlash. Now that predictably caused backlash from the other side. A suggestion for you: From the New World (Japanese: 新世界より, Hepburn: Shin Sekai Yori) by Yusuke Kishi. It's a fun little story about growing up and discovering some unsettling truths about your utopian society.

This play is relevant because there are people that want us to regress back to Elizabethan times.

My favorite take on the tale is the "Atomic Shakespeare" episode of Moonlighting from season 3 (1986) -- which looks to be available here on YT (I'll leave finding it as an exercise for the viewer.) Well worth a watch! Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis at their prime!

Katherine has totally played Petruchio at the end. Who doesn't get that? She's not the one who's tamed; she's tamed him. She is ultimately in charge by "allowing" him to think he's in charge.

I was so angry when i had to do this for a school assignment when the next class got Caesar

I remember playing Petruchio in my eighth grade year in my school's middle school rendition of The Taming of the Shrew. It was pretty awesome, even though I originally signed up for stage crew.

Gosh dang you guys are a treasure! Thanks for the great story of something I otherwise wouldn’t have checked out

I know it's a throwaway joke, but a coffee shop-stage theatre fusion actually is an amazing idea.

Will You do a life of queen Elizabeth video or series? RIP Queen Elizabeth

It's a good reminder that depictions of problematic or outright abusive things does not equal encouraging or condoning those things.

Great video Matt, was fun seeing you at the PAXwest panel! went home and started playing cult of the lamb right away

I actually watched your ending ads because you were good enough to put them at the end.

Since 2023 is the 35th anversery of **The Legend of Drizzt*, could you guys cover the first book published of the saga, *The Crystal Shard** (1988)? **The Legend of Drizzt** goes above and beyond for D&D books by tackling some pretty heavy topics. 🐈‍⬛⚔️🧝🏿‍♂️

Reminds me of high school, why Extra Credits, getting flashbacks of reading the book

A few years ago the Shakespeare festival in Vancouver Canada put on this play, but they modified the ending so she basically revolts against him, it was quite a nice change and they pulled it of very well

This sounds like a psychological horror at first. Funny how comedy looks different after several centuries

Thank you for the video.

Dang I need to check out The Tamer Tamed.

I am literally starting to read the books from these vids now, and I really gotta see this one now too haha

Now we need to know about Titus Andronicus, I think

In brazil we had a soap-opera based on The Taming in the past. It was a rom-com. In that adaptation Petrucio is not only a poor, but kind of rough and uncultured. But he and Catarina end up falling in love precisely because he did not follow the culture of his time, and though he expected some gender roles to be followed, Petrucio gave Catarina more freedom than any man before in her life. He learns respects her and she learns to do the same.

3:29 I played him when we did this play in Upper secondary/high school

If I recall, there was also a love triangle aspect around the younger sister that added to the comedy, with a sing-off and all.

WOOO MORE EXTRA CREDITS

I have read

I read a shortened version of it when I was in the 10th standard. Hilarious and well done.

That tilted got me excited for this one

As a kid I learned about "Taming of the Shrew" from the 1953 movie, "Kiss Me, Kate". I was young enough wear so many concept flew over my head, but I did get there twist on the play focusing more on pride than gender roles. In the beginning of the play Katherine is saying how she is too good to be any mans' wife and her sister might as well get use to being single. At the end of the play the family are sitting around the dinner table, pleased with their skeem to tame Katherine. Bianca makes (I think ) a small disagreement with her new husband. Katherine jumps up and starts lecturing the whole family about the importance of obedience in the same loud and prideful tone she had in the beginning of the play, while her husband just sits there and grins at the foolish family. The moral being that you have to set aside your pride to truly love someone... I think? The movie was complicated enough with it about divorced actors forced to play the leads in the play. I was like 9 when I watched this. I do remember the backstage fight. The Ex Wife whisper yells that the spanking he gave her was supposed to be fake. The Ex Husband retorts that the slap she gave him was supposed to be fake too. It's a lot of this back and forth between these two great actors that hate each other's gut and kiss at the end. Classic Romcom if you think about it. Well that's my experience of "Taming of the Shrew". In the end she wasn't really tamed. 🤷‍♀️

One staging of this play that I've seen changed the ending to after Kate's lengthy monologue at the end, it is revealed that she has slit her wrists and everyone looks on in horror as Petruchio screams for her. I think it can be supposed that Kate did the only thing she could to escape her servitude to Petruchio and this way, she took back the power she had in the beginning. This is much more tragic, of course, but to be honest, I much preferred it to the original as it fits into and plays with the sensibilities of our time more appropriately.

I desperately need "Gender Rolls" as a t shirt or a pin now.

I think Shakespeare might have mixed up one of his comedies with a tragedy. Realized he did, and then was just too stubborn to admit he f-ed up.

Yeah man but 2:14 Let's not forget that as late as the 1950's, Ralph Kramden regularly threatened to punch his wife so hard that she'd land on the Moon...

Nobody involved in this video has ever seen a Lockhorn's comic strip.

I did this play in high school. I was Lucentio.

I'd like to see someone stage or film a full-on captivity horror version of it. Cut most of the silly B-plot about Bianca and her suitors, and just focus on Katherina. That seems like the best way of adapting it for modern times.

Been waiting for this one!

I've seen filmed versions of this where there was definitely a subtext where Petruchio is the first man Katerina has met who treats her like an equal, actually talking to her and bantering with her, instead of, I dunno, just complaining about how "unreasonable" she is. If she had married one of those other goobers, they definitely would have just beaten her. They hint that P & K really are attracted to each other, but K has never been taken seriously before and no one listens to her, so she doesn't know how to behave around men, so meeting P is a real eye-opener for her.

You should do more videos about the immortal bard.

I don't like it when people talk about restricting literature because its "sensitive". Its like that for a reason. Its a reflection. Getting ride of books because you don't like their message says a lot about you.

Being an enbie must've been a lot of fun back then /s

I remember I played Katerina/Katherine a few years ago. It was… strange, to say the least.

Taming of the shrew depicts the most functional Italian marriage ever recorded.

6:33 i agree to this point. canceling something this day is often means deleting something that someone finds offensive and burry it underground. maybe we shouldn't do that. maybe we should frame it in context, to never forgets it, so we didn't do the same mistake

I'm going to figure out a way to "tame" Petruchio. Had it in for that piece of work since reading the book in my spare time during high school.

Shakespeare casts shade on many of his comedies through a prelude, epilogue or both. Shrew, like Romeo & Juliet, is just an early Shakespeare play he wrote before he got much better.

A modern take on the "Taming of the Shrew" is "10 Things I Hate About You" - but instead of marrying off the strong willed older sister, it's simply arranging for a date so the younger sister can date too.

It's interesting how a modernized version was done a while ago. Instead of obedience, the man was asking for her to be nice. She really wasn't nice at all to anyone. When he was being horrible to her, it was more of a, "See how you like it," The speech at the end about how a woman should treat her husband ended with, "He would do the name for me."

So Andrew Tate and Fresh'n'Fit guys existed even back in the days of Shakespeare?

I love everything you guys do. Even with multiple degrees, you still teach me something new

Have you done/when will you come to Dostovjetsky?

Thank you for not taking the bait and just start railing against this play as sexist like all the other youtube channels. As you clearly pointed out it's a satirical representation of courtship played up for laughs.

I actually went to a production of Taming of the Shrew at one of the local universities as part of their Shakespeare Festival. It was largely performed as is, until the very end where Katherina is lecturing about being a good wife, when several members of the audience protested the implications of it (I bet they were actors planted in the audience for this). So, the cast, understanding how badly the ending has aged, suddenly turned it into a standard dance party ending for the curtain call.

Please bring back extra mythology

These Shakespeare episodes are my favorites from this series. But for this story, I don’t feel like laughing. This makes me feel sorry for Katherina.

The characters he wrote are from the 1500’s no one thinks of emulating them, they’re in a different world.

I love this story. In the play we did I was petruchio

I saw a production from the 80's of TOS on w/ John Cleese. It was funny and strange simultaneously.

Can you discuss "The Officer of Köpenick"? It is a good example of what happens to people in during militarism and it is a true story too.

do the tamer tamed next, studied this at University made me realise Shakespeare is only relevant because we try hard to make him relevant

"Conform or be cast out" is a line from Subdivisions by Canadian band Rush.

I recall watching this play with my friend in it, and they made it like a romantic comedy and it was amazing.

I've away thought of Shew in the same vain as The Manchurian Candidate or the TNG episode with the "how many lights" .

The ads start at 7:00, which means they make up almost 30% of the video. Reminds me of American TV!

I actually finished Taming of the Shrew today, and to be honest I don't think it's his best. Of course, to modern sensibilities there isn't a lot that's funny about it today, and ultimately I couldn't really enjoy it. His better works (Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Lear) comes later in the early 1600s, so if you follow the interpretation that the induction is for the "commoner," I would theorize that Shrew was an attempt to make a name for himself. Or maybe he just got better with time. I don't know, not an expert.

Cheers, mate.

The best version is Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. There is tongue in cheek and it also does well comedy wise. But, in a modern lens, it's rough. It has to be viewed in the lens of the time it was written. Much gets lost if you throw out the time frame.

Yeah considering today's gop it's aged very well, they still have those values

I really appreciate the decision to scast the role of Katherina with a "male" actor, even in animated form. It displays more accurately how the play was staged at the time it was written, and also helps shine a light on a lot of the general uncomfy-ness of the play's content.

Awesome and cool! ^_^

It's funny as hell. She kicks his butt

Music is not a good thing but it is the coolest photo in the last year and I will be

can you do a series on georgia plllsss

This play sounds like a prequel to 1984.

Shakespeare is someone a have never studied for my own business...

Is that intro quote from something or is one of theirs?