Sunday, January 12, 2014

Review: The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I've seen a film adaptation of this play (the Burton-Taylor one) as well as a televised performance of "Kiss Me Kate" in which this the play within the play. From the beginning of the play, the comedic aspect of the performance is set in the Induction, however that little "subplot" is never resolved though Shakespeare having a young page play a woman is nice use of the prohibition of women on stage at the time.

The misogyny of the play can't be ignored obviously, however one has to remember the times the play was created even with Elizabeth as queen. The main plot and the subplot were funny and well thought out to a good finish for each. However the overall Act and Scene structure seemed a bit off as several entire Acts were devoted to only one scene while another, Act IV, was overly long. While the plots weren't hurt, it felt like a lot of cramming in stuff that could have been spread out.

Overall, Shrew is a significant step up from Two Gentlemen.

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