The Taming of the Shrew

by William Shakespeare

  Entrances and Exits are fairly thorough in Folio, which has accordingly been followed as faithfully as possible. Where characters are omitted or corrections are necessary, this is indicated by square brackets (e.g. "[and Attendants]"). Exit is sometimes silently normalized to Exeunt and Manet anglicized to "remains." We trust Folio positioning of entrances and exits to a greater degree than most editors.

  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.

  KEY FACTS

  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.

  THE TAMING OF 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)

  [Induction] Scene 1

  running scene 1

  Location: rural England

  Enter Beggar and Hostess, [the beggar is called] Christopher Sly

  SLY I'll pheeze1 you, in faith.

  HOSTESS A pair of stocks2, you rogue!

  SLY You're a baggage3, the Slys are no rogues. Look in the

  chronicles4, we came in with Richard Conqueror: therefore

  paucas pallabris5, let the world slide. Sessa!

  HOSTESS You will not pay for the glasses you have burst6?

  SLY No, not a denier7. Go by, Saint Jeronimy, go to thy

  cold bed8 and warm thee.

  HOSTESS I know my remedy: I must go fetch the thirdborough9.

  [Exit]

  SLY Third, or fourth, or fifth borough, I'll answer him by

  law10. I'll not budge an inch, boy. Let him come, and kindly11.

  [He] falls asleep

  Wind horns. Enter a Lord from hunting, with his train

  LORD Huntsman, I charge12 thee tender well my hounds.

  Brach13 Merriman, the poor cur is embossed,

  And couple14 Clowder with the deep-mouthed brach.

  Saw'st thou not, boy, how Silver made it good15

  At the hedge-corner, in the coldest fault16?

  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 loss19,

  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 fleet22,

  I would esteem him worth a dozen such.

  But sup24 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 cold29 to sleep so soundly.

  LORD O monstrous beast, how like a swine he lies!

  Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image31.

  Sirs, I will practise on32 this drunken man.

  What think you, if he were conveyed to bed,

  Wrapped in sweet34 clothes, rings put upon his fingers,

  A most delicious banquet35 by his bed,

  An
d brave36 attendants near him when he wakes,

  Would not the beggar then forget himself37?

  FIRST HUNTSMAN Believe me, lord, I think he cannot choose38.

  SECOND HUNTSMAN It would seem strange39 unto him when he waked.

  LORD Even as a flatt'ring dream or worthless fancy40.

  Then take him up and manage well the jest:

  Carry him gently to my fairest chamber

  And hang it round43 with all my wanton pictures:

  Balm44 his foul head in warm distilled waters

  And burn sweet45 wood to make the lodging sweet:

  Procure me music ready when he wakes,

  To make a dulcet47 and a heavenly sound.

  And if he chance to speak, be ready straight48

  And with a low49 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 ewer53, 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 disease58.

  Persuade him that he hath been lunatic,

  And when he says he is60, say that he dreams,

  For he is nothing but a mighty lord.

  This do, and do it kindly62, gentle sirs.

  It will be pastime passing63 excellent,

  If it be husbanded64 with modesty.

  FIRST HUNTSMAN My lord, I warrant65 you we will play our part,

  As66 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 office69 when he wakes.

  Sound trumpets

  Sirrah70, go see what trumpet 'tis that sounds.

  [Exit a Servingman]

  Belike71, some noble gentleman that means,

  Travelling some journey, to repose him here.

  Enter Servingman

  How now? Who is it?

  SERVINGMAN An't74 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 please79 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 fitted84 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 happy87 time,

  The rather for88 I have some sport in hand

  Wherein your cunning89 can assist me much.

  There is a lord will hear you play tonight;

  But I am doubtful91 of your modesties,

  Lest over-eyeing of92 his odd behaviour --

  For yet his honour never heard a play --

  You break into some merry passion94

  And so offend him, for I tell you, sirs,

  If you should smile he grows impatient96.

  FIRST PLAYER Fear not, my lord, we can contain ourselves

  Were he the veriest antic98 in the world.

  LORD Go, sirrah, take them to the buttery99,

  To a Servingman

  And give them friendly welcome every one.

  Let them want101 nothing that my house affords.

  Exit one with the Players

  Sirrah, go you to Barthol'mew my page,

  And see him dressed in all suits103 like a lady.

  That done, conduct him to the drunkard's chamber,

  And call him 'madam', do him obeisance105.

  Tell him from me, as he will106 win my love,

  He bear107 himself with honourable action,

  Such as he hath observed in noble ladies

  Unto their lords, by them accomplished109:

  Such duty110 to the drunkard let him do

  With soft low tongue111 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 bosom116,

  Bid him shed tears, as being overjoyed

  To see her noble lord restored to health,

  Who for this seven years hath esteemed him119

  No better than a poor and loathsome beggar:

  And if the boy have not a woman's gift

  To rain a shower of commanded tears122,

  An onion will do well for such a shift123,

  Which in a napkin124 being close conveyed

  Shall in despite125 enforce a watery eye.

  See this dispatched126 with all the haste thou canst.

  Anon127 I'll give thee more instructions.

  Exit a Servingman

  I know the boy will well usurp the grace128,

  Voice, gait and action of a gentlewoman:

  I long to hear him call the drunkard husband,

  And how131 my men will stay themselves from laughter

  When they do homage to this simple peasant.

  I'll in133 to counsel them. Haply my presence

  May well abate the over-merry spleen134

  Which otherwise would grow into extremes.

  [Exeunt]

  [Induction Scene 2]

  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 small1 ale.

  FIRST SERVINGMAN Will't please your lordship drink a cup of sack2?

  SECOND SERVINGMAN Will't please your honour taste of these conserves3?

  THIRD SERVINGMAN What raiment4 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 beef7: ne'er ask me what

  raiment I'll wear, for I have no more doublets8 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-leather11.

  LORD Heaven cease this idle humour12 in your honour!

  O, that a mighty man of such descent,

  Of such possessions and so high esteem,

  Should be infused with so foul a spirit15!

  SLY What, would you make me mad? Am not I

  Christopher Sly, old Sly's son of Burtonheath17, by birth a

  pedlar, by education a cardmaker18, by transmutation a bear-

  herd, and now by present profession a tinker19? Ask Marian

  Hacket, the fat ale-wife20 of Wincot, if she know me not: if she

  say I am not fourteen pence on the score21 for sheer ale, score

  me up for the lying'st knave in Christendom. What, I am not

  bestraught23! Here's--

  THIRD SERVINGMAN O, this it is that makes your lady mourn!

  SECOND SERVINGMAN O, this is it that makes your servants droop25!

  LORD Hence comes it that your kindred shuns your house,

  As27 beaten hence by your strange lunacy.

  O noble lord, bethink thee of thy birth,

  Call home thy ancient29 thoughts from banishment

  And banish hence these abject lowly d
reams30.

  Look how thy servants do attend on thee,

  Each in his office ready at thy beck.

  Wilt thou have music? Hark! Apollo33 plays,

  Music

  And twenty caged nightingales do sing.

  Or wilt thou sleep? We'll have thee to a couch

  Softer and sweeter than the lustful36 bed

  On purpose trimmed up37 for Semiramis.

  Say thou wilt walk, we will bestrow38 the ground.

  Or wilt thou ride? Thy horses shall be trapped39,

  Their harness studded all with gold and pearl.

  Dost thou love hawking41? Thou hast hawks will soar

  Above the morning lark. Or wilt thou hunt?

  Thy hounds shall make the welkin43 answer them

  And fetch shrill echoes from the hollow earth.

  FIRST SERVINGMAN Say thou wilt course45, thy greyhounds are as swift

  As breathed46 stags, ay, fleeter than the roe.

  SECOND SERVINGMAN Dost thou love pictures? We will fetch thee straight

  Adonis48 painted by a running brook,

  And Cytherea49 all in sedges hid,

  Which seem to move and wanton50 with her breath,

  Even as the waving sedges play with wind.

  LORD We'll show thee Io52 as she was a maid,

  And how she was beguiled53 and surprised,

  As lively54 painted as the deed was done.

  THIRD SERVINGMAN Or Daphne55 roaming through a thorny wood,

  Scratching her legs that one shall swear she bleeds,

  And at that sight shall sad Apollo weep,

  So workmanly58 the blood and tears are drawn.

  LORD Thou art a lord, and nothing but a lord.