Wordsworth Classics: The Taming of The Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew is one of the most famous and controversial of Shakespeares comedies. Edited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex. The Wordsworth Classics Shakespeares Series presents a newly-edited sequence of William Shakespeares works. The textual editing takes account of recent scholarship while giving the material a careful reappraisal. The Taming of the Shrew is one of the most famous and controversial of Shakespeares comedies. The central relationship, in which Petruchio boisterously `tames a rebellious Kate, has often appeared problematic. In the theatre, it has been treated in a diversity of ways, so that Kates apparent capitulation varies between the ironic and the sincere. Feminists have been divided in their responses. The provocative vitality of this comedy has been transmitted by numerous adaptations for stage and screen, notably the film directed by Franco Zeffirelli and the Cole Porter musical, Kiss Me, Kate.