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

Re-read 3/3/25:

I've been on a serious Shakespeare jag recently, thinking, finding clips online, and then, even introducing my daughter to more than just Hamlet. I just happened to show her a rom com by the name of 10 things I hate about you and she loved it. And then I told her it was based, loosely, on Taming of the Shrew. Amazed, she then didn't argue in the slightest when I asked if she'd like to read, then watch, the Globe version. (For those who don't know, you can watch great, classic versions of the original in the same stage that the originals were first displayed, with all the same feel, jacknapery, and fourth-wall-breaking goodness and bawdry songs and low-brow displays that were the delight of all, right alongside the poetry and high-wit.)

It was glorious.

And even though it's not QUITE the same as being there in person, it comes so much closer than those silly movies with expensive sets. We both laughed up a storm.

And, at least for me, I'm always finding new things to appreciate, on this, my 6th read. I can only hope I will continue to raise a Shakespeare nut. :)


Original Review:

As with all of Shakespeare's plays, there's always a different interpretation always handy at foot, be it a woman's duty to place her hand under her husband's foot or not.

As it is, though, I can both be supremely annoyed with a society that demands that women be always so obedient, culturally, and be wickedly satisfied that Kate and Petruchio have worked out a true meeting of the minds and wills in such a way as to transcend all other's expectations.

There's a little something for everyone in this classic comedy, whether or not you subscribe to the patriarchy or the matriarchy. Kate gets a lot out of the situation because she's discovered just how much power she really holds with the right partner who respects her, and Petruchio finds a mate that will always be his equal in wit and will. Is there another definition of happiness?

Ignore the setting if it upsets you. These men in this man's world, even Petruchio's methods of "taming" his wife. The method merely demonstrated his deeper positive qualities by the negative, just as Kate's shrewishness belied a razor sharp wit.

Don't we all have such depths and thorns?

I've seen this one done in many different Veins, now, and the one constant is this: There are no victors, merely endless combatants that sometimes sue for peace. It could be a true power struggle or perhaps it is just an eventual meeting of the minds. What do we prefer? That's interpretation. :)

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