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| The Shrew Katherina by Edward Robert Hughes (1898) |
William Shakespeare
c. between 1590 and 1592
1/5 stars
Baptista Minola of Padua has two lovely daughters: Katherina and Bianca. Bianca has many suitors, being retiring and maidenly. Katherina, on the other hand, is a shrew, short of temper and sharp of tongue. Baptisa vows that he will not allow Bianca to marry until her older sister has.
Petruchio comes to Padua, intent on finding a rich wife. Katherina is just such a prospect, and he quickly arranges with Baptista to marry her, and then sets about to tame her.
I tried to view this play through 16th century eyes, rather than 21st century sensibilities, and to take into account that it is a farce, but I still did not care for it. I even watched a version (my review here), hoping that seeing it staged would make it better, but to no avail.
To begin with, it starts as a play within a play, but that subplot is dropped immediately and never mentioned again. Then, the humor, even ignoring it's outdated-ness, does not appeal to me.
Also, there is Kate herself; a such termagant is hard to pity. Petruchio is not a character with whom one can sympathize, either, and is certainly not a hero to be admired. Next, we have the actual taming, psychologically cruel and degrading, which no one deserves, however much a shrew.
The bottom line is that I found nothing enjoyable about the play, and I'm surprised that it continues to be performed.
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