Linfield University DigitalCommons@Linfield
2013 Projects Keck Summer Collaborative Research Projects
Summer 2013
A Shrew by Any Other Name: Balancing Female Power and Performance in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and Fletcher's The Tamer Tamed
Kate McMullan Linfield College
Kyra Rickards Linfield College
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Recommended Citation McMullan, Kate and Rickards, Kyra, "A Shrew by Any Other Name: Balancing Female Power and Performance in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and Fletcher's The Tamer Tamed" (2013). 2013 Projects. Presentation. Submission 1. https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/keck_2013/1
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Kate McMullan and Kyra Rickards
Linfield Center for the Northwest 2013 The Taming of the Shrew Portland Shakespeare Project
Kate (Maureen Porter) and Petruchio’s (James Farmer) first meeting
Photo Credit: David Kinder Disbanding the wedding party Kate is led to bed by Petruchio
Photo Credit: David Kinder A seemingly perfect ending?
Photo Credit: David Kinder
Is Kate Really Tamed? Timeline of Shrew Performances and Adaptations from 1594 to 1844
1601-1603? 1667 1754 The Taming of the Shrew Sauny the Scot Catharine and Petruchio first performed John Lacy David Garrick
1594 1633 1735 1844 The Taming of a Shrew Dual performances Cure for a Scold The Taming of the Shrew Anonymous of Shrew and Tamer James Worsdale performed again 1611? The Tamer Tamed John Fletcher Kate’s Final Monologue Shakespeare’s first Folio, 1623 Sauny the Scot (1667) John Lacy
Margaret: Fie, Ladies, for shame, How dare you infringe that Duty which you justly owe your Husbands; they are our Lords, and we must pay ’em Service.
Petruchio: I’ve Tam’d the Shrew, but will not be asham’d, if next you see the very Tamer Tam’d. A Cure for a Scold (1735) James Worsdale
Authors should study nature, but how few In life resemble these our author drew: In every house some observation spend, At Westminster begin, at Wapping end, You’ll find the scene reversed, and every Dame Like old Alcides,--making monsters tame.
The Tamer Tamed: John Fletcher, aprx. 1611
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60861613@N00/3969626503/ What is the significance of The Tamer Tamed in response to The Taming of the Shrew? Portland Shakespeare Project
Director Michael Nehring gives a few notes to the cast prior to rehearsal
Photo Credit: David Kinder
Petruchio’s (Peter Platt) wife, Kate, has died & he remarries Maria (Kayla Lian)— whom the men think Petruchio will “bury” within the week.
Photo Credit: David Kinder
Maria, with the help of her friend and cousin Bianca (Ashley Williams), decides to tame Petruchio, who has earned a violent reputation for taming women. The women come together to defy their husbands/fathers in a show of solidarity for their cause, barricading themselves in the city and throwing a party. Photo Credit: David Kinder Maria defeats all of Petruchio’s attempts at taming, using her intellect to remain a step ahead of his antics. Photo Credit: David Kinder Finally defeated, Petruchio realizes his wife’s merit and promises to never attempt to tamer her again, in turn Maria concedes to fulfill her role as dutiful, but equal, wife to Petruchio. Photo Credit: David Kinder Prologue; 1633
Ladies to you, in whose defence and right Fletcher’s brave Muse prepared herself to fight A battle without blood—’twas well fought too; The victory’s yours, though got with much ado— We do present this comedy, in which A rivulet of pure wit flows, strong and rich In fancy, language, and all parts that may Add grace and ornament to a merry play, Which this may prove. Yet not to go too far In promises from this our female war, We do entreat the angry men would not Expect the mazes of subtle plot, Set speeches, high expressions, and, what’s worse, In a true comedy, politic discourse. The end we aim at is to make you sport, Yet neither gall the city, nor the court. Hear and observe his comic strain, and when Y’are sick of melancholy, see’t again. ‘Tis no dear physic, since ‘twill quite the cost, Or his intentions, with our pains, are lost.
Epilogue; 1633
The tamer’s tamed, but so as nor the men Can find one just cause to complain of, when They fitly do consider in their lives They should not reign as tyrants o’er their wives; Nor can the women from this precedent Insult or triumph, it being aptly meant To teach both sexes due equality And, as they stand bound, to love mutually. If this effect, arising from a cause Well laid and grounded, may deserve applause, We something more than hope our honest ends Will keep the men, and women too, our friends.
Alternate Prologues/Epilogues
Prologue; 1660, by Thomas […]Pray keep your seats, you do not sit in fear Jordan: As in the dangerous days of Oliver. It is not now—in good time be it spoke— ‘Enter the Red-Coats’, ‘Exit at and Cloak’ […]
Epilogue; 1660, by Thomas […]I fear I have offended the good laws Jordan: Of household government, and given cause By my example (in this wild assay) For some to put into practice what we play, […]
Epilogue; 1757(?), unknown: […]They [beaux] are by nature ready tamed to hand; If not, their wives were in a poor condition, For beaux have nought to please us but submission […]
Epilogue; 1760, by Richard Well! Since I’ve thus succeeded in my plan, Owen Cambridge: And conquered this all-conquering tyrant, To father conquests still my soul aspires, And all my bosom glows with martial fires [...] What does this all mean moving forward?
Photo courtesy of osfashland.org Citations
Fletcher, John. “Appendix 2: Prologues and Epilogues”. Ed. Lucy Munro. The Tamer Tamed. London: Methuen Drama, 2010. 179-87. Print. Fletcher, John. The Woman’s Prize, or the Tamer Tam’d. A Comedy. London; 1633. Early English Books Online. Web. 21 July 2013. John Fletcher. N.d. John Fletcher, Dramatist. Flickr, 30 Sept. 2009. Web. 30 July 2013.