Be sure to read the first two acts (plus the brief Induction that opens the play) for next week, even though there are NO questions or video to watch. However, here are some ideas to consider for next week, and we'll open the class by examining a specific scene in the play. See you then!
* Why does the play open with the brief Induction that makes the entire play seem 'fictional'? How does this compare with Act 5 of A Midsummer Night's Dream?
* Also, why are the characters in the Induction English (English names and English locations), but the play itself is Italian? Why do you think Shakespeare made that distinction?
* The Taming of the Shrew has a mixture of poetry and prose, but in the first 2 acts, almost no rhyming verse. The verse is almost exclusively blank verse, with only a few lines here and there that rhyme (usually at the end of a speech or scene). Why do you think this is, particularly considering A Midsummer Night's Dream was full of it?
* Why might this play illustrate Bevis' idea that you are what people say you are? Where do we see that in the play? (or possibly, where don't we?)
* Where do you see some obvious echoes or connections to the previous plays, particularly in characters and the roles they play? Based on this, do you think The Taming of the Shrew was written after or before our previous plays (or in-between them?).
* How seriously does Shakespeare treat the business of love and marriage in this play? Do we find people sincerely in love, or it all a game, or an act? How can we tell?
* How do you read the sparring match between Petruchio and Katherine? Is it meant to be angry and threatening? Or light-hearted and flirtatious? Is he really trying to marry her, or just playing a game? Is she offended, or flattered, by his attention?
* Is Petruchio more like Oberon or Robin (someone who mischievously tries to control others), or is more like Dromio and Bottom (someone who is a wise fool--silly, but wiser than he seems)?
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