Jacob on the Shrew intro

Jean Howard's Introduction to Shrew (Jacob Ridenour)

The Taming of the Shrew deals with many themes of womanly obedience and how it is to be obtained in ways we would probably rightfully address as “problematic” if not just overtly “sexist” today.  The Petruccio-Katherina plot is based on northern European folk stories with summaries such as the one provided on page 140, “a strong-willed wife is beaten bloody by her husband and then wrapped inside the salted skin of a dead horse named Morel.” It was, to contemporary readers and play-goers, completely normal to be expected to control their wives and to even be punished if they acted up. It is worth wondering how Shakespeare’s contemporaries saw, for example, Katherina’s monologue: were they conditioned to believing that she had found happiness through resignation or did they see her giving up as done ironically? While its possible that Shakespeare was possibly being ambiguous about this, I can’t imagine reading something today that was potentially ambiguous on this subject. It is worth considering as well, that while the story is obviously inspired by folk stories of men beating their women into submission, violence does not play nearly as much of a role in The Taming of the Shrew as it would in previous works. Petruccio subjects her to public humiliation and private deprivation in order to teach her submissiveness – is Shakespeare condoning one means of subduing women over another? Is he okay with any means of subduing women at all?  Is Taming of the Shrew meant to spark debate on the topic, and is that enough to accept it for what it is?

Picture: a woodcut of the English ballad “A Merry Jest of a Shrewd and Curst Wife Lapped in Morel’s Skin for Her Good Behavior,” which Shakespeare probably derived elements from.