The Taming of the Shrew (Dover Thrift Editions)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486297659 ISBN 13: 9780486297651

Publisher: Dover Publications, 1997

A rough-and-tumble farce centered around a lively battle of the sexes, The Taming of the Shrew brims with action and bawdy humor. The unconventional romance between a lusty fortune-hunter and a bitter shrew unfolds to the accompaniment of witty, fast-paced dialogue and physical humor in this excellent introduction to Shakespearean comedy.
The freebooter Petruchio arrives in Padua to hear of Katharina, a beautiful heiress whose waspish rants and caustic personality have repelled all attempts at courtship. Professing to admire a woman of spirit, Petruchio immediately sets about his wooing. The initial encounter between "Kate" and her wily suitor is spiked with impassioned exchanges of blows as well as jests. After a madcap wedding ceremony, the still-protesting Kate is whisked away to be "killed with kindness" and reborn as a loving wife.
One of the Bard's earliest and most popular plays, The Taming of the Shrew is rife with subplots involving his customary devices of disguise and mistaken identity. The vivid language, studded with elaborate puns, is an engaging complement to the play's slapstick humor. Reprinted complete and unabridged in this inexpensive edition, The Taming of the Shrew will delight any reader with its wonderful wordplay and rollicking good spirits.

Book Description:

This is a new edition of an anonymous play which appears to be an alternative version of Shakespeare's popular comedy, The Taming of the Shrew. Stephen Miller suggests that someone rewrote Shakespeare's more complicated version, making it shorter, simpler and different in some ways. The main difference between the two plays concerns the framing story of Christopher Sly, the drunk, who disappears early on in Shakespeare's version, but who has a much larger role in A Shrew.This edition provides a modernised text and extensive commentary.

From the Publisher:

Webster’s paperbacks take advantage of the fact that classics are frequently assigned readings in English courses. By using a running English-to-Spanish thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this edition of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare was edited for three audiences. The first includes Spanish-speaking students enrolled in an English Language Program (ELP), an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program, an English as a Second Language Program (ESL), or in a TOEFL® or TOEIC® preparation program. The second audience includes English-speaking students enrolled in bilingual education programs or Spanish speakers enrolled in English speaking schools. The third audience consists of students who are actively building their vocabularies in Spanish in order to take foreign service, translation certification, Advanced Placement® (AP®) or similar examinations. By using the Webster's Spanish Thesaurus Edition when assigned for an English course, the reader can enrich their vocabulary in anticipation of an examination in Spanish or English. TOEFL®, TOEIC®, AP® and Advanced Placement® are trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which has neither reviewed nor endorsed this book. All rights reserved.