Taming of the Shrew - Context

Question 1

stock comic characters

Answer 1

archetypal (typical) characters

e.g. drunk and wastrels, young lovers, shrew, disobedient young women, servants and masters

Question 2

commedia dell’arte

Answer 2

a form of 16th-18th century comic Italian theatre based on stock characters
–> improvised scenes, classically done by an ensemble to emphasise comedy

Question 3

the shrew and shrew literature

Answer 3

a ‘shrew’ = typically bossy woman, common in 16th/17th century culture
talking too much was a key characteristic (seen in Katharina) of a shrew
many ballads of shrews existed

Question 4

elizabethan views on marriage

Answer 4

in upper classes marriage was transactional rather than for love
fathers would choose a husband and provide them a dowry - usually land, money or other valuables

Question 5

interpretations of elizabethan gender roles

Answer 5

women seen as being men’s property: first they were ‘owned’ by their fathers before being ‘sold’ to their husbands
women expected to be quiet and obey male counterparts
HOWEVER, Queen Elizabeth on throne so some historians argue that this visible power influenced domestic relationships

Question 6

when (abouts) was the taming of the shrew written

Answer 6

1594

Question 7

classic characters within commedia dell’arte

Answer 7

‘gli inamorati’ - the young lovers (usually what the genre revolved around)
‘il vecchi’ - the old/powerful men
‘il zanni’ - the servants

Question 8

classic structure of commedia dell’arte

Answer 8

improvised comedy, focused on the interaction between characters
building of the comic plot towards humorous climax (is the humorous climax Katharina being tamed? is it all a joke?)

Question 9

rough translation of commedia dell’arte

Answer 9

‘theatre of the professional artist’