The Taming of the Shrew
Taming of the Shrew, The,a comedy by Shakespeare , first printed in the folio of 1623 , probably written c. 1592 or earlier and based in part on the Supposes adapted by G. Gascoigne from Ariosto . In 1594 a quarto text called ‘The Taming of a Shrew’ was published; this was once thought to be Shakespeare's source, but its exact relationship with Shakespeare's play is uncertain: it may represent in part a reported version of it.
The play begins with an induction in which Christopher Sly, a drunken Warwickshire tinker, picked up by a lord and his huntsmen on a heath, is brought to the castle, sumptuously treated, and in spite of his protestations is assured that he is a lord who has been out of his mind. He is set down to watch the play that follows, performed solely for his benefit by strolling players. Sly appears again at the end of i. ii, but disappears after that in the Folio text; in the bad...
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