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    The Taming of the Shrew
    The Taming of the Shrew
    The Taming of the Shrew
    Audiobook2 hours

    The Taming of the Shrew

    Written by William Shakespeare

    Narrated by Hilton Edwards

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Unabridged cast performance of Shakespeare's comedy about the courtship of Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSaland Publishing
    Release dateJan 10, 2011
    ISBN9781908338747
    Author

    William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest dramatist in the English language. Shakespeare is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon.”  

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    Reviews for The Taming of the Shrew

    3.5/5

    1,831 ratings21 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I bet every older sister secretly likes this play.
    • 4/5
      As always, a great edition from the Arden publishers.
    • 5/5
      I followed along with my book and the speakers nailed each word of the play. They were very entertaining, accurate, and maintained a speed that was easy to follow.
    • 2/5
      I'm sure we could argue the feminist interpretation for ages, but though full of Shakespeare's usual wit I couldn't figure out what he was going for here and it ended up just being a frustrating read.
    • 5/5
      My Favourite book in the entire world.
    • 2/5
      I'm sure we could argue the feminist interpretation for ages, but though full of Shakespeare's usual wit I couldn't figure out what he was going for here and it ended up just being a frustrating read.
    • 3/5
      I listened to this, and enjoyed it. I still can't quite get over the speed of the marriage or the way Kat seems to submit, but in this it was played with more humour and it felt a little like they were baiting each other than either actually believed what they were saying. Had entirely forgotten that the main event is supposed to be a play that is laid on. The fact that the first play is never resolved feels rather odd.
    • 3/5
      Amazing.....
    • 4/5
      I love the story and of the many adaptions aside from this the original text, my favorite movie version is 10 Things I Hate About You. Every time I watch it I miss Heath Ledger, because I liked him better in this role then Richard Burton. My second favorite version was McLintock with John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara.
    • 2/5
      It's bawdy and crass; juvenile humor. I guess this explains why I enjoyed it in high school, but didn't enjoy it as much as an adult.
    • 3/5
      Well, Toto, we're a long way from Beatrice and Benedick here, that's for sure! This is among the plays that are Much better watched than read, if only because directors and actors can make subtle adaptations and add nuance to situations and characters who are, as written, fairly brutal and unattractive. Done “right,” this is a very entertaining play – I particularly enjoyed the BBC's “Shakespeare Retold” version, starring Shirley Henderson and Rufus Sewell. As with “Much Ado About Nothing,” though, “The Taming of the Shrew” features one interesting couple and one dull one. Bianca and her swain actually spend very little time together, but it's plenty. Katherine and Petruchio may or may not be suited to each other, but we'll never know because Petruchio has all the power and no qualms about using it. What “saves” the play is Katherine's own sheer nastiness, as evidenced by her unwarranted brutality to both her sister and her tutor. She's been bullying her family and servants, so we don't feel terribly sorry for her when she receives the same treatment from her new husband. The clowns in “Shrew” are irritating rather than witty, and the framing device adds little. Still, it's Shakespeare, and there are some clever wordplays, images, and amusing bits of dialog. And Katherine and Petruchio do seem to have arranged an amicable detente by the end, where we can feasibly imagine them going along for several years before one of them murders the other.
    • 2/5
      Read this twice, once for high school and once for college, and both times I despised it. I don't remember why, but I think it was some feminist outrage that I had...
    • 4/5
      I read this play when I was in the sixth grade and at that time I did not completely understand the meaning of "male ego" or "abusive relationships". As the message hidden in this play depicts that women of those times had to succumb dutifully to their "chauvinist" husbands, years later I came to realize how the society of that era looked down upon the uprising and independent women of all times.

      While the reason for this play may or may not have been to contemplate women rights and gender equality, nothing makes it anything less than an excellent read, perhaps a minute literary classic in my say!

      First of all, notoriously famous for the dark comedy, this play in my opinion is the best Shakespearean Comedy. The play consisting of extremely comical, vivid and humorous energetic ploys never offered me a chance to put it down and stop reading.

      From the beginning of the play the readers get an entertaining idea of how terrifying a shrew, the leading character Kate is because of her amusingly foul mouth and vicious temper. Pair that with an equally determined and witty leading male character, Petruchio, who employs comical methods to shape Kate, and you get a splendid comedy. The play proceeds with an interesting insight into how Kate gradually evolves into his devoted wife and a polite woman.

      The characters and their dialogues fashion the utmost wit and brilliant excitement all through out the play. Every scene is composed of numerous hilarious and amusing acts that just grip the readers to continue being indulged in the entertaining story.

      The play also stands out because of its unique structure. Most Shakespearean plays comprise of romance, banishment, and disguise as a key theme to the plot.
      For instance, one never fails to identify the certain styles of Shakespeare; namely one method would be: Male characters in the beginning disguise themselves and they fall for the wrong women who were also disguised. However, everyone reconcile with their true one in the end after a series of farce incidents.
      Another signature style would be: Groups of high ranked men and their king are banished to the forsaken islands or forests by a nemesis. Then the noble men and their king would regain power and get invited back in the end by the strange love marriage between the children of the king and his nemesis!

      To a great relief this play consisted of none of those techniques which therefore was a remarkably fresh way of journeying through a wonderful Shakespeare comedy.
    • 2/5
      I had to give it a second star because some of the jokes were funny but really, this is just horrible. I'm not saying it should never be performed because it's a part of our cultural heritage and significant for influencing a lot of later works but I really think it's unsuitable for casual performance, for entertainment of general audiences. I saw it performed at a summer park show and Petruccio's player kept stopping to apologize out of character because the audience was booing him so loudly.
    • 5/5
      This is honestly mu favorite work by Shakespeare. I love the humor within it. I have read this for classes I have performed Katherine's final Monologue. I know people find that this plays has become a past idea of thinking of how women should behave since we are in a modern day world that that works for men and women to be equal without bowing down. However, at the time this play was written, that was not yet the thinking. No matter what, this is and always will be a favorite of mine.
    • 3/5
      A better play to see than read. There's room for a lot of physical comedy here, and I think it shows that WS was better at tragedy than broad farce. Still, it's noted as having been read four times. "Kiss Me, Kate!" is more fun.
    • 4/5
      The introductory scenes with Sly were a surprise to me! I was also somewhat surprised by how much of the musical Kiss Me Kate is directly from the play.
    • 2/5
      What an odd, misogynistic play. Most interesting was the induction with Christopher Sly, a drunkard who is tricked into believing he is a rich lord. This plot line, included to set up the whole identity switch storyline, is never resolved in my text. I know Shakespeare is considered a master playwright of the English language and I do truly appreciate his work, but isn't he a bit unoriginal at times? There's the whole "borrowing" stories from other authors and then the fact that many of his stories feature the same motifs--funny servants, identity mixups, instalove followed by marriages, rich Italians in search of dowries and hot wives, mean fathers. I guess the Elizabethan theatre-going crowd had a specific niche, and Shakespeare knew how to work within it. Which, if you think about it, isn't that different from our generation being obsessed with vampires and paranormal romances. In 5 centuries, will our descendants look back at our reading tastes and wonder why it all seems the same?
    • 5/5
      An adventurous take on Shakespeare's usual headstrong woman, in this case subdued, at least until the play's end — though the last scene suggests that her fire is not put out by any means. A marriage made in hell, perhaps.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyable, funny and entertaining Bacon was a gifted writer.
    • 5/5
      This may be my favorite Shakespeare, but I haven't read them all yet. This is my favorite so far. I love the way the man keeps pushing in on Kate until she receives his love.