[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-623224-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-623224-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","aspects-of-comedy-the-taming-of-the-shrew","Aspects of comedy - The Taming of the Shrew","","An introductory overview explains how Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew can be interpreted through the comedic genre. It links comedy elements such as disguise, marriage plotting, and slapstick humour to the play, while addressing the tension between laughter and troubling ideas about women’s subservience. It also considers historical context, differing critical responses, the play’s main and sub-plot structure, and the induction frame built around Christopher Sly.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/aspects-of-comedy-the-taming-of-the-shrew/623224/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/aspects-of-comedy-the-taming-of-the-shrew/623224.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"hdkawk","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-02","2026-10-20",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"Why is The Taming of the Shrew considered part of the comedic genre?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The text explains that it is labelled a comedy and includes comedic features such as disguise, marriage intrigue, and slapstick humour that can make audiences laugh.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What aspects make the play difficult for a modern audience?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"It may promote the idea that women should be subservient to men and should be “tamed,” potentially by physical force, which many feminist critics view as an attack on women.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"How do the main plot and sub-plot function in the play?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"The main plot follows Petruchio’s attempt to marry Kate and bring her into obedience, while the sub-plot centers on Bianca’s suitors using disguises and schemes that create confusion before the final revelations.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},623224,1792482653,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,94,99,104,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":92,"slug":93},70,"exam",{"id":95,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":33,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":95,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},3985747859855,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Aspects of comedy: Text overview-The Taming of the Shrew   \nWhat follows is an explanation of some of the ways this text can be considered in relation to the genre of comedy. This document is intended to provide a starting point for teachers in their thinking and planning in that it gives an introductory overview of how the text can be considered through the lens of the genre. There are some brief comments on how some elements of the genre can be linked to the text, although teachers and students may well think of other relevant ideas. Not all of the texts on the set texts list contain every element of the genre and that is reflected in this commentary. It is hoped this will provide a useful starting point and a springboard for thinking about the text in more detail.  \nOverview  \nThe Taming of the Shrew is a problem play in terms of the comedic genre. It is labelled as a comedy and true to the genre is about ordinary people (unlike tragedy which focuses on kings and nobles) . It also has elements, such as disguise, marriage and slap-stick humour which place it clearly within the comedic genre and it can be performed simply to make audiences laugh. However, it also seems to promote the idea that women should be subservient to men and if they are not they should be tamed, by physical force if necessary. This can make the play very difficult for a modern audience (and many feminist critics see the play as an outrageous attack on women) . The play was not always palatable with audiences in former times either (John Fletcher, perhaps offering a creative critical response to the play wrote a sequel in 1611, The Woman's Prize or The Tamer Tamed in which Petruchio gets his comeuppance in a second marriage; and in the early twentieth century Shaw thought Shakespeare's play was 'disgusting to modern sensibilities'. There is clearly no single way of responding to The Taming of the Shrew and different performances make decisions about the ambiguities that the play sets up. But any performance is only an interpretation and at A-level we are dealing with the printed version of the text and so students will need to spend time debating a range of different ideas about it.  \nContext  \nOne way to potentially open up some ways of reading the play is to consider its context. It was written at a time when the Elizabethan church clearly stated that women should be subservient to men and that a husband was the head of his wife as Christ was the head of the church. It also is part of a well-established  \nand long standing tradition of literature about shrewish wives. Such ‘shrew literature’ involved the wife being tamed, often by the most horrifically violent means. In comparison to many of his counterparts Petruchio is actually a model of restraint. None of these points are made to excuse or condone the events of the play but they might help illuminate different ways of thinking about it. It is also important to note that by the time Shakespeare was writing, ideas about societal roles were starting to change. Romantically formed marriages were beginning to challenge the old ideas of arranged unions and different ideas about marriage and the treatment and behaviour of women and men are certainly reflected in the play.  \nPlots and sub-plots  \nThere are essentially two plots in the play, although there is also potentially a third if one considers the role of Christopher Sly and the frame that his story provides.  \nThe main plot line, though, surrounds Petruchio, who has come to Padua to marry a rich wife. On meeting Kate he is faced with a challenge and a potential prize. She is rebellious, headstrong and non-compliant. He decides that he will have her and her wealth and sets about taming her. By the end of the play he appears to have succeeded in his quest and he has an obedient wife, one who publically declares that a wife's duty is to her lord, her life and her keeper and that if she is disobedient to his 'honest will' she is a 'graceless traitor'. ","cbCainy81Tjhg4KM","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainy81Tjhg4KM","pdf",156084,"English","# Overview\n## Comedy and problem-play elements\n## Gender politics and modern difficulty\n# Context\n## Elizabethan religious views and marital hierarchy\n## Shrew literature tradition\n## Changing social roles\n# Plots and sub-plots\n## Main plot: Petruchio and Kate\n## Sub-plot: Bianca, suitors, and disguise\n## Induction and the frame story","[{\"question\":\"Why is The Taming of the Shrew considered part of the comedic genre?\",\"answer\":\"The text explains that it is labelled a comedy and includes comedic features such as disguise, marriage intrigue, and slapstick humour that can make audiences laugh.\"},{\"question\":\"What aspects make the play difficult for a modern audience?\",\"answer\":\"It may promote the idea that women should be subservient to men and should be “tamed,” potentially by physical force, which many feminist critics view as an attack on women.\"},{\"question\":\"How do the main plot and sub-plot function in the play?\",\"answer\":\"The main plot follows Petruchio’s attempt to marry Kate and bring her into obedience, while the sub-plot centers on Bianca’s suitors using disguises and schemes that create confusion before the final revelations.\"}]","Aspects of comedy - The Taming of the Shrew | PDF",1792467931,13]