The Taming of a Shrew

This is a new edition of an anonymous play, long known to scholars, which appears to be an alternative version of Shakespeare’s popular comedy, The Taming of the Shrew. Stephen Miller suggests that an anonymous person 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. A Shrew, as it is usually known, contains additional material for Sly which is familiar to playgoers because it is often included in productions of Shakespeare’s play. The Taming of a Shrew, The 1594 Quarto, provides a modernised text based upon a re-examination of the quarto and extensive commentary. Miller’s introduction establishes a direct link between A Shrew and The Shrew and includes an illustrated stage history.

• Provides the complete text of A Shrew rather than the small selections usually found in editions of Shakespeare’s The Shrew • Provides a thorough comparison of the two versions, including fresh evidence that A Shrew is an altered version of Shakespeare’s play • Offers the fullest illustrated discussion so far of the influence of A Shrew on stage productions of Shakespeare’s version

Introduction; List of characters; The play; 4 appendices [including Appendix 1. Scene-by-scene comparison of A Shrew to The Shrew.