SHAKES-SCREEN: The Taming of the Shrew (1967)

Alongside my chronological reading of the plays of Shakespeare I will be revisiting or watching for the first time various filmed and televised versions of many of them, and posting a few remarks on them. First out is Franco Zeffirelli’s version of The Taming of the Shrew.

Shakespearean comedy has not always fared too well on film, and there are far fewer successful film versions of these than there are of the tragedies and other dramas. But there are one or two that do stand out and The Taming of the Shrew belongs to this select group. I think there are several reasons for this: the casting -which is magnificent and inspired; the acting -which balances just on the edge of ”over-the-top” without succumbing to out-and-out farce; the pace -which is boisterous and bonny; and the profusion of little touches and details of scene, direction and picture. It is like a series of rather fine paintings from the Renaissance that are brought before us and taken away just as we start to think a little deeper about what is being shown. Here, as in most good comedy, we are never allowed to dwell too long before the next chapter unfolds. Zeffirelli’s vision for this film is very theatrical, almost operatic, and he sees it through, so that it is a well-rounded whole; it’s certainly beautifully designed and fascinating to look at. I quite understand why the choice was made to focus on the main story of Petruchio and Katharina (Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor are terrific together), though purists may claim their histrionics flourish at the expense of the sub-plot, which is more heavily cut compared to its place in the original play.In Shakespeare's play much of the business involving the wooing of Bianca contains references that are less accessible to modern audiences than they would be to those watching in the 1590s. But I think quite enough is kept to retain the gist and thrust of the scheming. Bianca as a character does remain rather bland though, as indeed she does in the play.

The film does away with the framing device –the "Induction" that Shakespeare used in his play, so here there is no opening scene in England with Christopher Sly and thus what we are shown is presented as ”real” and not as a play being presented to this drunken character. Many stage productions do away with this frame device too, and most people are probably unaware that it is even part of the story.

There are many fine and colourful performances here, right across the board, but more importantly the cast works particularly well as an ensemble, each actor embracing the communal spirit of the piece and firing off each other. I find Michael Hordern deliciously perfect as the distraught father of the two girls . His facial expressions speak a thousand words and I think he gives one of the finest performances of his career; as does Burton. And Elizabeth Taylor is just fantastic.

The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
With: Richard Burton, Eizabeth Taylor, Michael York, Cyril Cusack, Michael Hordern, Alan Webb, Natasha Pyne, Alfred Lynch, Victor Spinetti

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW -The One With the Induction

The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies and one that has fared much better over the course of time than some of the others. Much of its comedy lies in its plot and characterisation. The situation is easily grasped, and the dilemma the plays seems to pose (the battle of the sexes) is as recognizable and irrestible to audiences today as it was when it was first performed. The characters spring up from the page with gusto, and I can’t help but feeling that Shakespeare must have really enjoyed writing this because the pace is so lively and fresh, especially the exchanges between Petruchio and Katherina. These two characters stand out, of course, but I think one of the reasons the play has endured is beause of the richness of the other characters, each of whom has shining moments. I particularly sympathize with Baptista, the father of the two girls. The sub-plot of the wooing of the younger sister, Bianca is understandably less appreciated than the main plot concerning Katharina and Petruchio and suffers somewhat because these characters are less colourful and Bianca herself seems less interesting than many of Shakespeare’s other romantic young ladies.
There are some problems with the text, often stemming from discrepencies in the narrative, location, and lines for particular characters. Many of these apparently are due to the printers of the first folio (in which the play was first published) following a rather poor transcript of the original play. Thus there are numerous things that do not make sense unless edited in some way. This could be said of the the famous ”induction” sequence that starts the play, because the whole business of the Christopher Sly ”frame” peters out after a while, which seems a bit unfulfilling. As my first encounter with the play was through the 1967 film version (which dropped the induction altogether) I was very confused when I first saw it on stage and did not recognize the start at all, thinking for a while that I had walked into the wrong theatre! It seems probable that there were originally more Christopher Sly scenes throughout the play, and these have sometimes been interpolated from an earlier play called The Taming of a Shrew which was based on what is assumed to be Shakespeare's original draft! These provide a more satisfactory ”rounding-off” of the play. Of the productions I have seen about half have included the induction and half haven’t. Both ways work, but any production of the play needs to address this matter. Shakespeare never used this device again to frame his plays, though there are numerous later examples of the ”play-within a-play” idea in his subsequent work, and I think it is something that must have appealed to him. Movies, incidentally, use the same device all the time –just think of The Wizard of Oz!

When re-reading the play another thing that strikes me is the amount of insults that are flung out by the various characters, particularly Katharina and Petruchio, and without making it a scientific bet, I’d say this play contains more insults than any other by Shakespeare. And such glorious insults too, often spewing out in a fountain of abuse, such as Petruchio’s dismissal of the tailor ”..thou thread, thou thimble, / Thou yard, three-quarters, half-yard, quarter, nail,/ Thou flea, thou nit, thou winter-cricket thou!” Often the exact meanings of the insults are obscure to us, but we certainly get their drift and Shakespeare must have delighted in conjoring up colourful language for characters as volatile as those we meet here. The cut-and-thrust, confrontational badinage between Katharina and Petruchio is also rich with verbal invention and creativity –as thrilling as a fencing match. The play has been much criticised for what is claimed to be cruelty towards women –the ”taming” of the title, and certainly the treatment of Katherina by Petruchio is shocking in many ways, but her own behaviour initially leaves a lot to be desired too and one somehow feels that ultimately these two characters deserve each other. I also choose to read the ending as rather ambiguous –who exactly has been tamed here? The play starts with a jumble of dissatisfied people and ends with everyone transformed in some way but seemingly content; order has been restored. It’s an enjoyable read, but even more enjoyable when seen on stage and perfomed with gusto!

Favourite Lines:
I knew a wench married in an afternoon as she went to the garden for parsley to stuff a rabbit.
(Biondello –Act IV, Sc.4)

Petruchio:
And you, good sir. Pray have you not a daughter
Called Katherina, fair and virtuous?
Baptista:
I have a daughter, sir, called Katherina.

Character I would most like to play: Petruchio