Title: The Taming of the Shrew
Author: William Shakespeare
Genre: Play
Pages: 125
Rating: 2 of 5

The Taming of the Shrew has not aged as well as a lot of Shakespeare’s other plays. Sure, there’s some clever wordplay and amusing antics. However, the extremes to which Petruchio goes to “tame” his new wife (food and sleep deprivation) and her absolute dishrag submission by the end come across more like someone fawning on their abuser than anything humorous. There must be a way to play those parts of the story a bit tongue-in-cheek, but as written it’s a bit disturbing. I’ve just started Vinegar Girl from the Hogarth Shakespeare series…I’m curious to see how this updated version handles it.

Also, I’m using this as my Romance Classic over at the Back to the Classics Challenge… hey, it doesn’t say good or healthy romance!