The Taming of the Shrew: A Text/Film Comparison of What Makes the Shrew Shrewish

This post applies my topic of SOUND in Shakespeare to an old idea. It's actually a bit of a follow up/comment on a previous post of mine when I read The Taming of the Shrew. I also read Joanna's blog post that wrote about the same time as mine. I watched the Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton version of this play, and am doing a comparison to the text, and how I think it all played together.

Firstly, I would like to focus on how the sounded lines changed the understanding of the text. When Katharine and Petruchio are having their battle of tongue and wit, the text allows for a very quick repartee between the two. I felt the need for snappish returns, which would in turn fuel the next response, culminating in a fantastic sparring of the sexes. I felt that, although Kate's lines were still witty, Taylor's sometimes drawn out delivery slowed down the pacing and changed the feeling of the exchange. Between the slowed delivery and the blocking, the scene became more focused on the physical exchange of who is mastering who with clever skillz and moves. I don't think that this is a necessarily bad choice, but I do feel that it takes the focus away from Kate's being a Shrew because of her tongue.

What makes her a SHREW?

Katharina of The Taming of the Shrew VS. Beatrice of Much Ado About Nothing

  If Kate is a Shrew because of her words, then who else is a Shrew? I am thinking of Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing, and I don't believe that she is called a shrew. Is then the definition of the Shrew included in the delivery of the words? Kate has an exceptionally sharp tongue, and she's got the mind to fuel that dagger of hers. If her words were said is a lighter, almost more playful manner, would she be considered a shrew still? Is she a shrew because she shrieks her lines, and throws chairs and tables about? Beatrice is also very clever, and can dish out to anyone. She is in a constant rivalry of words with Benedick, and blasts words out nearly incessantly. However, they way that she speaks is completely opposite from Katharina. She is not physical, and has a less shrill tone to her voice. The sound comes across as much more pleasant. Consider the difference between how we are introduced to Kate and Beatrice in their openings. Here is Kate when we first meet her in the production that I just watched again.

Here is Beatrice in the opening of the excellent Kenneth Branaugh adaptation of the film version of the play Much Ado About Nothing.

The Shrew Katharina is very violent and tears your ears with her lines. Beatrice, though exceptionally sassy, is not called a shrew. Is this because she is bright and playful?

I'm going to be following this post with another one similar to this focusing on an analysis of language itself as a theme using these same two plays.