The Taming of the Shrew Lesson Plan

Like many of Shakespeare's plays, the origins of The Taming of the Shrew are difficult to ascertain. The play as we have it today comes from the First Folio of 1623. However, an earlier version of the play, entitled The Taming of a Shrew, was published in 1594. Many scholars have debated the relationship between the 1594 play and the more familiar work of 1623. Some argue that the two plays—A Shrew and The Shrew—are entirely different and should be treated as such. Others maintain that A Shrew is an earlier version of Shakespeare's play, or perhaps "derived from a common original." (Bevington, David, Kastan, David Scott, ed., Four Comedies, 164). Another common view is that A Shrew is...