Gender and Power in Shrew-Taming Narratives, 1500-1700 [Hardcover]

Explores dramatic, narrative and polemical versions of the 'taming of the shrew' story, from the Middle Ages to the Restoration, in light of recent historical work on the position of early modern women in society. Its essays?address shrew narratives as an extended cultural dialogue debating issues of gender and sexual politics.Notes on Contributors Introduction;? G.Holderness Reading Shrews in Pamphlets and Plays; A.Bayman? & G.Southcombe Shrews, Marriage and Murder; S.Clark Engendering Shrews, Mediaeval to Early Modern; H.S.Crocker 'He speaks very shrewishly': Apprentice-training and The Taming of the Shrew; R.Madelaine The Shrew as Editor/Editing Shrews;? L.S.Marcus Putting the Silent Woman back into the Shakespearean Shrew; M.Maurer and B.Gaines Unknown Shrews: Three Transformations of The/A Shrew; H.J.Helmers 'Ye sid he taken my Counsel sir': Restoration Satire and Theatrical Authority; C.Conaway 'Darkenes was before light': Hierarchy and Duality in The Taming of A Shrew; G.Holderness The Gendered Stomach in The Taming of the Shrew; J.Purnis The Tamer Tamed, or None Shall Have Prizes: 'Equality' in Shakespeare's England; D.Wootton Afterword; A.Thompson Index

'...[an] exciting collection...This rich tapestry provides what is so often lacking literary context. Whereas New Historicism focused attention on the cultural context of Shakespeare's works, scholars still too often pretend that no one else wrote on the subjects Shakespeare did. The range of texts discussed is, therefore, of great value...Highly recommended' - A. Castaldo, CHOICE

ANNA BAYMAN Faculty of History, Oxford University, UK SANDRA CLARK Emeritus Professor of Renaissance Literature, Birkbeck, University of London UK CHARLES CONAWAY Assistant Professor of English, University of Southern Indiana, US HOLLY A. CROCKER Assistant Professor of English, University of South Carolina, US BARRY GAINES Professor of English Literature, University of New Mexico, US H.J. HELMERS English Deló*