TAMING OF THE SHREW.

LITERARY AND HISTORICAL NOTICE.

WARBURTON and Farmer have questioned the authenticity of this play; one declaring it to be certainly spuri. ous, and the other supposing that Shakspeare merely adapted it to the stage, with certain additions and cor rections. Malone, however, upon very satisfactory grounds, ranks it among the earliest efforts of Shakspeare's muse; as it abounds with the doggrel measure so common in the old comedies immediately preceding the time at which he commenced writing for the stage; and with a tiresome play upon words, which he took occasion to condemn in one of his subsequent comedies. The year 1549 is the probable date of its production. Yet Steevens discovers the hand of Shakspeare in almost every scene; and Johnson considers the whole play very popular, sprightly, and diverting. "The two plots (says the learned Doctor) are so well united, that they can hardly be called two, without injury to the art with which they are interwoven." That part of the story which suggests the title of the play, is probably a work of invention. The under-plot, which comprises the love-scenes of Lucentio, the pleasing incident of the pedant, with the characters of Vincentio, Tranio, Gremio and Biondello, is taken from a comedy of George Gascoigne's (an author of considerable popularity) called Supposes, translated from Ariosto's I Suppositi, and acted in 1566, by the gentlemen of Grey's Inn. The singular Induction to this piece is taken from Goulart's "Histories admirables de notre temps," in which its leading circumstance is related as a real fact, practised upon a mean artisan at Brussels, by Philip the Good duke of Burgundy. The Taming of the Shrew condensed within the compass of a modern after-piece invariably elicits considerable mirth; for the respective parts of Katharina and Petruchio are exceedingly spirited, ludicrous, and diverting. But, in its present form, many of the scenes are unpardonably tedious, and many of the incidents perplexingly involved. To those who look for "sermons in stones, and good in every thing," we cannot exactly point out the moral of this domestic occurrence; since the successful issue of Petruchio's experiment in one solitary instance, will scarcely warrant its practical repetition in any of the numerous cases which seem to call for a similar remedy.

SCENE, sometimes in Padua ; and sometimes in Petruchio's House in the Country.

CHARACTERS IN THE INDUCTION

To the original Play of The Taming of a Shrew, entered on the Stationers' Books in 1594, and printed in quarto, in 1607.

ALPHONSUS, a merchant of Athens.

JEROBEL, Duke of Cestus.

rando and Alphonsus.

AURELIUS, his Son, Suitors to the Daughters Tailor, Haberdasher, and Servants to Fe

FERANDO,

POLIDOR,

}

of Alphonsus.

SCENE, Athens; and sometimes Ferando's Country House.

And say, Will't please your lordship cool your hands?

SCENE 1.-Before an Alehouse on a Heath. Some one be ready with a costly suit,

And ask him what apparel he will wear;
Auother tell him of his hounds and horse,
And that his lady mourns at his disease:
Persuade him, that he hath been lunatic;
And, when he says he is-, say, that he dreams,
For be is nothing but a mighty lord.
This do, and do it kindly, gentle Sirs ;
It will be pastime passing excellent,
If it be husbanded with modesty. +

1 Hun. My lord, I warraut you, we'll play
our part,

As he shall think, by our true diligence,
He is no less than what we say he is.
Lord. Take him up gently, and to bed with
him;

And each one to his office, when he wakes.-
[Some bear out SLY. A trumpet sounds.
Sirrah, go see what trumpet 'tis that sounds :-
[Exit SERVANT.
Belike, some noble gentleman; that means,
Travelling some journey, to repose him here.-
Re-enter a SERVANT.

How now? Who is it?
Serv. An it please your honour,
Players that offer service to your lordship.
Lord. Bid them come near :-

And then-with kind embracements, tempting, On purpose trimm'd up for Semiramis.

kisses,

And with declining head into his bosom,
Bid him shed tears, as being overjoy'd
To see her noble lord restor❜d to health,
Who, for twice seven years, hath esteemed him
No better than a poor and loathsome beggar:
And if the boy bave not a woman's gift,
To rain a shower of commanded tears,
An onion will do well for such a shift;
Which in a napkin being close convey'd,
Shall in despite enforce a watery eye.

See this despatch'd with all the baste thou canst;
Anon I'll give thee more instructions.

[Exit SERVANT.
I know, the boy will well usurp the grace,
Voice, gait, and action of a gentlewoman:
I long to hear him call the drunkard, husband;
And how my men will stay themselves from
laughter,

When they do homage to this simple peasant.
I'll in to counsel them: haply my presence
May well abate the over-merry spleen,
Which otherwise would grow into extremes.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt.

A Bedchamber in the LORD's House. SLY is discovered in a rich night gown, with attendants; some with apparel, others with bason, ewer, and other appurtenances. Inter LORD, dressed like a Servant. Sly. For God's sake a pot of small ale. 1 Serv. Will't please your lordship drink a cup of sack ?

2 Serv. Will't please your honour taste of these conserves ?

3 Serv. What raiment will your honour wear to-day ?

Say, thou wilt walk; we will bestrew the ground;
Or wilt thou ride? thy horses shall be trapp'd,
Their harness studded all with gold and pearl.
Dost thou love hawking? thou hast hawks will

soar

Above the morning lark: Or wilt thou hunt?
Thy hounds shall make the welkin answer them,
And fetch shrill echoes from the hollow earth.
1 Serv. Say, thou wilt course; thy greyhounds
are as swift

As breathed stags, ay, fleeter than the roe.
2 Serv. Dost thou love pictures? we will fetch
thee straight

Adonis, painted by a running brook:
And Cytherea all in sedges hid;
[breath,
Which seem to move and wanton with her
Even as the waving sedges play with wind.
Lord. We'll show thee lo, as she was a maid;
And how she was beguiled and surpris'd,
As lively painted as the deed was done.

3 Serv. Or Daphne, roaming through a thorny
wood;
Scratching her legs that one shall swear she
bleeds:

And at that sight shall sad Apollo weep,
So workmanly the blood and tears are drawn.
Lord. Thou art a lord, and nothing but a lord:
Thou hast a lady far more beautiful
Than any woman in this waning age.

1 Serv. And, till the tears that she bath shed
for thee,
Like envious floods, o'er-ran her lovely face,
She was the fairest creature in the world;
And yet she is inferior to none.

Sly. Am I a lord? and have I such a lady!
Or do I dream? or have I dream'd till now?
I do not sleep: I see, I hear, I speak;
I smell sweet savours, and I feel soft things :-
Upon my life, I am a lord, indeed ;
And not a tinker, nor Christophero Sly.-
Well, bring our lady hither to our sight;
And once again, a pot o' the smallest ale.
2 Serv. Will't please your mightiness to wash
your bands?

Sly. I am Christophero Sly; call not mehonour, nor lordship: I never drank sack in my life; and if you give me any conserves, give me conserves of beef: Ne'er ask me what raiment I'll wear; for I have no more doublets than backs, no more stockings than legs, nor no more shoes than feet; nay, sometimes, more feet than shoes, or such shoes as my toes look through the over-Oh! leather.

Lord. Heaven cease this idle humour in your
honour!

Oh! that a mighty man, of such descent,
Of such possessions, and so high esteem,
Should be infused with so foul a spirit!

Sly. What, would you make me mad? Am not I Christopher Sly, old Sly's son of Burtonbeath; by birth a pedlar, by education a cardmaker, by transmutation a bear-herd, and now by present profession a tinker? Ask Marian Hacket, the fat ale-wife of Wincot, if she know me not if she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale, score me up for the lyingest knave in Christendom. What, I am not bestraught: Here's▬▬▬

1 Serv. Oh! this it is, that

mourn.

makes your lady

[SERVANTS present an ewer, basin, and napkin.

Oh! how we joy to see your wit restor❜d!

that once more you knew but what you
are !

These fifteen years you have been in a dream;
Or, when you wak'd, so wak'd as if you slept.
Sly. These fifteen years, by my fay, a goodly

пар.

But did I never speak of all that time?

1 Serv. O yes, my lord; but very idle words :-
For though you lay here in this goodly chamber,
Yet would you say, ye were beaten out of door;
And rail upon the hostess of the house;
And say, you would present her at the leet,+
Because she brought stone jugs and no seal'd
quarts:

Sometimes you would call out for Cicely Hackel.
Sly. Ay, the woman's maid of the house.
3 Serv. Why, Sir, you know no house, nor
no such maid;

Nor no such men, as you have reckon'd up,-
As Stephen Sly, and old John Naps of Greece,
And Peter Turf, and Henry Pimpernell ;
And twenty more such names and men as these,
Which never were, nor no man ever saw.
Sly. Now, Lord be thanked for my good
amends!