A Characters in the Induction. Lord, before whom the Play is fuppos'd to be play'd. Hoftefs. Page, Players, Huntfmen, and other Servants attending on the Lord. Persons Represented. Baptifta, Father to Catharina and Bianca; very rich. Vincentio, an old gentleman of Pifa. Lucentio, Son to Vincentio, in love with Bianca. Petruchio, a Gentleman of Verona, a fuitor to Catharina, Gremio, Hortenho, Pretenders to Bianca. Tranio, Biondello, } Servants to Lucentio. Grumio, Servant to Petruchio. Pedant, an old fellow fet up to perfonate Vincentio. Catharina, the Shrew. Bianca, ber Sifter. Widow. Taylor, Haberdafer; with Servants attending on Bap tifta, and Petruchio. SCENE, fometimes in Padua; and fometimes in Petruchio's Houfe in the Country. THE THE *TAMING of the SHREW. INDUCTION. SCENE I. Before an Aleboufe on a Heath. Enter Hoftefs and Sly. SLY. "LL pheese you,' in faith. I Hoft. A pair of ftocks, you rogue! Sly. Y'are a baggage; the Slies are no2 rogues. Look in the Chronicles, we came in with Richard Con *We have hitherto fuppofed Shakespeare the author of the Taming of the Shrew, but his property in it is extremely difputable. I will give you my opinion, and the reafons on which it is founded. I fuppofe then the prefent play not originally the work of Shakespeare, but restored by him to the stage, with the whole Induction of the Tinker; and fome other occafional improvements; especially in the character of Petruchio. It is very obvious that the Induction and the Play were either the works of different hands, or written at a great interval of time. The former is in our author's best manner, and a great part of the latter in his worff, or even below it. Dr. Warburton declares it to be certainly fpurious; and without doubt fuppofing it to have been written by Shakespeare, it must have been one of his earliest productions. Yet it is not mentioned in the lift of his works by Meres in 1598. I have met with a facetious piece of fir John Harrington, printed in 1596, (and poffibly there may be an earlier edition). called The Metamorphofes of Ajax, where I fufpect an allufion to 3 Conqueror. Therefore, paucas pallabris; let the world fide: Saja. Hoft. to the old play;" Read the booke of Taming a Shrew, which hath made a number of us fo perfect, that new every one can rule a fhrew in our countrey, fave he that hath hir."--I am aware a modern linguift may object that the word book does not at prefent feem damatick, but it was once techn.cally fo: Goffon in his Schoole of Abufe, containing a pleafaunt Inuective against Poets, Pipers, Players, Jefters, and fuch like Caterpillars of a Commonwealth, 1579, mentions "twoo profe roles played at the Bellfauage:" and Hearne tells us, in a note at the end of William of Worcester, that he had feen a MS. in the nature of a Pay or Interlude, intitled the booke of fir Thomas Moore." And in fact there is fuch an old anonymous play, in Mr. Pope's lift: "A pleasant conceited history, called, The Taming of a Shrew-fundry times acted by the earl of Pembroke his fervants." Which feems to have been republished by the remains of that company in 1607, when Shakespeare's copy appeared at the BlackFriars or the Globe.-Nor let this feem derogatory from the character of our poet. There is no reason to believe that he wanted to claim the play as his own; for it was not even printed till fome years after his death; but he merely revived it on his stage as a manager. FARMER. In spite of the great deference which is due from every commentator to Mr. Farmer's judgment, I own I cannot entirely concur with him on the prefent occafion. I know not to whom I could impute this comedy, if Shakespeare was not the author of it. I think his hand is visible in almoft every fcene, though perhaps not fo evidently as in thofe which pafs between Catherine and Petruchio. The title of this play was probably taken from an old ftory, entitled, The Wyf lapped in Morel's fkin, or The Taming of a Shrew. STEEVENS. I'll pheese you,] To pheeze or feafe, is to feparate a twift into fingle threads. In the figurative fenie it may well enough be taken, like teaze or toze, for to 'arrafs, to plague. Perhaps I'll pheeze you, may be equivalent to P'il comb your head, a phrafe vulgarly used by perfons of Sly's character on like occafions. The following explanation of the word is given by Sir Tho. Smyth in his book de Sermone Anglico, printed by Robert Stephens, 4to. To feize, means in fila dilacere. JOHNSON. Shakespeare repeats his ufe of the word in Troilus and Creffida, where Ajax fays he will pheefe the pride of Achilles; and Love, Hoft. You will not pay for the glaffes you have burft? 4 Sly. No, not a denier: Go by, Jeronimy thy cold bed, and warm thee. 5 -go to Hoft, wit in the Alchemist employs it in the fame fenfe. Again in Puttenham's Art of Poetry, 1589: 2 "Your pride ferves you to feaze them all alone." STEEVENS. no rogues.] That is, vagrants, no mean fellows, but gentlemen. JOHNSON. 3 -paucus pallabris;] Sly, as an ignorant fellow, is purpofely made to aim at languages out of his knowledge, and knock the words out of joint. The Spaniards fay, pocas palabras, i. e. few words: as they do likewife, Cefa, i. e. be quiet. THEOBALD. This is a burlefque on Hieronymo, which Theobald fpeaks of in the following note. "What new device have they devised now? Pocas pallabras." In the comedy of the Roaring Girl, 1611, a cut-purfe makes ufe of the fame words. Again they appear in The Wife Woman of Hogfden, 1638, and in fome others, but are always appropriated to the loweft characters. STEEVENS. -you have burst.] To burst and to break were anciently fynonimous. Falstaff fays-that John of Gaunt burst Shallow's head for crowding in among the marshal's men. STEEVENS. 5 Goby S. Jeronimy, go to thy cold bed, and warm thee.] All the editions have coined a faint here, for Sly to fwear by. But the poet had no fuch intentions. The paffage has particular humour in it, and must have been very pleafing at that time of day. But I must clear up a piece of ftage hiftory, to make it understood. There is a fuftian old play, called Hieronymo ; Or, The Spanish Tragedy: which, I find, was the common butt of raillery to all the poets in Shakespeare's time: and a paffage, that appeared very ridiculous in that play is here humourously alluded to. eronymo, thinking himfelf injur'd, applies to the king for juf tice; but the courtiers, who did not defire his wrongs fhould be fet in a true light, attempt to hinder him from an audience. Hiero. Juftice, ob! juftice to Hieronymo. Lor. Back;-fee'ft thou not, the king is bufy? King. Who is he, that interrupts our business? Hiero. Not I:-Hieronymo, beware; go by, go by. Hi Se |