Theatricallity

"Come on, and kiss me, Kate."  

In this final line of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio reminds me of the musical Kiss Me, Kate.  The musical is a play within a play meaning there is a story surrounding the performance of The Taming of the Shrew and the characters often parallel one another. Kiss Me, Kate highlighted the comical and theatrical nature of  The Taming of the Shrew which I find hard to pick up on just by reading the play.  For instance, while reading the play, I distinctly remembered this part in Act II Scene i.  Kate is first introduced to Petruchio and the following dialogue ensues:

Petruchio: Why, what's a movable?

Kate: A joint stool.

Petruchio: Thou hast hit it: come, sit on me.

Kate: Asses are made to bear, and so are you.

Petruchio: Women are made to bear, and so are you. 

In the musical, Petruchio is rather comical and he pulls Kate upon his lap when he says, "...sit on me".  The way Kate's dress and all its underpinnings fling about is hysterical.  Kate is simply outraged at Petruchio's behavior as her beet read face fumes on stage. Simply having the stool on stage and pulling Kate down made the line even more funny.  Moreover, Cole Porter masterfully uses lines from the play in the lyrics.  The way he intertwines literature with his classical styling created absolute brilliance on stage.  

Theatricallity is what brings Shakespeare alive for me!  Seeing the action done on stage  or even hearing the old English sung brings meaning to the iambic pentameter lines.  If I could see every play acted out and read the plays, I would truly understand the comedic or even dramatic nature of Shakespeare's masterpieces.  

Woo her once shame on her. Try to woo another lady with the same tricks shame on her.

Looking good Richard

                Early on in the play Richard woos Lady Anne. Richard makes the untimely death of Anne's husband her fault.  Richard elaborates quite eloquently on how it was Lady Anne's beauty which drove him to commit murder.  The misshapen Richard uses his new found confidence and ability to smooth talk to manipulate Anne.
 Now in Act 4 Scene 3, Richard says, "To her go I, a jolly thriving wooer".  Seriously, Richard?  Richard's maniacal plan to conquer the kingdom through death and royal weddings continues.  A man with ghastly bodily deformities thinks he is a successful wooer?  Richard's power trip to throne has gone to head and his conquering of Lady Anne set his sites with women a bit to high.
Thankfully, in Act 4 Scene 4 Queen Elizabeth mocks Richard for what he has done.   Basically, she says how could Richard even think he could woo her daughter after all the atrocious acts he has committed.  Queen Elizabeth goes on to say, "Unless thou couldst put on some other shape ".  The usage of the word shape can literally mean change his appearence, i.e. his deformity, or shape could refer to his character.  Either way Queen Elizabeth sheds light on how Richard will be unable to escape his past.  She possibly suggests how her daughter will not fall for the tricks Lady Anne fell for.  Unfortunately, the smooth talking Richard triumphs by explaining to the Queen how this marriage could be route away from civil war and his chance for making amends.  Richard scoffs at Queen Elizabeth by deeming her a fool for succumbing to his persuasion.   Shame on you Queen Elizabeth for falling for his same old tricks.