THE TAMING OF THE SHREWにおける雄弁と沈黙
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概要
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Shakespeare, it need hardly be said, certainly knew the right use of words; but he knew also the right use of silence, his deep insight into which may traced as far back as the earliest plays. The Taming of the Shrew has the outward appearance of a farce, treating one of the most popular themes of the period: wife-taming. The quality which distinguishes Shakespeare's play from others on the same theme is the idea of Katharina being tamed by Petruchio in the manner of a falconer taming a haggard. The process of manning a hawk is skilfully adapted to Petruchio's taming with one outstanding quality: the feather of language. Katharina is stroked by the sweet breath of his flattery as a hawk is gently stroked with a feather. Careful reading and comparison of the play with The Taming of a Shrew, Sauny the Scot (Lacy's adaptation of Shakespeare), Fletcher's The Woman's Prize, Dekker's The Honest Whore and (with Chettle and Haughton) Patient Grissil, and others reveal that Petruchio's eloquence enriches the enduring quality of the humour in The Shrew. But eloquent as Petruchio may be, he knows when to hold his tongue. Apart from his saying that he was born to tame her (II. i. 278-80), he does not reveal to her the motives of his actions. Neither, while attempting the taming, does he let on what he really thinks of her behaviour. This is where The Shrew differs from A Shrew: in the latter, the author rather clumsily attempts some psychological exploration of Kate and Ferando, and this, contrary to his intention, only serves to weaken the characterization. But in The Shrew: "as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds, So honour peereth in the mean habit," it is so contrived that Petruchio's good-will towards her is implicitly understood by the audience, even when no mention is made of it. It is only when Katharina comes to realize this good-will behind his boisterous-seeming behaviour that she changes her attitude and comes willingly to obey his dictates. Her willingness to obey him seems so natural and spontaneous that one has the feeling that she is now taming him unawares. It is noticeable that, towards the end of the play, her speech rhythms become more like his. Having caught the tone of his playfulness, she is now transformed into a woman of wit. In the wager scene, for example, she gets as much enjoyment from her role as Petruchio did from his at the beginning of the play: she revels in her revenge on Bianca. Interpretations of The Shrew vary according to where one chooses to lay the emphasis. The resultant ambiguity also springs from the reticence of the two main characters about their own feelings. (Such, perhaps, is the nature of farce.) Moreover, lacking (unlike A Shrew) an epilogue, The Shrew, contrary to Hazlitt's finding of a "downright moral" leaves the moral of the taming open. But, in spite of Shakespeare's choosing not to commit himself on this point, it is not too difficult to see, behind the some-what dark and violent farce, an inclination to more subtle romantic comedy breaking through, an inclination he was, of course, more fully to pursue in the plays immediately following.
- 財団法人日本英文学会の論文
- 1968-03-30
財団法人日本英文学会 | 論文
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