Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 10, No. 12. August 20, 1947

[Introduction]

The first impression of a play is received when one reads the written introduction of the programme, before the playing of the piece. In the case of "The taming of the Shrew" this is somewhat inaccurate historically and [ unclear: trStttaRy miiieadieg]. As far as the written introduction goes there seems to be a [ unclear: misecj] about the nature of the play. The characters are described as "real, [ unclear: elaborating], attractive, and thoroughly complex people." On the contrary, the play is a complete farce, in which the characters are [ unclear: mast] to be neither real nor complex, hut simply exaggerated conceptions of real life for the farcical end of provoking laughter. Katherina is the [ unclear: serew] women and Petruchio the dominating male who overcomes her [ unclear: threwise]—pure black and white figures of farce without the redeeming qualities of the mediocre attributes of true humanity. The very fact that the main plot is a play within a play to provoke Sly to mirth and merriment shows its farcical nature.

The principal novelty of the introduction to the play, however, is the reference to the emendation of J. P. Coilier in 1849. Collier claimed to have found the copy of the 1632 Folio, emended by a contemporary actor. This was not the only MS. however, which he "discovered." and it has been subsequently proved that he forged many of the MSS which he claimed to have discovered. As a result, the Shakespeare Society, of which he was a leading member, failed in 1863.