The Taming of the Shrew

After the death of his father, Petruchio arrives in Padua determined to gain his fortune by marrying the volatile Katherina. Their tempestuous meeting and marriage leads to a great love affair. A riotous, passionate and tender tale, The Taming of the Shrew is perhaps the most famous play ever written about the battle of the sexes. William Shakespeare is the grand literary figure of the Western world. During England's Elizabethan period he wrote dozens of plays which continue to dominate world theater 400 years later. Shakespeare handled high drama, romance and slapstick comedy with equal ease, and so famous are his words that his quotes, from "To be or not to be" to "Parting is such sweet sorrow," take up more than 70 pages in the latest editions of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. His works rival the King James Bible (also produced in the 1600s) as a source of oft-quoted English phrases. Shakespeare is known as "the Bard of Avon," a nod to his birthplace, and many of his plays were originally performed in the famous Globe Theater in London. Among his best-known plays are Romeo and Juliet MacBeth. He is also known for his poetry, especially his sonnets.