Kate and Petruchio (from The Taming of the Shrew) make an appearance in the novel. Actually, Petruchio makes several appearances, along with his cousin Ferdinand. A lark, but putting them in this tale was actually a textual choice based on lines in the party scene in R&J. Act One, Scene Five, Capulet is talking with Second Capulet (sometimes Old Capulet), discussing when they last went masked to a ball. As they argue, Capulet says:
‘Tis since the nuptial of Lucentio,
Come Pentecost as quickly as it will,
Some five and twenty years; and then we masked.’
So they were at Lucentio and Bianca’s wedding (which raises a problem, seeing as those two were wed in secret…). Then, at the end of the same scene, as the revelers are departing the Nurse identifies one of them as ‘young Petruchio.’ Thus we have our timeframe.
It’s a lovely in-joke for anyone in Shakespeare’s audience who’s seen Shrew, and one that I keep alive as a nod to his nod.
And also as a nod to my wife, who I met in a production of Shrew at the Michigan Shakespeare Festival. She later told me that when I walked in, she turned to the stage manager and said, "Who’s that?" with a note of dismay.
"That’s Petruchio," replied the SM. "Good luck."
Jury’s still out on the quality of her luck.
– DB
