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All Site ContentTaming of the ShrewAct IntroductionScene 1
Back to the Play
“Go by, Saint Jeronimy”
Cultural Context
Act Introduction,
Scene 1
Lines 6-8

An explanation of the reference to “Saint Jeronimy” in Introduction 1 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Hostess    

You will not pay for the glasses you have burst?     

Sly

No, not a denier. Go by, Saint Jeronimy. Go to thy cold    
bed and warm thee.        

Shakespeare’s audience would have recognized this line from a popular play of the time by Thomas Kyd. However Sly has botched the name. The name of the character in the play is Hieronimo, which Sly has confused with Hieronymus, an early Christian leader. Later, when Hieronymus was turned into a saint, he was given the name Saint Jerome. Sly has created a mishmash of all three names with “Saint Jeronimy“.