 The text had been translated into English by the sixteenth century, but there is no evidence that Shakespeare drew on it.The story of a headstrong woman tamed by a man was well known, and found in numerous traditions.For example, according to "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, Noah's wife was such a woman ('"Hastow nought herd," quod Nicholas, "also/The sorwe of Noë with his felaschippe/That he had or he gat his wyf to schipe"'; "The Miller's Tale", l. 352–354), and it was common for her to be depicted in this manner in mystery plays.