Essay on the Battle of the Sexes in Taming of the Shrew

1496 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender issues in taming of the shrew

The Battle of the Sexes in Taming of the Shrew

Battle of the Sexes would have been another appropriate title for this play because the entire play is women verses men, men verses women. This battle of the sexes shows no boundaries between the rich and poor, young or old, man or women. The basis of all the rivalry stems from the fact that the men in this play look at the women as if they were objects, instead of human beings with feelings. This theory that women are merely objects creates an environment that the women have to adapt to and survive in and the environment of a person will depict what he or she will become, resulting in a battle between the sexes.

The Taming of the Shrew is set in a time period that did not accept women as we do today. In today's society, women who are strong and independent and quick witted are praised. In Elizabethan times women were supposed to know their role in life, being good to their husbands, making children and taking care of them. There were no women in politics, there were no women in business, it was only acceptable for women to participate in domestic areas of life. Women could not live a respectable life in this time period without a male figure to take care of them, rendering them helpless without men. If there was anything that must be done involving economics or education, it was up to the men. Men were the ones who worked and brought home the money to support the family. The roles of men and women were very distinct, and it resulted in giving the men the majority of the power.

In the taming of the shrew, the play focused on two women in particular, Baptista's daughters, Bianca and Katherine. These women lived in this environment that gave men power for all their lives...

... middle of paper ...

... for both sides. In the case of Katherine and Petruchio, the battle is won because they both love each other and live happily ever after. The battle of the sexes between Bianca and Lucentio is lost because neither is willing to love each other.

In the Taming of the Shrew, the battle of the sexes is more so in the mind of each and every woman, rather than an actual battle between men and women. It is a battle that the women have to overcome in order to be able to enjoy life and to love their husbands, and situations like the fights between Katherine and Petruchio are symbolic of this. When a woman, like Katherine is able to see that love is something that has no roles, or expectations, is when she and her husband can "live happily ever after".

Works Cited:

Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew. Ed. David Bevington. New York: Longman, 1997.

Show More
Related

  • War, Peace and Positioning; Nixon’s Strategic Journey from Vietnam to China

    2043 Words  | 5 Pages

    Nixon, Richard M. The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1978. Print.

    Read More

  • Richard Nixon And Watergate Scandal

    1786 Words  | 4 Pages

    Nixon is a very well-remembered president, however, he isn’t remembered for all the good things he did rather all the trouble he caused the country. Richard Nixon was born January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California to his parents Frank and Hannah Nixon. Nixon was the second of five kids. Richard’s father was a service station owner while his mom was a Quaker who had strongly influenced Nixon (Richard Nixon). Nixon went to Fullerton High School then later transferred to Whittier High School and ran for the student body president. He attended Whittier College and graduated in 1934. He then received a full scholarship to Duke University Law School in Durham, N.C. After completion of law school he returned to Whittier to begin practicing

    Read More

  • President Richard Milhous Nixon

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nixon enrolled at Whittier College in September 1930. In this college, Nixon pursued his interests in student government, drama, and football. Nixon won a scholarship to attend Duke University’s law school in May 1934. He was the president of the Student Bar Association. He graduated Duke University at June 1937. After Nixon finished his college education, he returned to Whittier and joined the law firm Wingert and Bewly. While Nixon was acting a rehearsal, named “The Dark Tower” for a community, he met his future wife Thelma Catherine Ryan, a schoolteacher. They got married on June 21, 1940 in the Presidential Suite of the Mission Inn in Riverside, California. They had two daughter named Patricia and Julie. At January 1942, Nixons moved to Washington, D.C. and joined the Office of Price Administration. During Worl...

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In The Taming Of The Shrew?

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    In William Shakespeare 's play, The Taming of the Shrew, was written in 1590’s to 1610. This time period was very hard for a women. The culture was very misogynistic, the culture demanded that a women

    Read More

  • The Taming Of The Shrew: An Analysis of Kate

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare's comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare has a woman as one of the story's main characters. Katherine Minola (Kate) is off the wall, and kinda crazy. Because of her actions, the “male centered world” around her doesn't know what to do with her.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare’s Interpretation of Men in Taming of the Shrew

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    in this play, women are used as a symbol of male power, or lack of it.

    Read More

  • Corruption Of Richard Nixon

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    Richard Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, was raised in a farmhouse in Yorba Linda, California. Born January 9th, 1913. He was raised in a Quaker family that ran a lemon farm. After moving to Whittier, Nixon attended Whittier High School, and showed himself to be an excellent student. He excelled in history and civics. After completing high school Nixon was offered opportunities to apply for scholarships at institutions such as Harvard and Yale, but decided to attend a small Quaker college, Whittier College, and be closer to home. After losing his second brother Nixon was said to have thrown himself into his studies as if “compensating for his brother’s death.” (Peterson, 2005, p. 1). Nixon graduated Whittier College second in his class. He then received a scholarship to Duke University School of Law. While living there he lived a very basic life, staying in small rented rooms and showering in the men’s room. He finished at Duke third in a class of 44 in 1937. In December 1941 Nixon took a job at the Office of Price Administration working in the tire rationing division, he choose this job because it put him in Washington and gave him a great opportunity to learn about the government. After working, disappointedly, in this job he decided to join the Navy saying he felt obligated to serve his country. Nixon’s parents did not approve of his decision due to their beliefs as Quakers. When discharged from the Navy in 1946 Nixon decided to run for political office in California. This is where Nixon got his start in the world of politics. Nixon’s childhood shows that he was a good, selfless, hardworking man...

    Read More

  • Success of Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Taming of the Shrew written by William Shakespeare depicts the common roles of men and women in the early seventeenth century. Shakespeare writes of Petruchio and Kate, a male and female who sharply oppose each other. Petruicho must "tame" his wife Kate without breaking her true inner spirit.

    Read More

  • The Battle of the Sexes in Zeffirelli's Taming of the Shrew

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first Shakespeare play which Zeffirelli adopted to the cinema, The Taming of the Shrew, deals with the theme of gender roles. In a grander scale the play explores the behavior expectations of males and females both in society at large and within a domestic relationship. For many years, most critics agreed that the heart of the play suggested male domination and female submission, especially to the authority of their husbands, as the accepted male-female dynamic. This view went unchanged for many years and audiences widely accepted Petruchio's “taming” of Katherina as politically correct.

    Read More

  • Role of Women in Shakespear's The Taming of the Shrew

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare's, "The Taming of the Shrew" the relationship between the sisters Katherine and Bianca appears to be strained with rampant jealousy. Both daughters fight for the attentions of their father. In twisted parallel roles, they take turns being demure and hag-like. Father of the two, Baptista Minola, fusses with potential suitors for young Bianca and will not let them come calling until his elder, ill-tempered daughter Katherine is married. The reader is to assume that meek, mild-mannered, delicate Bianca is wasting away while her much older, aging, brutish sister torments the family with her foul tongue. Katherine seems to hold resentment toward Bianca. Her father favors Bianca over Katherine and keeps them away from each others' torment. When gentlemen come calling, Bianca cowers behind her father and Katherine speaks up for herself. "I pray you sir, is it your will to make a stale of me amongst these mates?" (1.1.57-58) Bianca and Katherine dislike each other feverishly. Katherine torments Bianca with words and physical harm. She binds her hands, pulls her hair then brings her forth to her father and the gentlemen callers. Bianca denies liking any of the visitors and portrays herself an innocent that merely wants to learn and obey her elders. She says, "Sister, content you in my discontent to your pleasure humbly I subscribe. My books and instruments shall be my company, on them to look and practise by myself." (1.1.80-84) Because Katherine speaks freely and asserts herself she is labeled as "shrewish." When Hortensio describes her to Petruccio, he spews out that she is "renowned in Padua for her scolding tongue." ( 1.2.96) He gilds the lily further by clearly telling of her fair fortune if suitable man comes courting and wins her hand in marriage. Petruccio sees dollar signs and rushes onwards in grand dress and fluently gestures to court the gracious "Kate." When he first begins his ritual of winning the family and Katherine to his love, he is seeking his fortune in her dowry. The mention of her being at all undesirable does not put rocks in his path.

    Read More

  • Female Relationships in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Shakespeare's, "The Taming of the Shrew" the relationship between the sisters Katherine and Bianca appears to be strained with rampant jealousy. Both daughters fight for the attentions of their father. In twisted parallel roles, they take turns being demure and hag-like. Father of the two, Baptista Minola, fusses with potential suitors for young Bianca and will not let them come calling until his elder, ill-tempered daughter Katherine is married. The reader is to assume that meek, mild-mannered, delicate Bianca is wasting away while her much older, aging, brutish sister torments the family with her foul tongue. Katherine seems to hold resentment toward Bianca. Her father favors Bianca over Katherine and keeps them away from eachothers' torment. When gentlemen come calling, Bianca cowers behind her father and Katherine speaks up for herself. "I pray you sir, is it your will to make a stale of me amongst these mates?" (1.1.57-58)

    Read More

  • The Feminist Perspective of Taming of the Shrew

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    The second reason the bond survives is that Petruchio is strong enough to accept the fact that Katherine has a mind and, more importantly, he loves her for that reason. Petruchio cleverly weaves the relationship into the framework of society without compromising the integrity of the relationship. Petruchio does this by comparing Katherine’s attitude to repulsive clothing. Carefully and calculatingly, Petruchio forges a relationship that is envied by all who witness it. Called "cursed Kate" throughout the play, Katherine is openly jealous of the attention her sister is receiving, whereas she, because she speaks her mind, is being bypassed and even avoided in the wooing process.

    Read More

  • Taming Of The Shrew Social Roles

    1751 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Taming of the Shrew is one of the earliest comedies written by William Shakespeare. The Taming of the Shrew focuses a great deal on courtship and marriage. Especially the life after marriage, which was generally not focused on in other comedies. Notably, the play focuses on the social roles that each character plays, and how each character faces the major struggles of their social roles. Which plays into one of the most prevalent themes of The Taming of the Shrew. The theme of how social roles play into a person’s individual happiness. This is displayed through the characters in the play that desperately try to break out of the social roles that are forced upon them. This exemplified through the character, Katherine, an upper-class young maiden-in-waiting, who wishes to have nothing to do with her role.

    Read More

  • Causes of the English Civil War

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the 1640’s power and politics were vital for social standard and anyone with power was important and respected so naturally and event such as the civil war would have had politics as one of the main issues for happening. Charles becoming king was obviously a cause because it was his decisions that influenced the war itself and him who raised the flag. Also in 1629 Charles decided to close down parliament because he felt they were exerting too much power than they should, also it almost seems as if Charles is afraid of parliament or jealous because he feels that he is entitled to the “divine right of kings” and seeing parliament using all this power made him feel as if he was less and not as important. This was then followed by the “eleven years of tyranny” which ended in 1640 when he recalled parliament due to shortage of money and mistakes he had made.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Taming Of The Shrew?

    1613 Words  | 4 Pages

    When someone is a female their first thought should not be weak or nurturing, just as when someone is male their first though shouldn’t always be powerful. Unfortunately it has becomes so ingrained in societies mentality that this is the way that things work. The Taming of the Shrew is a past writing piece that expands on a mentality that is modern. The male gender cannot be put into this same constraint. Petruchio is the epitome of what society would describe a male as. He thinks he is in charge and always the superior to women. He expects Katherine to always do what he tells her to do, because he believes that is her duty as his wife. Moreover he should not be expected to do that for her. Furthermore, Bianca is what many would describe as the perfect woman. She is nurturing and she does not speak out against what she is told. When she does speak she always speaks like a lady. She exists merely for decoration in the home and to serve her husband. Katherine is the inconsistency in this stereotype on femininity. Her purpose in the novel originally is to rebel against this biased thought on female gender roles. Katherine is not afraid to speak out against the things that she is told to do. If she disagrees with something she will act on it and she is just as strong as the men in the novel; which is why many of the men actually fear her. Katherine is not submissive and does not believe that the only reason that she exists is to serve a husband. Katherine does not want to be just the damsel in distress, she wants to be in charge. At the end of the novel there is a switch in the personalities of Katherine and Bianca. This alteration provides the purpose of showing that gender is not something that someone can be confined in just because they were born a female. A woman can have many different traits and still be feminine. It is impossible to put femininity in a box because there are no real qualities for what

    Read More

More about Essay on the Battle of the Sexes in Taming of the Shrew

Open Document