In any one of William Shakespeare’s plays, he doesn’t make a point directly. Many scenes in the play have a double meaning, usually made up of irony. In the movie, Taming of the Shrew, there is irony used to critique the courtly love ideals. This play is a comedy, mocking the ridiculousness of the courtly love ideals. The character Petruchio is made into an unreasonable example of a “good” husband. Katherina is made into the shrewish wife, who has a bad temper, and who no one wants to marry. Society believes that any man would be crazy to pursue her. Before anyone marries the beautiful sister Bianca, her sister Kate must be married. A man by the name of Petruchio is found, who believes he can tame Kate. By showing the importance of the absurdness …show more content…
The irony starts when, “Petruchio chased Kate throughout the house. He kept telling her that he will marry her and she will become his wife” (Taming of the Shrew Movie). Another example of where irony takes place is, “On their wedding day, Petruchio shows up drunk and acts a fool” (Taming of the Shrew Movie). He is mocking everything about the courtly love ideals. He is saying that if Kate is going to act crazy, so will I. Following the courtly love ideals, Kate is expected to be quiet and calm during her wedding day. She is now a property of Petruchio's. Instead, she feels like she is entitled and talks back to Petruchio. Kate is forgetting what the wedding is all about due to the flowers and linens surrounding her. Petruchio plans to leave after the wedding and not stay for dinner, but Kate wants him to stay. If they follow the courtly love ideals, Kate will do what Petruchio says. They both take off to Padua and, “One the way, Kate falls into a pond” (Taming of the Shrew Movie). Petruchio continues on the journey and doesn't help her up because if he did, he would follow the courtly love …show more content…
Petruchio demands his servants to prepare food for Kate and himself. After the servants completed the meal and brought it out, Petruchio is unhappy. Instead of a saying a simple prayer before the meal, he speaks gibberish and mocks the courtly love ideals. He says, “Who made this chicken? It is burnt!” (Taming of the Shrew). Kate responds by saying the chicken was well and to be content with it. Petruchio is making an exaggeration of this wonderful meal that was prepared. If Petruchio was following the courtly love ideals, he would be thankful and polite. Instead, Petruchio is being rude and making a fool of himself in front of Kate and everyone around
Different Interpretations of the Relationship Between Kate and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew
Kate and The Taming of the Shrew describes the progression of the outspoken and headstrong Kate, wife of Petruchio, as she gradually transitions into an almost perfect example of an archetypal loyal wife. This classic female archetype can be expressed through blind and ignorant support of their husband without any personal opinion or any priorities and objectives other than to satisfy the needs and desires of their husbands. While Kate begins possessing traits that oppose the loyal wife archetype due to her strong willed personality, her shift to obedience. However she continues to think with cunning strategy throughout the entire play, regardless of her weakened mental state caused by Petruchio limiting her food and sleep.
Kate is in a rage, and Petruchio is so clever-witted that he turns all her insults into sexual innuendos before finally having her forced into marrying him, but what makes this laughter thoughtful? From Kate’s lashes, you are able to truly see just how vulgar and unhappy she is. She is wild, but she is also quite clever in her quick responses. On the opposite end, Petruchio’s character is shown. He is quick-witted as well, yet more crude. He takes joy in dishing out his “attacks” whereas Katherine becomes even more enraged. He’s finally determined to make her his wife, no matter
In the play, Taming of the Shrew, this character is known as Petruchio. In act 1 scene 2, Petruchio insists on meeting Kat no matter who tells her of his behavior, for he was only looking at one factor – that she had a rich father. Upon meeting Baptista, Petruchio insists on meeting Katherine. “Lucentio” and Petruchio battle, promising this and that to Katherine until Baptista finally chooses Petruchio. Upon meeting Katherine, she immediately is biting at his heels. With his quick wit he is responding with equal amounts of insults which frustrates Katherine. Every insult Katherine throws at Petruchio he manages to throw back a sexual innuendo. further along into the story with Kate and Petruchio. Petruchio
It shows that instead of a tamed shrew, she is a woman that knows how to get what she wants but goes about it in a different way at the end of the play than at the beginning. In conclusion, Shakespeare does it again with Taming of the Shrew. On the surface, there is Kate who seems to be off the wall and kinda crazy, but at the end of the play, you realize that by acting this way and learning “life’s little secrets,” she gets the life she always wanted.
The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, deals with marriage. The ideas explored are primarily shown through the characters of Petruchio and Katharina. We are introduced to the trials and tribulation's which present themselves in their everyday lives. The characters bring up a traditional concept of male domination. Through the play we see the need for domination through Petruchio, and the methods he uses to dominate. While these ideas of male domination have remained a constant throughout the years, however recently there has been a change toward equality.
A long time ago, a drunken man fell asleep outside an alehouse. This man, Christopher Sly, was discovered by a mischievous lord who took him into his home. The witty lord then convinced Sly that he was a lord, as well. The lord then put on a play for him. The play, The Taming of the Shrew, was about the two young daughters of Baptista. The youngest daughter, Bianca, wished to wed but her father, Baptista, would not allow this until his eldest daughter, Katherina, was married. Under normal circumstances, it would be easy to find a husband for Katherina with all her beauty, but all her beauty was covered by her shrewd personality. By this time Bianca's suitors were growing very impatient, so they decide to team up and find a husband for Katherina. In jest they mentioned their plan to a friend, Petruchio, who surprisingly agreed to marry Katherina. All her beauty and wealth were enough for him. Katherina reluctantly was wed to Petruchio and she was taken to his home to be tamed. With Katherina out of the way, Bianca was now allowed to marry Lucentio, who offered her father the highest dowry for her. In the final scenes of the play, Katherina proves that she is tamed by winning an obedience contest at a dinner party. Katherina is now even more in accordance with her wifely duties than Bianca. A fare is a type of comedy based on a ridiculous situation. The Taming of the Shrew, an eminent example of a farce, is the first of three farces written by Shakespeare.
"Women have a much better time than men in this world; there are far more things forbidden to them." -Oscar Wilde. This quote embodies the fight over gender roles and the views of women in society. Taming of the Shrew deals with Kate and Bianca, two sisters who are at the time to he married off. However, suitors who seek Bianca as a wife have to wait for her sister to be married first. Kate is seen as a shrew because she is strong willed and unlike most women of the time. In his 1603 play The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare enforces traditional gender roles and demonstrates how little say women had in society. He accomplishes this through the strong personality of Kate, Baptista 's attitude towards his daughters as transactions, and
Called "cursed Kate" throughout the play, Katherine is openly jealous of the attention he sister is receiving, whereas she, because she speaks her mind, is being bypassed and even avoided in the wooing process. Katherine reveals this attitude in act 2 scene1, lines 31-35, "nay, now i see she is your treasure, she must have a husband; i must dance barefoot on my wedding day, and for your love to her, lead the apes to hell. Talk not to me i will sit and weep!...." This anger is not concealed, it serves to provide motivation as to why a rational person would rebuke petrucchio so rudely upon first encountering him. Katherine surely realizes that petruchio is interested in her for ulterior motives other than love. Be it purse that the dowry will bring or the actions of an...
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.
By charming her with kind words, Petruchio is able to manipulate Katherine into marriage and woo her, but in an unaccustomed way, as Kate is not used to men being so nice and direct with her. Petruchio is able to achieve this end by manipulating Katherine’s words. He twists what Kate says and makes it seem as if she is coming on to him sexually, while in reality he is the one implying the sexual innuendo. This manipulation can be seen when they have an argument about whether or not the wasp carries his sting on his tail or tongue, and Petruchio says “What, with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again, good Kate. I am a gentleman—” (II, 1; 230-231). By contorting the words he ...
The Taming of the Shrew, written by William Shakespeare, features an abundant number of puns and metaphors which are used in several different ways throughout the play. Among the most widely used metaphors and puns in the play are sexual, food, animal, and word play puns and metaphors. (I:i,31-33) "Let's be no stoics nor no stocks, or so devote to Aristotle's checks as Ovid be an outcast quite abjurd". The first sexual metaphor in the play is spoken by Tranio to Lucentio. In saying this to Lucentio, Tranio means he does not want to put aside his emotions and desire, and completely devote his life to Aristotle's teachings while ignoring Ovid's poems. The quote is a sexual metaphor because Tranio is saying although he wants to study, he also wants to have sex and not become deprived of life's pleasures.
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
During The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare has used pleasure and pain in order to tell the story of Petruchio and Katherina’s courtship. This is problematic for modern day audiences, as they do not find the courtship methods that Petruchio employs to woo Katherina particularly comical. However, it could be argued that Shakespeare crafted The Taming of the Shrew precisely for this reason, to feature his views on patriarchy and to make the audience see what was happening through a new perspective. The Elizabethan audience would have been shocked at the methods used in order to achieve the taming, even though it was well within a man’s right to discipline his wife if she was deemed unfit. From the very beginning of The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare indicates that this play will not follow traditional rules of decorum, and that it is intended to both give pleasure and cause pain in order to make both Elizabethan and modern audiences take note of his underlying message.
Irony can be very effective in storytelling if used well. The irony in literature is typically when an aspect of the story turns out differently than anticipated. In The Story of an Hour, the irony is thick. In the beginning, it mentions that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition so her sister and husband 's friend tried to break the news of her husband 's death to her gently. This is ironic because the news of Brently 's death does not upset Louise but causes extreme elation. She is overjoyed that she is free from her prison called marriage. They are afraid to break the news to her in fear it will cause her grief or heart problems, but that is not an issue until her husband turns out to be alive. Kate Chopin 's writing style is very interesting. The first and last paragraphs are extremely effective and really accentuate the heavy usage of irony. The story begins by stating that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart condition so her sister took great care to break the news of her husband 's death as tenderly as she could. This paragraph ties into the ending sentence, "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease- of joy that kills." The thing her sister was afraid of happening did occur, but not for the reasons she had