Place of Women in Society in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew

Place of Women in Society in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew

At the time this play was written there was a huge debate ongoing

about the place of women in society. I am aiming to evaluate

Shakespeare's contribution to this debate. He raises a very

controversial issue. In the induction he sets out clearly what the

play is about, in the lord's speech we are told exactly how women

should behave, this may be Shakespeare's opinion but this view is

taken by many men in Shakespeare's day and age. This would make the

play popular with some people and extremely unpopular with others,

especially women.

In act 5 scene 2 we see what Shakespeare is really saying about the

role of women in society. In Katherina's speech she talks about the

relationship between men and women, different actors and directors can

interpret this in different ways, Katherina can either be playfully

submissive, believing that what she says as humorously ironic knowing

that she will in fact later be the one in charge. Or simply completely

submissive knowing that Petruchio will always be the one in charge.

Or, not giving in to Petruchio, but becoming a partner with him

becoming mutually supportive and happy together.

He uses noun patterns to tell us women have "bodies soft, and weak,

and smooth". Katherina says "thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy

keeper" implying that the wife is simply another of the husbands

possessions. Shakespeare uses language to aid his meaning. Prose is

used by him to show which characters should be seen as low or comic.

Sly in the induction uses prose, also the comic characters in the play

such as Grumio and Biondello. Th...

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...ould understand much more about Italy. Maybe without this

induction many people would not fully comprehend what point

Shakespeare intended to put across.

Marriage was very much a business arrangement; it was just a way for

men to make money. Katherina may have gone along with Petruchio just

to make money out of her father. It seemed that men had the most

power, and the women had minimal power if any. Our modern day culture

seems very different. We have now had the most powerful person in the

world at the time (Queen of England) be a woman. We now have women in

high positions of power. Shakespeare has made a valid contribution to

the debate on the position of women. He has helped the debate along by

asking questions, we can now see that the debate has followed on to a

certain measure of equality between men and women.