Taming of the Shrew Response

One of Shakespeare’s biggest accomplishments was appealing to all audiences. In a time rigidly divided by classes and gender roles, Shakespeare was able to appeal to the wealthy, the poor, men, and women. By showing both sides of the story and leaving some room for the imagination, Shakespeare was able to poke fun at the flaws in many groups of people for the amusement of the audience without offending those he joked about. In his play The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare manipulates gender roles through exaggeration in his characters and is able to comment about gender roles without turning a group of people away.

By exaggerating characters to the point where they represent a group of people but do not resemble them closely, Shakespeare was able to portray characters negatively without losing an audience. Many of the characters in The Taming of the Shrew are extreme. Katherine is the most heinous person in the city, Bianca is the fairest, and Petruchio is perhaps one of the crudest of the upper class. For example, Petruchio says that “women are made to bear” (II. i). This could be seen as offensive as it is saying that women’s sole purpose is to bear children. However, by placing the quote in the midst of banter between two clashing extremes, Shakespeare is able to acknowledge a point of view without offending people. His use of humor lightens the mood so that Shakespeare can touch on real issues without drawing reactions. Shakespeare uses humor again in the play when Petruchio says “rescue thy mistress, if thou be a man” (III. ii). Petruchio is implying women’s dependence on men but when he says this he is drawing a broken sword and waving it around like a madman at the guests of his wedding. Shakespeare again manipulates gend...

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...Shrew Katherine is an uncharacteristically dominant character in the beginning of the story, but by the end she is tamed and turns into a particularly obedient woman and goes so far as to say “thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper” (V. ii). Today, Shakespeare would make more powerful female characters because powerful women are more accepted now. The cultural references would be updated along with the language.

Had Shakespeare been writing for a matriarchal society his characters and resolutions would be drastically different while his plots may remain similar. Women would occupy much more dominant roles to mirror society. Shakespeare, like most authors and playwrights, often appeals to his audiences by writing from the point of view that supports popular notions. So if the popular beliefs changed, Shakespeare’s plays would change to reflect those beliefs.