The Taming of the Shrew: Deciphering Kate’s Shrewish Character
The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. It is both a witty and complex play with characters that are appealing and believable drawn from life and based on a keen understanding of human nature. One can see this in the main character of the play, the shrew Katherine. The reasons for Kate's shrewd behavior as well as her tameness have puzzled Critics and Shakespearean scholars for ages. This essay will attempt to decipher Kate's shrewish character from the beginning with her father and sister, through the middle with her first meeting of Petruchio, to the finale where she is finally tamed.
There is a strong underlying notion that Kate's shrewish behavior is a by-product of the mistreatment of her sister and father. Firstly, Kate's father continually humiliates her in public.
For example, when Baptista, Kate's father, informed Bianca's suitors, Tranio and Lucentio, in public that he will not allow either of them to marry his younger daughter until a husband is found for Katherine, he is in effect announcing he first wants to have Katherine off his hands. He then offers her to either of Bianca's suitors. Katherine's humiliation at this point is complete. Not only is she discussed on a public street like a piece of scandalous gossip; but she is also offered to her sister's suitors by her own father and profusely turned away as one turns away from a piece of rotten meat. Kate then tries to reveal her mortification to her father, "I pray you, sir, is it your will/To make a stale of me amongst these mates?"(57-58). Upon hearing this, Hortensio scolds Kate for her infamous temper to which she replies that i...
... middle of paper ...
.... There is now obvious affection between the two, and Petruchio says of their new harmony, "Is not this well?" (154). He calls her his sweet Kate, and she recognizes the sincerity of the epithet. Therefore, with careful love and affection stemming from Petruchio's sincerity towards Katherine, her shrewd behavior turns into sweet honey.
In conclusion, due to her father and sister's lack of affection and humiliation, Kate develops a nasty shrewish character. She then recognizes her equal when she meets Petruchio, yet she has no choice but to keep acting as a shrew. It is not until Petruchio wins Kate's affection through his kindness and love that she finally lets go of her shrewish cover and becomes the envied wife of every husband
Works Consulted:
Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew. Ed. Milton Glaser. New York: Signet, 1971.
"World Population Clock: 7 Billion People (2014) - Worldometers." World Population Clock: 7 Billion People (2014) - Worldometers. Web. 19 May 2014.
"Jim Cramer 14036." The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Comedy Central. 12 Mar. 2009. Television.
Weinstock, G. Yael. "Spiritual Resistance During the Holocaust". Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem, n.d. Web. 18 May 2014.
Old Chinatown's heyday was between the years of 1890-1910. It could count 15 or so streets and alleys, and perhaps 200 building units. I...
"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
"World Socialist Web Site." GDP, Consumer Spending Contract as US Plunges into Recession -. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.
In the beginning of “The Taming of the Shrew”, some say Shakespeare portrays Katherina as a very shrewish figure. Others may argue that she is not shrewish but just a very strong willed person. At the end of the play some people say she is transformed into a very kind and gentle person, while again others will argue that she is not “tamed” but just putting on an act to “show up” her younger sister Bianca, whom has always been more beautiful and charming. Kate is “like a wasp, like a foal, like foal that kicks from his halter; pert, quick and determined, but full of good heart.” 1. This statement made by one author, shows clearly that he does not see her as shrew-like, even at the beginning of the play. The same author states that at the end of the play she has not really transformed, rather she has just fallen in love with Petruchio, in essence she is free from torment because she is no longer seen as the shrew.
Taming of the Shrew, had a great story line, which can be related to several movies that exist today i.e. Othello, 10 Things I Hate about You, and The Lion King. In William Shakespeare's play, The Taming of the Shrew, the shrew played by Katherine, had a terrible perspective on life and just about everything else. Her negativity was caused by her younger, more pulchritudinous sister Bianca. Bianca wanted to get espoused. She had all of the men's hearts, Katherine retained none. If Katherine got espoused then Bianca could get espoused. She authentically was a shrew who needed to be tamed.
There is a point of time in certain a country’s history where they become dominant and more powerful than ever before. During this elongated process a country becomes an empire. The British and the Ottomans were states that succeeded in this process, but becoming an empire such as theirs required vast amounts of political and social maneuvering to expand their boundaries, called imperialism. Imperialism is, “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force”. By becoming a modern nation enjoying economic prosperity and political stability, the British and the Ottomans created an imperialistic impact over the globe with distinctive motivations and approaches especially during the transition period of gaining ample amount power and influence globally.
Sutrop M. (2011) How to avoid a dichotomy between autonomy and beneficence: from liberalism to communitarianism and beyond. Journal of Internal Medicine. 269(4):375-79. Retrieved from http:// onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jim.2011.269.issue-4/issuetoc
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 ...
Though written only two years after the first version of "The Shadowy Waters", W.B. Yeats' poem "Adam's Curse" can be seen as an example of a dramatic transformation of Yeats' poetic works: a movement away from the rich mythology of Ireland's Celtic past and towards a more accessible poesy focused on the external world. Despite this turn in focus towards the world around him, Yeats retains his interest in symbolism, and one aspect of his change in style is internalization of the symbolic scheme that underlies his poetry. Whereas more mythological works like "The Shadowy Waters" betray a spiritual syncretism not unlike that of the Golden Dawn, "Adam's Curse" and its more realistic fellows offer a view of the world in which symbolic systems are submerged, creating an undercurrent of meaning which lends depth to the outward circumstances, but which is itself not immediately accessible to the lay or academic reader. In a metaphorical sense, then, Yeats seems in these later poems to achieve a doubling of audience, an equivocation which addresses the initiate and the lay reader simultaneously.
Yeats, W.B. The Collection of Poems by W.B. Yeats: Definitive Edition, With the Author’s Final Revisions. New York: MacMillan, 1959
Yeats and Eliot are two chief modernist poet of the English Language. Both were Nobel Laureates. Both were critics of Literature and Culture expressing similar disquietude with Western civilization. Both, prompted by the Russian revolution perhaps, or the violence and horror of the First World War, pictured a Europe that was ailing, that was literally falling apart, devoid of the ontological sense of rational purpose that fuelled post-Enlightenment Europe and America(1). All these similar experience makes their poetry more valuable to compare and to contrast since their thoughts were similar yet one called himself Classicist(Eliot) who wrote objectively and the other considered himself "the last Romantic" because of his subjective writing and his interest in mysticism and the spiritual. For better understanding of these two poets it is necessary to mention some facts and backgrounds on them which influenced them to incorporate similar (to some extent) historical motif in their poetry.
This paper will explore the common analytical symbolism in William Butler Yeats poem "The Second Coming” written in 1919. In addition this paper will also discuss a background of the source of its symbolism. This symbolism can only be understood in the context of the essence of his life. Various scholarly analysis correlate its symbolism to his book “A Vision" written in 1925 and later revised in 1937. In his book "A Vision" Yeats does provide explanation of his esoteric system but the book is not limited to his symbolism, and certainly would be a study onto itself. For the purpose of this paper some knowledge of Yeats symbolism clarifies elements in the poem "The Second Coming” and will be provided. This being his most analyzed poem, there are as many interpretations as there are critics and analysis and there are many. Some interpretations, while interesting do not correlate the poem to his esoteric system have chosen to focus on a more scholarly analysis.