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Shakespeare's portrayal of women
Power and control taming of the shrew
Literary analysis of shakespeare
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In Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio, is determined to gain power over Kate. Petruchio love challenges and constantly surrounds himself with challenging people. It appears his perfect match would be a woman who could produce a challenge and sharpen his wits. When he’s informed of Kate’s sharp temper and rude behavior, it excites him. This motivates him to be the shrew-tamer. “I know she is an irksome brawling scold; if that be all, masters, I hear no harm" (1, ii, 160). In Act 2 of the play, Petruchio finally engage in a conversation with Kate, he’s intrigue by behavior he goes by calling her a “wasp” and her response was “If I be waspish, best beware my sting.” He strikes back “My remedy is then to pluck it out” which means all he has to do is remove it. …show more content…
Petruchio uses physiology gain power over Kate.
"I'll attend her here, and woo her with some spirit when she comes. Say that she rail; why, then I'll tell her plain She sings as sweetly as a nightingale. Say that she frown; I'll say she looks as clear As morning roses newly wash'd with dew. Say she be mute, and will not speak a word; then I'll commend her volubility, and say she uttereth piercing eloquence" (11, I, 170). On their journey back to Puada, Petruchio tries to persuade Kate submit to him. He tricks her by saying “Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the moon!” Kate disagrees with him and said it is the sun that is shining not the moon. This makes Petruchio aggravated. He demand Kate to agree with him or they will not continue their journey back to Padua. Being that she was tired and hungry, Kate agrees with him but he wasn’t satisfy until Hortensio reassured him Kate has been
tamed. Although Petruchio antics might be maniacal, his goal of gaining power over Kate is successful. We have a knowledge of this through Kate’s final speech “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee, And for thy maintenance commits his body To painful labour both by sea and land, to watch the night in storms, the day in cold, Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe, And craves no other tribute at thy hands But love, fair looks, and true obedience, too little payment for so great a debt." In her final speech, Kate states that the duty of a woman is to her husband. Her husband is her lord. This shows that Kate is no longer a shrew and Petruchio has gain complete power over her.
A very prominent theme in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is society's double standards of men and women. In the play, Katherina is a very free-willed, independent woman who wishes to follow her own path in life and is not dependent on a man for her happiness. Petruchio is also free-willed, independent and speaks his mind freely. However, where Petruchio is praised for these characteristics, Katherina is scorned and called names. Petruchio is manly and Katherina is bitchy for the same traits.
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
The scene starts off Katherine terrorizing her sister, the men all introducing themselves, and Hortensio being hit by a lute. Katherine is eventually brought out to met Petruchio and they are left alone. Petruchio takes to calling Katherine by “Kate”, wriling her up. Kate begins to insult her suitor without hesitation. They then engage in an argument, which was more along the lines of clever puns and metaphors thrown to and fro. It then ends in Kate hitting Petruchio and his response being they will be married on Sunday, “will you. nill you”.
In Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, the character Kate is the ‘shrew’ of the play. A shrew is a bad-tempered or aggressively assertive woman. In Elizabethan times, being labelled a shrew may lead to punishments and public humiliation. Modern day readers may look at Kate being labelled as a shrew and disagree as society today has changed since then and women are not inferior to men as they were back then. Kate is often presented by Shakespeare more positively as a complex and vulnerable character due to the fact she receives abuse from other characters in the play, an example of this is: ‘”Mates”, maid?
In William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio acts as a master tamer by depriving Katherine of her necessities, being a mirror image of her, and making her agree with him. Petruchio displays the qualities of a master tamer by making her agree with all of his opinions. Acting as a mirror image, Petruchio proves he holds the role of a master tamer and will do whatever he wants. In order to be a master tamer to Katherine, Petruchio deprives her of all her basic needs and necessities.
The way Kate was acts resembles that of a stubborn child. She is a shrew; a selfish, ill-tempered woman who is inconsiderate to those around her. When Kate and Petruchio first meet, Petruchio sends her way an exorbitant amount of compliments which she promptly replies with, “Moved!, In good time: let him that moved as you hither. Remove you hence. I knew at the first you were a movable.” (Act II, Scene 1, Line 215-218) Kate immediately insults Petruchio and dismisses the fact that Petruchio is probably the first man to compliment her in such a way. This shows that she is not even willing to have a civil conversation with someone she's just met. If a person gives out a compliment in the real...
Although the The Taming of the Shrew is frequently regarded as a particularly sexist play, it is not sexist and demeaning towards women. Women’s rights are a household topic that has been around for the better part of the last century in America, however back when the play was written, women’s rights were unheard of. So when Petruchio didn’t let Kate eat or sleep after they eloped (IV.iii.47-48) “The poorest service is repaid with thanks, and so shall mine before you touch the meat.” Petruchio is controlling everything that Kate is doing, which includes whether she eats or not which is sexist nowadays, but back in the 16th century, it was normal behavior.
In the play The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Petrucio recognizes, respects and desires Katherine’s strength of character. Petrucio is a clever man who sees beyond facades because he uses them himself. (II, i 46) (II, I 283 - 89) He is stimulated by Katherine’s sharp tongue and harsh actions. He proves this many times throughout the play.
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 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.
Power is the capability of influencing others in their behavior. It all connects to him trying to tame Katherine. He wants to change her behavior and he contains the power of doing this because at the end she respects him more than any other female would respect their husband. Throughout the play, The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, Petruchio, Katherine 's husband, contains the power in the relationship because he is able to change her behavior.
Kate who never wanted to show any affection by the end is kissing Petruchio in the street. “Nay I will give thee a kiss. Now pray thee love stay” (Shakespeare Vii 148). Heath Ledger, as Patrick Verona, displays the mysterious charm necessary to make him seem like a rebel. He seems to be only in it for the money in the beginning much like Petruchio.
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
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...
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.