Taming of the Shrew The play Taming of the Shrew remains one of the formidable masterpieces which is a famous comedy by early Shakespeare. It mainly describes the relationships of husband and wife and the issue of equality between gender in Renaissance. While it is possible that one will easily get surprised with the wit used in the character formation, others will not fail to comment on the artistic skills employed by Shakespeare to develop the thematic framework for this play. The fascinating ability by Shakespeare to bring several themes together in the play makes this play standing out from some other plays. Shakespeare’s desire to build on the social performance and construction of genders in scene one was not only for the sake of background …show more content…
establishment rather an attempt to make his character achieve the true identity. Social Performance Women, unlike men, were portrayed as the socially humiliated class of individuals in the play. Shakespeare makes some of them face tendencies of abuse besides merely undergoing a various state of psychological humiliation (Shakespeare and Sidney 70). Characters such as Petruchio represents the categories of noblemen without respect to women given the extent of ill-treatment propagated by the people of opposite gender (Shakespeare and Sidney 82). When Petruchio first meets Katherine, he pursues Katherine to marry him. Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed. And therefore, setting all this chat aside, Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented That you shall be my wife, your dowry ’greed on, And, will you, nill you, I will marry you. Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn, For by this light, whereby I see thy beauty, Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well, Thou must be married to no man but me. For I am he am born to tame you, Kate, And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate Conformable as other household Kates. (2.1.282-293) Unlike men, the social status of women is low because their ideas and decisions are less powerful than men. Petruchio’s already made his decision of marrying Katherine, however he does not care if she is willing to do it or not. For Petruchio, marrying Katherine is about “taming” her, but not love her. Also, social standing is a key factor of categorization in the play. Characters such as Bianca and Katherina attain evaluation about the roles they play due to their existence in the class of nobility. In contrast, the play elevates members from the lower social class. Tranio, Biondello, and Grumio are wise as compared to their masters. Basta, content thee, for I have it full. We have not yet been seen in any house, Nor can we be distinguished by our faces For man or master. Then it follows thus: Thou shalt be master, Tranio, in my stead, Keep house, and port, and servants, as I should.
I will some other be, some Florentine, Some Neapolitan, or meaner man of Pisa. ’Tis hatched, and shall be so. Tranio, at once Uncase thee. Take my colored hat and cloak./ They exchange clothes. (1.1.204-213) They help Lucentio to achieve the entire plan of marrying Bianca. Their guidance over the need to get someone to marry Katherina successfully leads to arriving at someone who would disguise himself as the person to marry her to create space for Bianca’s marriage with Bianca. Though Tranio, Biondello, and Grumio are members from lesser social class, their contribution to the solutions over the Lucentio challenges is of great extent. Rituals and …show more content…
Ceremonies Ritual and Ceremonies are part of the significant components found in the play.
Various acts and scenes consist of ceremonies and ritual as objected by Shakespeare. In the onset of Act I, scene one, the arrival of Lucentio marked the ceremony that directed the rest of the unfolding in the entire scene. The procession that involved the plans to marry of Baptista’s daughters has its origin at the arrival of this advent (Shakespeare and Sidney 97). Besides, the above ritual, there is also the presentation of the marriage suggestion from location among other suitors that wanted to marry Baptista daughters. Hortensio’s idea is, “to get a husband for her sister” (1.1.122). This process marks the starting of the plans to have Katherine get someone to marry her. While it was common that no one would risk marrying Katherine due to her shrewd tendencies because Gremio insists that, “A husband? A devil!/ I say ‘a devil’”(1.1.123-125). The presentation of the suggestion for marriage gave an opportunity for Baptista to agitate for a chance to have Katherine get someone to marry. Thus, it would not have been possible for the marriage ceremonies to take place in the scene without the arrival of the Lucentio and the team with the possible attempt to advance the marriage
suggestion. Still, scene one presents various sets of ceremonies that make the play achieve its purpose. With marriage ceremonies taking the central stage, there is also suggestion ceremony that comes after the entire wedding event (Shakespeare and Sidney). The two ceremonies in the scene are essential given that all the main events in the scene rotate around them. About suggestion ceremony, this event marks the starting of the plans to have the two daughters of Baptista get the men to marry them. Also, this opportunity gives Lucentio an opportunity to organize for someone to marry Katherine and create space for his plan to have Bianca as his wife. Although the marriage ceremony does not take place in this scene, plans to have are initiated to have it happen. This process takes place upon the availability of someone who would marry Katherine and create space for the marriage of Bianca. Other ceremonies in the scenes include the tutoring expedition conducted to Baptista daughters among other. The above process was essential undertaking that helped in the building of the scene. In summary, the construction of scene one by Shakespeare in Taming of the Shrew hinged in the two principal elements of social performance besides the items in ceremonies and rituals. Social performance according to the scene exhibits the various difficulties experienced by the members of the female gender. Characters such as Katherine barely have the ability to dominate her marriage. On the other hand, there is also the ceremonies with marriage suggestion and arrival of the Lucentio being the major ritual in the scene.
William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is an interesting story that demonstrates the patriarchal ideas of how a marriage is suppose to be according to society, what is acceptable of a woman's role in a relationship. It's a story that has many things to show for it's been remade, and remade, even slightly altered to better relate to the teenage audience.
“The Taming Of The Shrew” by William Shakespeare is a work of satire created to criticize the misogynistic outlooks of the 16th century. With this play, Shakespeare is trying to say that the idea and role of women in his society is deeply flawed and should be fixed, as well as to make other social commentaries, such as on the treatment of servants. Through exaggeration and parody, Shakespeare makes society look silly.
"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
Sexism is an ever changing concept in today’s world. Every day the concept morphs a little bit, changing the entire definition of what is sexist and what is not. In The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, the male characters lie to and abuse their women in order to have the women marry them. Lucentio come to Padua to study, but when he sees a beautiful girl, he pretends to be a teacher in order to marry Bianca. Petruchio on the other hand forces a woman to marry him and then trains her to follow his every command. Although the The Taming of the Shrew is frequently regarded as a particularly sexist play, it is not sexist and demeaning towards women.
in this play, women are used as a symbol of male power, or lack of it.
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 Shakespearean scholar expanded on this, “The play enacts the defeat of the threat of a woman’s revolt; it does so in a comic form – thus so offers the audience the chance to revel in and reinforce their misogyny while at the same time feeling good” (Gay). The Taming of the Shrew at many points is just praising the men in the novel despite their behavior and putting down the women for being anything but perfect. The novel makes the actions happening comedic and the reader does not get upset at the things happening, but in reading further into it and comparing in to modern day, it is not hard to see the plain and simple abuse. Although gender roles are still prominent into today’s society they are toned back. In contemporary version of The
The Taming of the Shrew is set in a time period that did not accept women as we do today. In today's society, women who are strong and independent and quick witted are praised. In Elizabethan times women were supposed to know their role in life, being good to their husbands, making children and taking care of them. There were no women in politics, there were no women in business, it was only acceptable for women to participate in domestic areas of life. Women could not live a respectable life in this time period without a male figure to take care of them, rendering them helpless without men. If there was anything that must be done involving economics or education, it was up to the men. Men were the ones who worked and brought home the money to support the family. The roles of men and women were very distinct, and it resulted in giving the men the majority of the power.
In The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, women were suppressed by the societal ideals of the Elizabethan era. In this play, the female characters Jessica and Portia stray away from the expected stereotypical passive role of women in society, and show rather dominant and powerful traits that men were expected to have. Portia, the heroine of this play is bound to a lottery set up in her father's will, which gives male suitors the chance to choose between three caskets made up of gold, silver, and led in order to win her hand in marriage. Portia’s scheming throughout the whole process caused Bassanio to have a better chance in choosing the correct casket, while also allowing her to keep the promise of not disclosing the truth about the caskets to any of the potential suitors. Along with her manipulative ways, she was very comfortable in playing a masculine role. Her powerful and confident actions make her stand out from other women in The Elizabethan society. Jessica, like Portia steps out of the stereotypical weak woman role in society and takes on a dominant role. By running away from her father and converting to Christianity with her lover, Lorenzo, she disrespects and disowns her father. By starting a new life without her father's rules, she shows the strength and confidence of an ideal man of her time. The actions of both these characters earn them praise for their feminist actions. However, while both Portia and Jessica show admirable feminist actions, they both lose the opportunity to be noteworthy when they return to the act of submission that they must play to the patriarchal society.
...n the play are tragically the ones who suffer the most. Due to the way they were viewed and treated at the time of the play they were basically helpless. Desdemona was made to stand by and watch as the relationship with her beloved husband Othello deteriorated. She was the first to die but the most innocent. Emilia got caught between respecting her husband and being loyal to her mistress. Sadly she made the choice to follow the wrong person but was able to redeem herself in the end only to be stabbed in the back by Iago. Bianca is a victim of circumstance and unknowingly involved because of her love for Cassio. I believe that Shakespeare wrote this play to illustrate the injustices done to women during his time, among other political messages that are entwined into the plot.
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare is a play that is ahead of its time in its views toward gender roles within society. Katherine is a woman who is intelligent, and is not afraid to assert her views on any given situation. She is paired with another obstinate character in Pertuchio. The Marriage formed between the two is a match made in heaven for two reasons. First Because Katherine is strong enough to assert her views, and more importantly, she realizes when she should assert them. The second reason the bond survives is that Petruchio is strong enough to accept the fact that Katherine has a mind and, more importantly he loves her for that reason. Petruchio cleverly weaves the relationship into the framework of society without compromising the integrity of the relationship. Petruchio does this by comparing Katherine’s at attitude to repulsive clothing. Carefully and calculatingly, Petruchio forges a relationship that is envied by all who witness it.
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.
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.
It is worthwhile to take a close look at the marriage and trial plots in The Merchant of Venice. The antagonists of the respective plots have similar goals; they seek access to power and privilege. However, the types of power they seek is very different. The methods they use of gaining power are also differ. Bassanio succeeds with his intent, but Shylock fails. Focusing on the before mentioned plots, one may draw some conclusions concerning the reasons of success and failure in this play.
world at the time (Queen of England) be a woman. We now have women in