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Representation of women in Shakespeare
Characterization of women in Shakespeare
Gender roles during medieval times and modern day
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In a town called Padua located in olden Italy, Baptista Minola worries with potential suitors for his youngest daughter, Bianca. He refuses to wed Bianca to one of her suitors until his elder, irascible daughter Katherine is married. Petruchio, a traveler who is mainly interested in Katherine’s money, tries to woo her and tame her. Katherine’s ending monologue reveals that she is truly tamed, able to control her anger around people. In the beginning of the play, Katherine is obstinate and quarrelsome. Little by little, as the play progresses, she succumbs to Petruchio’s taming. At the very end, it is shown that Katherine is changed into a subdued woman who accepts her role as a gentle, caring wife.
In the beginning of the play, Katherine
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is described as an “irksome, brawling scold” by Petruchio (1.2.189). She is looked down upon, even feared, by the townspeople and Bianca’s suitors alike. Even her father favors her younger sister over her. He is quick to blame Katherine and take Bianca’s side. When Katherine ties up Bianca and “For shame, thou hilding of a devilish spirit!” he shouts at Katherine (2.1.27-28). Katherine proves to be extremely shrewish and sour when she kidnaps her sister and binds her with rope, forcing her to tell Katherine which of her suitors she likes best. As the play progresses, Katherine slowly succumbs to Petruchio’s taming.
After they are married, she and Petruchio move to his home in Verona, where Petruchio begins taming her instantly. “She ate no meat today, nor none shall eat/ Last night she slept not, nor tonight she shall not” (4.1.197-198). Petruchio both starves Katherine and prevents her from sleeping. She is forced to attain to his every whim, or else she shall suffer the consequences. His taming methods may be a bit extreme, but they prove to be effective. When Katherine and Petruchio travel back to Padua for Bianca’s wedding, Petruchio’s many antics prove to be tiring for Katherine. When Katherine states that the sun shines brightly, he stops the horses and purposefully disagrees with her, stating that “it is the moon that shines so bright” (4.5.5). When Katherine hastily agrees with him, he changes his mind again and announces, “It is the blessed sun” (4.5.20). Katherine grows tired of this exchange and declares, “Then God be blest, it is the blessed sun/ But sun it is not when you say it is not/ And the moon changes even as your mind/ What you will have it named, even that it is/ And so it shall be still for Katherine” (4.5.21-25). After Petruchio orders her to say that the sun is really the moon, Katherine makes this repentant speech. She finally concedes and proclaims that, from this point forward, Petruchio might as well define reality for her. Katherine is hungry, tired, and fatigued from her relentless …show more content…
arguing with Petruchio. According to Katherine’s perception, even astronomic objects succumb to Petruchio’s will. During this event, Petruchio’s victory over Katherine becomes certain. Afterwards, she cannot battle his authority. Her taming is almost complete. At the end of the play, Katherine and Petruchio arrive at Bianca and Lucentio’s wedding feast.
Hortensio, one of Bianca’s old suitors, also reaches Padua with his new wife, a wealthy widow. Everyone expects Katherine to be just as shrewish as she was before she was married to Petruchio. Even the widow refers to Katherine as a shrew. “Your husband being troubled with a shrew/ Measures my husband’s sorrow by his woe,” the widow states, calling Katherine a shrew and saying that she feels sorry for Petruchio (5.2.29-30). After the three women leave, Lucentio, Hortensio, and Petruchio wager that each of their wives is the most obedient. They each send for their wives, proving to be unsuccessful until Petruchio sends for Katherine. To everyone else’s astonishment, Katherine arrives obediently, and Petruchio wins the bet. Katherine then goes and fetches her sister and Hortensio’s widow wife. She reprimands them for not obeying their husbands. “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 labor by both sea and land/ To watch the night in storms, the day in cold/ Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe” (5.2.162-167). She explains that a woman’s husband protects her and supports her, living a life of danger and responsibility. In return, she says that the husband asks only for his wife’s kindness and obedience, which is “too little payment for so great a debt” (5.2.170).
She then tells Bianca, “My mind hath been as big as one of yours/ My heart as great” (5.2.186-187). However, now Katherine recognizes that “our lances are but straws,” suggesting that their stubbornness is being used as weaponry against their husbands, which attests to be irrelevant. Katherine’s monologue shows a surprising alteration of her feelings about marriage. The once petulant Katherine now asserts that her sister and the widow are ungrateful for not coming to their husbands when called. She believes that a woman should be prepared to do anything for her husband, including, as Katherine does now, kneel before Petruchio and hold his foot. This speech specifies just how extensive Katherine’s character development was throughout the play. She began the play by battling against her social role, but now she defends her role as a compliant wife.
“Then God be blessed, it is the blessed sun, But sun it is not when you say it is not, And the moon changes even as your mind. What you will have it named, even that it is,And so it shall be still for Katherine. (IV.vi.19–23) The relationship of Katherine and Petruchio has changed throughout the various adaptations of the Taming of the Shrew. Things such as the motives to the interaction, even the role of love has changed. These differences between these adaptations were not a mistake but made to appeal to a variety of audiences.
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.
Bianca and Katherine dislike each other feverishly. Katherine torments Bianca with words and physical harm. She binds her hands, pulls her hair then brings her forth to her father and the gentlemen callers. Bianca denies liking any of the visitors and portrays herself an innocent that merely wants to learn and obey her elders. She says, "Sister, content you in my discontent to y...
.... She now obeys what is asked of her by Petruchio like such as when she is told to lecture the other wives about how to be a good wife, “Katherina, I charge thee, tell these headstrong women, what duty they do owe their lords and husbands.” Without arguing and saying a word against what is asked of her she gives her advice, “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee.”
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” This quote is related to Lena younger because she faced many horrors in her past such as slavery. However, she keeps moving forward for her family. Lena Younger, a respected woman, values her family more than money and she teaches her family lessons to life. “Lena Younger lives vicariously through her children, for even her dream of having a house is motivated only by her desire to make living conditions better for her family.”
"And let me be a slave, t' achieve that maid whose sudden sight hath thrall'd my wounded eye, " (I.i.219-220) In The Taming of the Shrew, Lucentio has come up with a plan to woo his love Bianca. It involves his servant Tranio pretending to be him so that he can pretend to be a schoolmaster. Bianca's father, Baptista, has decreed that she stay locked up in the house until her sister, Kate, is married. The only people allowed in to see her are her tutors, one of which is Lucentio in disguise. Ironically, Lucentio came to Padua to study Philosophy and virtue. While disguised as Bianca's tutor, he woo's her and in the end he wins her heart and her hand in marriage.
In William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, Katherine transforms from a shrew to a conformable wife because of Petruchio’s taming process. At the end of the play, Katherine acts as an obedient wife because she changes her ways. Starting to change, Kate’s attitude and behavior improve since she starts to show kindness. Kate behaves as a shrew at the beginning of the play because she disrespects the people around her.
Here we see Petruchio, the misogynistic male lead of the play, arrive in Padua to find a wife –ideally a rich woman, no matter her looks or personality. Upon hearing of Katharina “Kate” Minola, he decides, at once, that he will marry her. Petruchio thus seeks out Kate’s father, Baptista, to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Once he is granted permission, he meets Katharina for the first time. Their first interaction is less than civil, with Kate firing insult after insult at Petruchio, calling him things such as a “buzzard,” meaning he is useless, and saying that he is too much a fool to find her “stinger” – with which her sharp words come from (2.1). Even still, Petruchio insists on marrying, and in doing so, taming Katharina, and will not take any of her protests,
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 ...
William Shakespeare is a prominent and immortalized writer during the Elizabethan period. His works are well known throughout history. His poems and plays have influenced many writers and poets today. Shakespeare’s clever use of Comedy, Drama and Tragedy allows him to convey a deeper message within his works. An example of this is his first comedic play The Taming of the Shrew. The Taming of the Shrew is a story of a rich father named Baptista Minola, and his two daughters: Katharine, known for shrewdness and her sharp tongue, and Bianca, who is known for her beauty and modesty in her speech. Many men seek to betroth Bianca, however, none may marry her until her older sister Katharine is married. Sadly no man wants a woman with such disobedience. That is until Petruchio, takes on the challenge of “taming the shrew.”
In Shakespeare's, "The Taming of the Shrew" the relationship between the sisters Katherine and Bianca appears to be strained with rampant jealousy. Both daughters fight for the attentions of their father. In twisted parallel roles, they take turns being demure and hag-like. Father of the two, Baptista Minola, fusses with potential suitors for young Bianca and will not let them come calling until his elder, ill-tempered daughter Katherine is married. The reader is to assume that meek, mild-mannered, delicate Bianca is wasting away while her much older, aging, brutish sister torments the family with her foul tongue. Katherine seems to hold resentment toward Bianca. Her father favors Bianca over Katherine and keeps them away from each others' torment. When gentlemen come calling, Bianca cowers behind her father and Katherine speaks up for herself. "I pray you sir, is it your will to make a stale of me amongst these mates?" (1.1.57-58) Bianca and Katherine dislike each other feverishly. Katherine torments Bianca with words and physical harm. She binds her hands, pulls her hair then brings her forth to her father and the gentlemen callers. Bianca denies liking any of the visitors and portrays herself an innocent that merely wants to learn and obey her elders. She says, "Sister, content you in my discontent to your pleasure humbly I subscribe. My books and instruments shall be my company, on them to look and practise by myself." (1.1.80-84) Because Katherine speaks freely and asserts herself she is labeled as "shrewish." When Hortensio describes her to Petruccio, he spews out that she is "renowned in Padua for her scolding tongue." ( 1.2.96) He gilds the lily further by clearly telling of her fair fortune if suitable man comes courting and wins her hand in marriage. Petruccio sees dollar signs and rushes onwards in grand dress and fluently gestures to court the gracious "Kate." When he first begins his ritual of winning the family and Katherine to his love, he is seeking his fortune in her dowry. The mention of her being at all undesirable does not put rocks in his path.
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
... for both sides. In the case of Katherine and Petruchio, the battle is won because they both love each other and live happily ever after. The battle of the sexes between Bianca and Lucentio is lost because neither is willing to love each other.
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...