The plot of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew revolves mainly around the story of the fiery, seemingly untameable Katherine and her suitor Petruchio’s efforts to turn her into the perfect wife. Petruchio’s domestication tactics include forcing the “devil’s wife” into marriage, publicly humiliating her at said wedding by kissing her against her will, depriving her of food and sleep, and inundating her with lewd comments. Even before Petruchio meets Kate – as he insists on calling her – servant Grumio implies that his master intends to use sexual force to overpower her: “He will throw a figure in her face and so disfigure her with it…” (1.2.115) At after her cruel ordeal, Katherine, whose independence used to be an immutable part
of her identity, concludes the play with a long-winded speech to fellow brides on the virtues of submissiveness and obedience to one’s husband (5.2). In the same scene, Petruchio, whose actions would be considered domestic abuse today, receives Katherine’s father’s thanks and a cash prize as a reward for domesticating the “wild Kat”[cite]. In these ways, The Taming of the Shrew seems to teach through comedy that women only find value through subordination to men, and that chauvinism and violence is an acceptable and even encouraged behaviour. Although these messages can offend readers -- indeed, they should -- I do not think that the play violates any TDSB guidelines and is an exemplary play for high school students to study. If anything, the overt sexism of past society serves as an effective lesson for today; students can present the controversial final scene in different ways, furthering learning; and shielding students from the reality of prejudice may cause more harm than it alleviates.
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.
"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
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.
...ironic use of manipulation before and after the wedding, Petruchio is able to tame Kate. Or so he thinks. The only real change is that Kate agrees with him, but she only does this to get her way. Therefore she is manipulating him by pretending that he has been able to tame her. He has not tamed her, because she also utilizes the art of manipulation. Before, Kate’s only defense against patriarchy is to be outspoken; now, she negotiates her own sense of power within patriarchy by using manipulation. Shakespeare’s critic of the patriarchal social structure is therefore just, because not only are women denied the same legal power as men, but their manipulative power is also disregarded and considered a weakness. Therefore women are not to be blamed for utilizing this powerful form of control, because that is what the patriarchal social structure forces them into.
In Taming of the Shrew Hortensio mentions that Katerina is a shrew, but Petruchio does not care because she is wealthy. Petruchio could have easily found another woman, but with money involved Petruchio does what he can to “win” her love by attempting to talk with Katerina and eventually takes his time to try and tame Katerina. “When Petruchio first meets Baptista, Petruchio inquires about the dowry, once Baptista replies, Petruchio immediately demands to sign the contract. Baptista tells Petruchio to first win her love. Petruchio acts and has a one to one debate with Katerina, Petruchio does not win her love but tells Katerina he will marry her anyways, resulting in Petruchio tricking Baptista in winning Katerina’s love” (Shakespeare, Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 110-308). The paraphrase examines Petruchio increased desire to marry Katerina after being told about the dowry or money involved by attempting to win her love and deceiving Baptista of achieving to win Katerina’s. In 10 Things I Hate About You Patrick has an increased desire to attempt again and date Kat after being offered more money. Patrick takes the money and takes her out to different places, however, Patrick ends up falling in love with Kat and money began to no longer play a role for him showing a difference between the play Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You. In the scene where Joey confronts Patrick about his failed
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.
Taming of the Shrew: Male Domination. 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 tribulations which present themselves in their everyday lives.
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
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.
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.
he horse, Equus ferus caballus, is a subspecies from the family Equidae. Over the past 50 million years, through survival adaptations, the common horse has evolved from a relatively small, multi-toed animal into the large, single toed animal known today (Wilson,. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore).
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a main theme is that power corrupts those who possess it. A definition of corruption is,“dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.” Orwell develops this idea through the character Napoleon in various ways. Looking back in the book, the animal’s rebellion quickly turned political and revolved around, “Leader, Comrade Napoleon (Orwell 81)”. The power Napoleon possed was executed through lies and selfishness, aided by the lack of intellectual ability in the other animals. The corruption of Napoleon’s power is displayed when he favors himself, along with the other pigs, and eventually the dogs, who all get better rations of food compared to the other animals. Another main demonstration of how power corrupts Napoleon is how he separates himself from the other animals on the farm, displaying his feelings if superiority to the other animals. A ceremonial nature develops towards Napoleon. The last way power corrupts Napoleon is how he acts recklessly; killing other animals and lying about
Throughout the course of the novel the lives of everyone – human and animal – on Animal Farm change dramatically. In the case of the pigs their lives get better and better but for all the other animals and the humans their lives take a turn for the worse, after a brief period of optimism for the animals. This change in lifestyle, perhaps suggests Orwell’s thoughts and feelings about communism as he uses all of the events allegorically with the Russian revolution, for example when Snowball is chased out by Napoleon represents in history when Josef Stalin had Leon Trotsky exiled from Russia. Another example is in the card game at the end of the novel when Napoleon, representing Josef Stalin and Russia, and Mr. Pilkington, representing President Truman of America, both play the ace of spades, which represents nuclear weapons, which is historically the beginning of the Cold War.