In William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio is manipulative and vulnerable to the opinions of those important to him about him as a person but he does not care about the opinions of others regardless of social class about superficial topics due to his belief that it is who a person is that is important as opposed to their belongings or other things he deems insignificant. To begin, Petruchio’s manipulativeness mainly takes the form of abuse in the play and he manipulates Kate to serve his own purposes of gaining money and recognition. When she and Petruchio are travelling to her father’s home, he forces her to call the sun the moon, allowing him to be able to manipulate her into saying that whatever Petruchio says will be true for her as well and furthermore, he deprives Katherina not only of her freedom to say what she wishes but also basic necessities, …show more content…
stating that: “She ate no meat today, nor none shall eat.
Last night she slept not, nor tonight she shall not. . . . Ay, and amid this hurly I intend That all is done in reverend care of her. . . . This is a way to kill a wife with kindness, And thus I’ll curb her mad and headstrong humor. He that knows better how to tame a shrew, Now let him speak” (INFO). This illustrates how Petruchio is manipulating Katherina and controlling her behaviour through concealing his true intentions of taming her with a disguise of love in addition to not giving her any other options, and also shows that he has no remorse about causing harm to her by depriving her of sustenance and sleep. Despite it being evident throughout the play that Petruchio is confident in his ability to manipulate among many other things, he is insecure and vulnerable to comments related to who he is as a person made by those whom Petruchio considers to be important to him. More specifically, when he first meets Katherina, he pays no attention to her many insults but after the majority of Petruchio’s manipulation of
Katherina in the play, Petruchio finds value in her and wishes to reaffirm that he has succeeded in controlling her through demanding a kiss from her. When Katherina refuses to kiss him, he is noticeably upset and asks Kate “[a]rt thou ashamed of me?” (INFOHERE), exhibiting how Petruchio is affected by comments about who he is as a person due to his deep value of the opinions of those he considers to be important. Contrary to this, Petruchio does not care about the opinions of others about superficial topics or other topics which he deems insignificant. When Petruchio arrives at his and Katherina’s wedding in inappropriate attire to assist in his manipulation of her through ridicule, Tranio and Baptista question his choice of attire to which Petruchio says “[t]o me she’s married, not unto my clothes”(INFO). Through this, it is evident that Petruchio does not mind being ridiculed himself and as such, it is evident that the opinions of others, including those who according to societal expectations would be respected such as Baptista, about superficial topics such as clothes and also the normalities of society do not matter to Petruchio as he believes that it is who a person is that is important, not what is at the surface.
Different Interpretations of the Relationship Between Kate and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew
Kate and The Taming of the Shrew describes the progression of the outspoken and headstrong Kate, wife of Petruchio, as she gradually transitions into an almost perfect example of an archetypal loyal wife. This classic female archetype can be expressed through blind and ignorant support of their husband without any personal opinion or any priorities and objectives other than to satisfy the needs and desires of their husbands. While Kate begins possessing traits that oppose the loyal wife archetype due to her strong willed personality, her shift to obedience. However she continues to think with cunning strategy throughout the entire play, regardless of her weakened mental state caused by Petruchio limiting her food and sleep.
One of the most emotional and moving scenes in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet is in Act III, Scene I lines 90-155 in which the title character becomes somewhat abusive toward his once loved girlfriend Ophelia. It is interesting to examine the possible motives behind Hamlet's blatant harshness in this "Get the to a nunnery" scene toward the easily manipulated and mild mannered girl. While watching Kenneth Branagh and Mel Gibson's film adaptations of the play, the audience may recognize two possibilities of the many that may exist which may explain the Prince's contemptible behavior; Kenneth Branaugh seems to suggest that this display of animosity will help the troubled man convince his enemies that he is in fact demented, whereas the Mel Gibson work may infer that Hamlet's repressed anger toward his mother causes him to "vent" his frustrations upon Ophelia, the other female of importance in his life.
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
In Taming of the Shrew, the first introduction to Katharina, by Gremio and Hortensio, tells that she is a shrew, (1.I .54-60) and that she will never find a groom. When she first speaks we see her responding to these insults, but she was provoked so her words seem appropriate. Yet as the play continues we see Katharina tying up Bianca, (2.I.29) and hitting her. This can be rejected as sibling rivalry, but later Katharina slaps Petruchio when he is trying to woo her (2.I.214). Katharina seems to have a physically violent side that isn't present in Beatrice. She also does not seem to have as strong as a character as Beatrice, especially when one considers that Petruchio was able to tame her in a very short time.
In The Taming of the Shrew, the concept of love is a means of emotional manipulation, and manipulation is nothing more than a means of control between men and women. William Shakespeare critiques the patriarchal social structure by ironically employing the manipulative stance Petruchio takes towards winning Katherine as his wife by charming her with words and manipulating her psychologically, and then taming her after their marriage through legal, physical, financial, and psychological control and manipulation. Though Petruchio may think he yields power over his wife, Katherine uses obedience as a tool of manipulation and has the control of the household, as can be seen by her ironic speech at the end of the play, where she claims women must serve their men. Shakespeare uses the irony of a man using manipulation as a tool for control to magnify the significance of the power women yield through manipulation, thus proving that men and women engage in a power-shifting struggle.
Patrick and Petruchio’s desire to date Kat or Katerina is influenced by money. 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.
Katherina rebuts this whining after their father enters, and ends the scene with her own speech in which she argues that
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.
Torvald is the typical husband of the time of the play. He tries to control his wife and expect her to submit to him. He manipulates her through many different ways. First, he calls her pet names such as "little lark" (3) and "squirrel" (4) and speaks to her in a condescending tone, as if she is a child. He then tries to control her habits so he will not let her eat sweets or spend too much money. In fact, all the money she gets comes from him. He demands that she is subservient and treats her as almost a dog later on in the play. At the end, when Nora's secret is out, he lashes out at her and kicks her out of the house. When he wants her back after he realizes that he will no longer get into trouble for what she did, she does not want to come back, he finally realizes that she does not love him anymore and that his manipulation of her is over. This leaves him in a pickle because he now has to take care of his children without Nora, hardly a good position for him.
Although Krostad’s blackmail does not change Nora’s whimsical nature, it opens her eyes to her underappreciated potential. “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald,” (Find a different quote perhaps?) she exclaims in her confrontation with Torvald. She realizes that she has been putting on a facade for him throughout their marriage. Acting like someone she is not in order to fill the role that her father, Torvald, and society expected her to have.
The antagonist of The Taming of the shrew is not a person but an attribute that the protagonist must overcome. The antagonist Katherine’s shrewdness. Her shrewdness gets in the way of all of her relationships and stops her from creating new ones. Her violent, rude behavior Stopped people from being friendly with her. Her rudeness makes her father want to be rid of her, and her sister pities her a little bit and wants her to be happy.
. is almost a model of intelligence and humanity" and that "what Petruchio wants, and ends up with, is a Katherina of unbroken spirit and gaiety who has suffered only minor physical discomfort. . . " 138. The n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n This is a very interesting take on the situation I read about. To me, Katherina's spirit was completely broken at the end of the play.
It is evident that there is a lacking in the number of characters who are true to themselves and in turn, others around them. In The Pillowman, Katurian claims to have no understanding as to how his fictional stories could have anything to do with the child murders. He argues that “I’ve never done any anti-police thing, I’ve never done any anti-state thing…”. This makes it evident that he believes that once his stories have been read by anyone other than himself, their interpretation of it is completely out with his control. However, as the play progresses, Katurian begins to recognise his responsibility for putting the idea into Michal’s head.
Firstly, William Shakespeare in his play demonstrates the use of manipulation though the main character Hamlet. Hamlet acts mad in order to manipulate Ophelia into believing he is gone crazy. Hamlet planned to create a dominos effect that would start with Ophelia thinking he has gone mad which would lead her to pass this information onto Polonius further passing it onto Claudius. His actions are illustrated through this quote from the text, “Alas, my lord, I have been so affrighted!... My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings fouled, Ungarter’d, and down-g...