Another message that William Shakespeare emphasizes in his play regards the effects of social roles on individual happiness which also proves true today. Kate, the eldest daughter in Taming of the Shrew, rejects society's expectation of her to act reserved and dependent on finding a husband. In fact, she embodies quite the opposite: shrewd (thus the title Taming of the Shrew) and independent. Because she resists to conform to this undesired role, Kate finds herself very unhappy. Although Shakespeare stages her struggle in the setting of Renaissance times, the same type of social unhappiness presents itself in society today. Take the case of Oprah Winfrey, an American media proprietor, talk show host, and philanthropist. Mostly known for her
inspiring stories and The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah chose to step down from her extremely successful talk show because she feared comparing that accomplishment to the rest of her work. Winfrey, also unhappy with the persona society forced her to uphold, ended her show to avoid disappointment from her peers as well as from herself (Venable). Winfrey’s life took a much more graceful turn, for other influential artists in the show business like Lindsay Lohan, Demi Lovato, and Justin Bieber resorted to drug abuse to cope with the unhappiness society caused them. These artists exemplify just a few victims that developed anxiety, depression, eating disorders, abuse issues, etc. due to the overwhelming expectations of fame. However, it is not likely that only celebrities, nor Kate, experience unhappiness in the face of social roles; common people most likely encounter the same struggles, connecting Shakespeare’s message with his audiences of his time as well as today’s time. In short, time does not always reshape the effectiveness of Shakespeare’s message since this message of social roles affecting individual happiness demonstrates consistency.
Arthur Miller’s 1953 play The Crucible and Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 dystopian science-fiction film Children of Men both represent people and politics through an exploration of the concept of justice and conformity and non-conformity. Both texts represent people and politics in a unique and evocative way through their differing textual forms, contexts and techniques.
The deterioration of Salem's social structure precipitated the murders of many innocent people. Arthur Miller's depiction of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible, deals with a community that starts out looking like it is tightly knit and church loving. It turns out that once Tituba starts pointing her finger at the witches, the community starts pointing their fingers at each other. Hysteria and hidden agendas break down the social structure and then everyone must protect themselves from the people that they thought were their friends. The togetherness of the community, the church and legal system died so that the children could protect their families' social status.
Varying opinions and ideologies exist everywhere in the world presently, but rarely do they lead to such drastic separation. Social dissent is when these clashing opinions exist within a society and ultimately pulls these sides apart. The Red Scare and McCarthyism are examples of social dissent when people clashed on the idea of Communism. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an allegory for McCarthyism during the Red Scare. The Crucible is set in Puritan Salem and Puritan culture is based around religious ideals. When social dissent arose in Puritan Salem, it lead to the death of 19 individuals on grounds of witchcraft and support of the devil. Although social dissent is common in society and peacefully resolves itself most of the time, it can
It comes to a point in life when fear controls you and causes harm to you and everyone else in your environment. History repeats itself when fear is involved. In the Salem Witch trials, fear caused people to accuse the innocent of being witches. After World War Two, Americans feared sabotage from Japanese and locked up all the Japanese even if they were innocent. After 9/11, fear caused people to believe all Muslims were evil and could harm you. Being afraid of something can eventually become dangerous to you. In some cases, fear becomes dangerous to other people around you like in Salem.
“These are all landholding farmers, members of the church. If you’ll notice, sir—they’ve known the women many years and never saw no sign they had dealings with the Devil.” Proctor conveyed to Danforth while handing him some sort of testament. There were ninety one signatures declaring good opinions of Rebecca, Elizabeth Proctor, and Martha Corey. However, Parris still claims Proctor is trying to overthrow the church even though he has a bunch of people from town signing that the people arrested are good people. The witch trials led to excessive amount of trials, while other issues in the town were completely avoided. Abigail's fascination to be with John Proctor led to appalling accusations. The witch trials in the drama had a negative impact
Who is primarily in control of Kate's actions in William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew? Is Kate primarily controlling her actions, or do other characters in the play control her? If you just read through the play, but don't study it in-depth, it appears that Kate is controlled by other characters' actions towards her, but is this actually the case? Isn't it very possible that Kate is actually in control of all her decisions, but is just strongly influenced by others? After studying the text in-depth, you can see for yourself that although Kate is strongly influenced by others, she is the one who actually makes the decisions to act in the manner in which she acts.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory written about the Salem witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts during 1692 and 1693. The play includes a number of characters, both those who fully conform to the trials and their consequences, and those who do not conform and decide to fight it. Naturally, all stories have characters that are doubtful of which side to pick. They play along with it, not wanting to take a stand, but in their minds they are not entirely sure whether or not what they’re doing is correct. The best example of this outward conformity and inward questioning is Reverend John Hale, one of The Crucible’s principle characters, a member of the religious court that investigates accusations of witchcraft and tries
find a wife. "I come to wives it wealthy in Padua; If wealthy, then happily in
"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
...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 conclusion, Shakespeare does it again with Taming of the Shrew. On the surface, there is Kate who seems to be off the wall and kinda crazy but at the end of the play, you realize that by acting this way and learning “life’s little secrets,” she gets the life she always wanted.
Over the past 400 or so years since Shakespeare wrote _The Taming of the Shrew_, many writers, painters, musicians and directors have adapted and reformed this play of control and subjugation into timeless pieces of art. In _10 Things I Hate About You_ and Kiss Me Kate from two very different times in the twentieth century, and paintings of Katherina and Bianca from the late nineteenth century, the creators of these adaptations have chosen to focus on the role of the two main female characters in the play. The ideas surrounding these women have changed through the years, from Katherina and Bianca simply being young women who deviated from the norm of Shakespeare’s time to women who embody feminist ideals and stereotypes of the more modern world.
The Purpose of the Induction of The Taming of The Shrew There has been much speculation and debate over the necessity and purpose of Shakespeare's Induction to 'The Taming of the Shrew'. The Induction can be interpreted in various ways and a common view is that it is not essential to the play. Indeed, the play alone would suffice without it; as has occurred in various performances of 'The Taming of The Shrew'. Personally, however, I feel that the purpose of the Induction is to frame the play and introduce themes and issues that develop in the play, to the audience. The Induction could be considered quite light and a painless approach to the otherwise darker aspects of the play.
In the taming of the shrew, the play focused on two women in particular, Baptista's daughters, Bianca and Katherine. These women lived in this environment that gave men power for all their lives...
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.