Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Shakespeare's representation of women
Characterization of women in Shakespeare
Importance of marriage in relation to cultures
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Shakespeare's representation of women
Many of Shakespeare’s work show how the treatment of women in their time was unfair. In the classic play written by William Shakespeare “The Taming of the Shrew” it is no different. The topic of the unfair treatment of women starts with two of the main female characters Kate and Bianca Minola the daughters to the man named Baptista Minola. The two main female characters have very dynamic personalities, for example Kate is a tight, open, uncaring, rude, and insensitive person, but as the story progressed Kate started changing become more of a wife obeying, and incentive. While Bianca on the other hand started off as a charming, sweet, loving, and sensible person, but as the story moved on she became more of a disobedient and mean person who didn’t listen to her husband. These women were treated like animals, their weddings were more of business transactions, and they were to force to obey and serve their husbands as they were lords.
The way women were treated were as though they were animals, an example would be this line from Tranio, one of Bianca’s suitors “Ay, mistress, and Petruchio is the master, that teacheth tricks eleven and twenty long, to tame a shrew and charm her chattering tongue” (4.2 56-58) one may think that the “Training School” could be a comparison of today’s modern taming school used to train pets tricks, to teach dogs how to listen well to their masters and to do tricks. Another quote from the text, could be Petruchio’s speech “Thus have I politically begun my reign, and ‘tis my hope to end successfully. My falcon now is sharp and passing empty, and till she stoop she must not be full-gorged, another way I have to man my haggard, to make her come and know her keeper’s call, That is, to watch her, as we watch t...
... middle of paper ...
...io. At the end of the wedding transaction, the money is usually given to the father, so in the end the father would have chosen the best offer of them all, Tranio.
The way women were treated, as animals, forced to obey and listen to every command their husbands had to say, and how their weddings were treated like business transactions. Women were treated terribly in the Elizabethan times. In the play it shows how badly and terrible there were treated, many of them do. This also shows his the personalities of character changes at different times and environments, becoming more obeying or disobeying a master, but everything has gotten better since then, and one may agree that how women are treated now is immensely better than the way they were treated before.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, and Roma Gill. The Taming of the Shrew. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
This play has many themes of patriarchy concerning the roles of males and females in a marriage, the authority of fathers over their families, husbands over wives, and men over women (Bloom 13). In the title alone, there's the indication of the husband over the wife, the "taming" of the shrew (16), and the word shrew that is chosen to describe Katherine is somewhat demeaning. In modern day society there is no such boundaries put on women. There should not be one party who overpowers the other one. It is a marriage, a bond that is shared, and each should be respected in the same way. Today, women and men are equals in a marriage, or at least in the United States. Women are no longer as oppressed as they once were. This play is rather primitive on the views of women in society.
“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
Thompson, Ann (ED.), The New Cambridge Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, (Cambridge University Press, 1984).
Shakespeare, William. _The Taming of the Shrew_. The Riverside Shakespeare. 2nd ed. Ed. Dean Johnson. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. 142-171.
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.
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.
Henderson, Diana E. “A Shrew for the Times, Revisted.” Shakespeare the Movie II, Popularizing the Plays on Film, TV, and DVD. Eds. Burt, Richard and Boose, Lynda E. New York: Routledge, 2003. 120-139. Print.
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
During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.
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...
Shakespeare, Wiliam, and Sylvan Barnet. The Taming of the Shrew. . Reprint. London: New American Library, 1998. Print.
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.
Shakespeare is known for writing comedies and paving the path for Romantic-Comedies to come for years after himself. He used comedic devices to develop some of his plots. Comedic devices worked to develop the plot in The Taming of the Shrew, such as unexpected plot twists, family drama, and mistaken identity. Unexpected plot twists and mistaken identity plays a large role in any comedic play. Shakespeare uses this to help plot his story.
Ever since people started to settle into their way of living, certain expectations over a certain culture is shaped by what the elders pass down. Over generations, the culture slowly changed yet it shapes to what makes society for what it is and what is expected to come from people in that certain time period. So how does this change occur within these generations? In The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, it becomes evident that the older generation influences the younger generation and proves what is expected from its time, especially when it comes to family.