Taming Of The Shrew Gender Roles Essay

For centuries, social classes have existed while controlling individual actions from careers to everyday choices. During the 16th and 17th century, wealth and class played a significant role in marriage from paying a large dowry or marrying someone in the same class. Unfortunately, this practice lead to many objected marriages usually by the wife. Due to these times and traditions with the distinct social classes, men gained the upperhand in controlling the path of a relationship. In his play, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare illustrates the idea of transformation of characters through contrasting gender roles and social classes.

Shakespeare illustrates the shift of Sly, the poor man to a rich noble, to portray the wide gap between social classes and emphasize the effects money as on individuals. In the beginning of the play, a lord finds a poor drunk man in a local bar and attempts to play simple prank by making him believe he is a noble for simple fun. Eventually, the new noble watches a play from a new perspective as a “lordship” (Taming of the Shrew (TTS) 1.2.10). Originally, the lord

Petruchio’s eventual wife is originally seen as a shrew precisely when she continuously “strikes” her future husband over a frivolous argument (TTS 2.1.54). Shakespeare uses Katherine’s initial idiosyncrasies to contrast her transformation to a lady after living with Petruchio. Initially, Katherine portrays her anger towards Petruchio by exclaiming how he married her then “famish[ed]” her (TTS 4.3.100). Despite Petruchio’s horrible actions toward Katherine, she is transformed by Petruchio as she delivers a speech a woman’s duty to “obey” her husband (TTS 5.2.141). Through this transformation from a shrew to a lady, Shakespeare illustrates how despite Petruchio’s destructive behavior toward Katherine, men will have consistent control over