Taming of the Shrew Hugo Fergus Liam Introduction: Do you know how many plays Shakespeare has written? And do you know how many of these plays were influenced by his society? Shakespeare was, and still is, one of the most influential writers in history. His expression of the common feelings of humans was articulate and vivid. But as well as this, the society that Shakespeare lived in would have influenced him just as much as his feelings. Good morning class. Today I’m going to talk to you about how the society at the time of Shakespeare’s living influenced his writing of the Taming of the Shrew, in particular the speech in which one of the main characters, Katherine, makes to two fellow females on their obedience to their husbands. I will …show more content…
be talking about how the patriarchal society, the subservient role of women and his youth at the time influenced the story and this excerpt. Paragraph 1: My first point is the influence that the patriarchal society Shakespeare lived in influenced the story. This is shown throughout the play. Where is the evidence of this?
Well, in the excerpt, Katherine says, ‘Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper.’ This shows how a woman was received in a relationship. Throughout the taming of the shrew patriarchal society is present in the way Petruchio is treating his wife Katherine. He throws her dresses on the ground starve her and even keeps her awake at night. This is all to teach her to be submissive. Both of these points prove that patriarchal society is a feature in the play taming of the shrew. Paragraph 2: Another point, similar to the patriarchal society is the subservient role of women at the time. Subservience is the act of without question doing the will of another, as they were seen as inferior. This was a slave-like position, but one that women held. In this case, Katherine has been put through tests till Petruchio, her husband, saw her honesty and trustworthiness as satisfactory. He throws her dresses on the ground starve her and even keeps her awake at night, till she is loyal.‘I am ashamed that women are so simple, To offer war where they should kneel for peace; Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway, When they are bound to serve, love and obey.’ This shows how women were expected to bow-down to men, hence force they were seen to have a subservient
role. Paragraph 3: My final point of influence is the factor of age of Shakespeare at the time. This affected the whole story, not just the excerpt, as the book was generally influenced by his youth at the time. This is what made the book so lighthearted. What age do you think Shakespeare would have been when he wrote it? Shakespeare would have been in his early-thirties, which is still in youth. This is shown through the many descriptions of a woman’s beauty being blotted by scornful glances. For example ‘A woman moved is like a fountain troubled, muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty.’ This shows how not only Shakespeare, but also many people his age, and younger and older would’ve seen women’s beauty. His age at the time would have influenced the general feel of the story. It falls under the category of romantic comedy, and is full of light-hearted humour and different aspects of love and the money involved. Conclusion: So in conclusion, the influences I believe to have influenced Taming of the Shrew, and in particular the excerpt, to be the patriarchal society at the time, the subservient role of women and Shakespeare’s youth at the time of it being written. So thank you for listening.
Upon reading Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and Henry V, I have noticed that the issue of gender ideology and identity has been an intriguing study in both Shakespearean comedies and histories. These traditional Western views have, in a sense deemed which roles are appropriate and socially acceptable, in regards to both males and females. This practice of ‘social typecasting’ has given men and women certain socially acceptable characteristics, which has influenced how they should think and act. In this essay I take an in-depth look regarding how Shakespeare dealt with gender identity, and if certain characters in The Taming of the Shrew and Henry V accepted their socially predetermined gender identity or if they rejected it.
This piece of the monologue contribute to the fact that men are in charge of a woman’s life, and the man works hard everyday to provide for the wife, while she is at home safe. Katherine is basically saying a wife owns her husband everything and the husbands repay their wives by protecting them. Katherine then goes on to compare a husband and his wife to a king and his people:
William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is an interesting story that demonstrates the patriarchal ideas of how a marriage is suppose to be according to society, what is acceptable of a woman's role in a relationship. It's a story that has many things to show for it's been remade, and remade, even slightly altered to better relate to the teenage audience.
"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
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.
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 is set in a time period that did not accept women as we do today. In today's society, women who are strong and independent and quick witted are praised. In Elizabethan times women were supposed to know their role in life, being good to their husbands, making children and taking care of them. There were no women in politics, there were no women in business, it was only acceptable for women to participate in domestic areas of life. Women could not live a respectable life in this time period without a male figure to take care of them, rendering them helpless without men. If there was anything that must be done involving economics or education, it was up to the men. Men were the ones who worked and brought home the money to support the family. The roles of men and women were very distinct, and it resulted in giving the men the majority of the power.
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.
Shakespeare often uses satire to showcase the flaws of human nature. In the play, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare teaches us that people tend to put unrealistic standards on women. Women were treated very poorly at the time. The play is mainly about a man named Petruchio who agrees to marry Katherine for money. Throughout the play, Petruchio tames Katherine. He tries many different methods in attempt to tame her. He wants Katherine to be the ideal wife and behave the way he wants her to therefore he will have control over her. He starts off by almost dehumanizing her by starving her, depriving her of sleep, and forcing her to wear old rags. Petruchio tries to manipulate her in many other ways. He attempts to have Katherine agree with him
Arguably the greatest playwright of his time, perhaps in all of history, William Shakespeare's literary works have had a tremendous impact (see Appendix 2). Reaching into the pop culture of the modern world through movies and quotes used in everyday conversation, Shakespeare's influence is astounding (see Appendix 1). One rarely stops to think, however, about events that had an impact on Shakespeare's life, particularly his writing. The outbreak of the plague, social disparity, political unrest, just a few of the historical happenings that impacted Shakespeare's plays, including Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Henry IV
Shakespeare's works have been a major influence on theatre. Not only did Shakespeare create some of the most admired plays in literature, he also transformed theatre by expanding expectations through characterisation, plot, action, language, and genre. He raised the status of popular theatre, permitting it to be admired by all.
Using Film and Modern television as an example, Shakespeare’s influence can be seen quite easily. He had a lot of work that shows examples of forbidden love or main characters seeking revenge. There are many many movies and films with these as the foundation. What is great about a lot of his work is that they are very universal and do not lose meaning over time. They can
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.
Taming of the Shrew Gender roles have a major part in the play “Taming of the shrew”. They drive the plot showing that gender has a difference in society. In today’s society that has been obliterate, woman can do anything that a male can do. When Shakespeare wrote this play that was false and males usually dominated. That's why shakespeare believes that the amount of power and respect you receive is based on your gender.
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.