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Analysis of shakespeare's play the taming of the shrew
Analysis of shakespeare's play the taming of the shrew
Analysis of shakespeare's play the taming of the shrew
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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
Examine the different ways in which Shakespeare presents the attitude towards marriage in the play, ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’
Petruchio physically asks her to sit on his lap “come sit on me” in a
A long time ago, a drunken man fell asleep outside an alehouse. This man, Christopher Sly, was discovered by a mischievous lord who took him into his home. The witty lord then convinced Sly that he was a lord, as well. The lord then put on a play for him. The play, The Taming of the Shrew, was about the two young daughters of Baptista. The youngest daughter, Bianca, wished to wed but her father, Baptista, would not allow this until his eldest daughter, Katherina, was married. Under normal circumstances, it would be easy to find a husband for Katherina with all her beauty, but all her beauty was covered by her shrewd personality. By this time Bianca's suitors were growing very impatient, so they decide to team up and find a husband for Katherina. In jest they mentioned their plan to a friend, Petruchio, who surprisingly agreed to marry Katherina. All her beauty and wealth were enough for him. Katherina reluctantly was wed to Petruchio and she was taken to his home to be tamed. With Katherina out of the way, Bianca was now allowed to marry Lucentio, who offered her father the highest dowry for her. In the final scenes of the play, Katherina proves that she is tamed by winning an obedience contest at a dinner party. Katherina is now even more in accordance with her wifely duties than Bianca. A fare is a type of comedy based on a ridiculous situation. The Taming of the Shrew, an eminent example of a farce, is the first of three farces written by Shakespeare.
“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
In Shakespeare's comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare has a woman as one of the story's main characters. Katherine Minola (Kate) is off the wall, and kinda crazy. Because of her actions, the “male centered world” around her doesn't know what to do with her.
Their similar characteristics eventually leads them to of course butt heads with one another in a comedic way. Petruchio vows that that his “remedy is then to pluck it out,” and by “it” he means her rude temperament (II.i.209). This calls for an ultimate “clash of sexes” that Shakespeare seems to want to make a mock out of (LaBlanc). Shakespeare could be calling out the ridiculousness in what the men and what the women were expected to do during his time. So with this exaggeration, he achieves a disgust toward the reader, as the reader can see the maltreatment of the wife. In reality, Katherine could be symbolizing a strong independent woman at the time, one that expresses herself deeply and thus, is seen as a horrible and despicable woman by society. She would be viewed this way because women were not supposed to have such a loud voice such as Katherine’s. Petruchio’s role can be depicted as the role of a man at the time. The man was supposed to be the dominant one without a second guess, something that Petruchio does too well. Petruchio constantly expresses that he is “master of what is mine own” and she shall listen to what he tells her to do every time (III.ii.235). A way he shows his dominance over Katherine is by demonstrating his “control of Katherina’s access to food,” by continuously starving her wherever they would end up going (Lee). This sort of superiority is what was expected of the
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.
Taming of the shrew is a play closely related with social class, gender, role playing, and transformation. Each of the different characters in the play clearly embodies the themes and can be categorized as either dynamic or static. Kate, also known as “the shrew”, is a unique character that portrays the themes through her own distinctive perspective. In William Shakespeare “Taming of the Shrew”, Kate is categorized as a dynamic character through her transformation of being an obedient wife for Petruchio, her acknowledgement of other people’s ideas and love, and her better treatment of other people.
Taming of the Shrew: Male Domination. 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 tribulations which present themselves in their everyday lives.
Despite the fact that Shakespeare is mostly known for its tragedian playwrights, yet, in The Taming Of The Shrew, he once again proves that he is capable to write anything - even comedy. The Taming Of The Shrew is a play within a play. However, the play takes place towards the end of the 16th century. Most of the comedy scenes are shifted from the city to the country and back to the city. Therefore, most of the scenes took place in the city of Padua, Italy. Christopher Sly is a drunken tinker who appears in the induction of the play. Nevertheless, he is fooled by a lord stating that he is a lord and has been mad for fifteen years. Therefore, there is a play that is to be performed to the drunker. In the play there are two main characters and other minor personalities. As one of the main characters, Katherine is called a shrew, even by her father Baptista, but Katherine has a deeper character than what she seems to appear. Katherine's reactions are due to the preferences that her father resembles between her and her sister. However, as a consequence to her fathers' preference she is hurt and seeks for revenge. It is an immature response, but the only one she knows, and it serves for her dual purpose of her hurt and revenge. The transformation that she undergoes near the end of the play is not one of character, but one of attitude. She alters dramatically from the bitter accursed shrew to the obedient and happy wife when she discover that her husband loves her enough to attempt to change her for her own good, as well for his. The other main character is Pretruchio her husband. On the surface he appears to be a rough, noisy, and insensitive, one who cares nothing for Katherine's feelings so long as she has money. Yet, in the inside Petruchio's intention is not interested for her money but the challenge of capturing her because of the reputation that she has. Like a secondary character is Katherine's sister Bianca. Apparently in her gentle behavior, she is an unkind sister and through the play she is in fact a disobedient wife. She fosters her father's attitude of favoritism for herself and dislike for Katherine by playing the part of a whole victim.
A Shakespearean scholar expanded on this, “The play enacts the defeat of the threat of a woman’s revolt; it does so in a comic form – thus so offers the audience the chance to revel in and reinforce their misogyny while at the same time feeling good” (Gay). The Taming of the Shrew at many points is just praising the men in the novel despite their behavior and putting down the women for being anything but perfect. The novel makes the actions happening comedic and the reader does not get upset at the things happening, but in reading further into it and comparing it to modern day, it is not hard to see the plain and simple abuse. Although gender roles are still prominent in today’s society, they are toned back. In contemporary versions of The Taming of The Shrew, such as 10 Things I Hate About You and Kiss Me Kate, the character Kate is always mitigated.
In The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare creates humour through his characters by creating false realities (as demonstrated by Petruchio’s behaviour and attire in the scene of his wedding) and by the use of subterfuge and mistaken identity (shown in the final scenes with the transformation of Kate and Bianca’s respective personas). He also uses irony quite extensively, especially towards the end of the play (as can be seen in the final ‘wager’ scene).
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.
or herself. However, one must ask themselves for what purpose. Is it for money, lust, or is it for money? Most of the time in our day and age, love is the main purpose of marriage. Usually, two people who love each other very much decide that they want to spend every single day of the rest of their lives together with one another. Nevertheless, love is not always the main purpose of marriage. In some cases, one person chooses to marry the other simply because of the economic advantages. This simply means that one of the persons is only marrying the other for money. In William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, the theme of marriage as an economic institution is prevalent. Tranio, Petruchio, and Hortensio express the theme of marriage as an economic institution.