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Analysis of shakespeare's play the taming of the shrew
The taming of the shrew dramatis personae
Gender Roles in the Elizabethan Era
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Taming of the Shrew is a play by William Shakespeare about the “taming” of a woman named Kate by a man named Petruchio. If Taming of the Shrew had taken place in modern times, there are many parts of the play that I believe would have ended quite differently. There were many human rights issues and violations that would not be acceptable in modern times to be found in the play as well. Regardless of this, there seemed to be a few hints towards modern concepts such as gender equality to be found in the play. While perhaps some of the concepts and ideas in Taming of the Shrew may lay in stark contrast with the ideas and concepts of today, there are some hints at modern ideals to be found in this play. If Taming of the Shrew had taken place in modern times, I think several aspects and events in the story would have been very different. Firstly, I think Katherine would not have submitted to Petruchio so easily. In the time period in which this story was written, the Elizabethan Era, woman were taught to believe that men were dominant, and that their husband should be treated as if he is the lord of master of them. Today women are no longer taught that men are superior, and for the most part there is equality between the two genders. If the play took place in modern times, Katherine would not have submitted to Petruchio, as she would’ve been taught that what Petruchio was doing was wrong. Secondly, I think the whole idea that Kate would have to be married before Bianca was married would no longer be relevant. In modern times there is rarely an arranged marriage, and the parent has no real choice on who their son/daughter gets married to. Bianca would be able to marry who she wished, and she would not have to do it secretly, like she d... ... middle of paper ... ... things Kate did before she met him. It seems as if Petruchio is giving Kate “a taste of her own medicine”. There is support for this “theory”, as Kate does act nicer to everyone by the end of the play, for example when she greets Hortensio and says it is nice to see him it is a change from her previous behaviour towards him. A deeper meaning can be found to some of the more offensive aspects of Taming of the Shrew. Taming of the Shrew manages to pack lots of meaning into itself, despite its comedic stance. The play can provoke lots of thought in the audience. The audience can also learn about how woman were viewed in the 16th century. This play manages to even remain relevant today, as a few possible meanings t hat can be found in the play reflect the ideas on genders and relationships today. Taming of the Shrew was a quite controversial, though meaningful play.
Different Interpretations of the Relationship Between Kate and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew
Kate and The Taming of the Shrew describes the progression of the outspoken and headstrong Kate, wife of Petruchio, as she gradually transitions into an almost perfect example of an archetypal loyal wife. This classic female archetype can be expressed through blind and ignorant support of their husband without any personal opinion or any priorities and objectives other than to satisfy the needs and desires of their husbands. While Kate begins possessing traits that oppose the loyal wife archetype due to her strong willed personality, her shift to obedience. However she continues to think with cunning strategy throughout the entire play, regardless of her weakened mental state caused by Petruchio limiting her food and sleep.
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
Sexism is an ever changing concept in today’s world. Every day the concept morphs a little bit, changing the entire definition of what is sexist and what is not. In The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, the male characters lie to and abuse their women in order to have the women marry them. Lucentio come to Padua to study, but when he sees a beautiful girl, he pretends to be a teacher in order to marry Bianca. Petruchio on the other hand forces a woman to marry him and then trains her to follow his every command. Although the The Taming of the Shrew is frequently regarded as a particularly sexist play, it is not sexist and demeaning towards women.
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 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.
The first Shakespeare play which Zeffirelli adopted to the cinema, The Taming of the Shrew, deals with the theme of gender roles. In a grander scale the play explores the behavior expectations of males and females both in society at large and within a domestic relationship. For many years, most critics agreed that the heart of the play suggested male domination and female submission, especially to the authority of their husbands, as the accepted male-female dynamic. This view went unchanged for many years and audiences widely accepted Petruchio's “taming” of Katherina as politically correct.
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 mainly about the character Katherine but is also a little bit about her sister Bianca. Katherine is a rude and violent woman while her sister is quaint and polite. In this play Bianca is not allowed to marry until her sister has. So two men who want to marry her come up with a plan to get Katherine married. They found a crazy suitor for her and set them up. While this was happening Bianca got a third suitor. After Katherine was wed Bianca was courted to one of the three gentlemen and was wed behind her fathers back. After Katherine was married her husband tried to tame her and succeeded. Read the book to see what completely happened and to find out who finally tamed the shrew.
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. 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.
During The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare has used pleasure and pain in order to tell the story of Petruchio and Katherina’s courtship. This is problematic for modern day audiences, as they do not find the courtship methods that Petruchio employs to woo Katherina particularly comical. However, it could be argued that Shakespeare crafted The Taming of the Shrew precisely for this reason, to feature his views on patriarchy and to make the audience see what was happening through a new perspective. The Elizabethan audience would have been shocked at the methods used in order to achieve the taming, even though it was well within a man’s right to discipline his wife if she was deemed unfit. From the very beginning of The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare indicates that this play will not follow traditional rules of decorum, and that it is intended to both give pleasure and cause pain in order to make both Elizabethan and modern audiences take note of his underlying message.
The Taming of the Shrew is one of the earliest comedies written by William Shakespeare. The Taming of the Shrew focuses a great deal on courtship and marriage. Especially the life after marriage, which was generally not focused on in other comedies. Notably, the play focuses on the social roles that each character plays, and how each character faces the major struggles of their social roles. Which plays into one of the most prevalent themes of The Taming of the Shrew. The theme of how social roles play into a person’s individual happiness. This is displayed through the characters in the play that desperately try to break out of the social roles that are forced upon them. This exemplified through the character, Katherine, an upper-class young maiden-in-waiting, who wishes to have nothing to do with her role.