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Gender Roles in the Elizabethan Era
Gender during the Elizabethan era
Gender Roles in the Elizabethan Era
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To begin with, the portrayal of the women in The Taming of the Shrew reflects the extent of how much Katherine and Bianca were belittled by men. Just for the way she spoke out against the majority, Katherine was labeled as “so curst and shrewd” by Bianca’s suitors (1.1.183). Becoming a part of every reason why she was below the patriarchy, Katherine’s stigma did just not solely remain in the small group of men who held disdain towards her. To further emphasize the unfairness, Author Coppélia Kahn argues in “The Taming of the Shrew: Shakespeare's Mirror of Marriage” that the only reason Katherine’s behavior is disgraced from those around her is because she is a woman. Establishing that women get punished for the behavior men are praised for, …show more content…
LaBlanc, vol. 80, Gale, 2004. Literature Resource
Center,login.proxy151.nclive.org/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.proxy151.nclive.org
/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ncliverockcc&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1420063443& asid=c616417e5cce1c0b5b7ee9efb6fbf83b. Accessed 12 Nov. 2017. Originally published in Modern Language Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, Spring 1975, pp. 88-102.
Maslen, R. W. "Twelfth Night, Gender, and Comedy." Shakespearean Criticism, edited by
Michelle Lee, vol. 125, Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center, login.proxy151.nclive.org/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.proxy151.nclive.org/ps/i.do ?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ncliverockcc&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1420093221&asid=80 b99d86f43794fbe208105146ae9dd8. Accessed 12 Nov. 2017. Originally published in
Early Modern English Drama: A Critical Companion, edited by Garrett A. Sullivan, Jr., et al., Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 130-139.
Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew. Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine,
New Folger ed., Washington Square Press, 1992.
---. “Twelfth Night, or What You Will.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, edited by
Stephen Greenblatt, 9th ed., vol. 1, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 2012, pp.
ed. Kelly J. Mays. 11th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 591-594. Print.
William, Shakespeare Twelfth Night. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 1079-1139.
William, Shakespeare Twelfth Night. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 1079-1139.
“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.
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.
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.
Barton, Anne. Introduction to Twelfth Night. The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. 403-407.
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.
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, William. Twelfth Night Or, What You Will. New York, New York: New American Library, 1998. Print.
Logan, Thad Jenkins. "Twelfth Night: The Limits of Festivity." Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama. N.p.: Rice University, 1982. 223-38. Vol. 22 of Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. Rpt. in Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Logan, Thad Jenkins. "Twelfth Night: The Limits of Festivity." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 Spring 1982: 223-238. Print.