Essay on Desire in The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare

I must and will have Katherine to my wife. (Act 2, Scene 1, Page 13)

In essence, all Petruchio did was teach Kate not to be so brash and rebellious. He showed her how awful her actions looked, and on her own, she made the decision to change her demeanor. She could have remained bitter and feisty, but it would have been in vain, and I believe that she realized that her actions had been no worse than the vanity and shallowness she witnessed in the people of Padua.

Petruchio wears the psychological mask of a guy who only has eyes for money. He makes his mask clear to the reader when he tells Hortensio to “wife wealthily” adding “you don’t know the power of gold.” after being told about Katherina’s bad behavior, not to mention her temper. It appears that Petruchio marries Kate for her money, but immediately starts to “kill her with kindness”. He begins going so by depriving her of food and sleep because he claims that neither the food from the kitchen nor the bed is good enough for her. Petruchio puts on a show of bad temper towards his servants for every fault, showing Kate what it is like to live with a bad-tempered person. For the first time in her life, Kate finds herself trying to get someone else to control their anger. Petruchio also shows Kate that she will get the things she wants when she learns to agree with what her husband says. By treating Kate in this manner, Petruchio seems cruel, but there is a reason for it. If he were truly interested only in money, he could have left Kate at home and gone out on his own. In the end, his efforts to improve his wife have worked. He improves Kate’s life, so that she does not continue to live an unhappy life. Because of Petruchio, Katherina the shrew is happily married in the end, and comes to be a good example to

Petruchio displays his greediness and thirst for money. Petruchio, when talking about his future wife, says he wants “‘One rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife, As wealth is burden of my wooing dance’” (I. ii. 53-54). This quote essentially proves how Petruchio cares a great deal about wealth and riches. He values money over personality and even beauty in his future wife. All Petruchio looks for in a woman is how great her dowry is. Furthermore, Petruchio thinks that “‘If wealthily, then happily’” (I. ii. 63). He thinks that money creates lasting joy, and that money is the only source of happiness. He is purely materialistic, as he is ignorant to other things that can make him happy, such as true love or even a family. Lastly, Petruchio bluntly says to Katherine’s father, Baptista, “‘Then tell me, if I get your daughter’s

In the play Taming of the Shrew, written by William Shakespeare, many characters are reshaped and given new personality traits. Petruchio is known as being a cocky man who intends to help tame a shrewish young lady named Kate. There are many critics that believe Petruchio is solely obnoxious and a bully but through out his interactions with Kate it is shown that he truly cares about the well being of others. Of course at the beginning of Petruchio’s plan to tame a young lady he is acting off of his confidence and trying to impress those around him but this soon changes once he begins to interact with Kate. Petruchio proves that his ways have changed and he is only taming Kate to make her feel better about herself, “Petruchio uses psychological methods, not aggressive or barbaric ones, to tame Kate, which alls her to still be witty and intellectual, but also happily married, at the end of the play”(Natale,98). Petruchio truly believes that by taming Kate he is preforming a good deed and helping her accept herself in this process.

Besides being a well written play, the comedic devices that each act holds is used to help develop the plot and the comedy effect of The Taming of the Shrew. The devices used has shown the audience how the shrew could be changed by receiving the same treatment it has been giving. Shakespeare used comedic devices to help keep the audience focused on the story and keep them guessing to what Petruchio was going to do to make Katharina tame. The plot becomes developed when certain events with family drama, quick-witted language, and unexpected scenarios that take place to create plot twists that no one can foreshadow. All of the materials used above shape a story of how a woman changes dramatically with the help of one man who she undoubted calls her husband without any choice of decision.

Marriage is presented in Shakespeare?s play The Taming of the Shrew, in a complex manner allowing readers to view the play literally as a brutal taming or ironically as a subversive manifesto. Yet, Shakespeare intends to present marriage to be full of mutual love where neither male nor female dominate but compliment each other thriving together in a loved filled relationship. The portrayal of a deep understanding, which exists in an analogical relationship and the gentle transformation, which occurs in marriage, clearly outlines marriage in the play to be a celebration of a mutual love relationship within the patriarchal foundations of society.

In the Shakespearian play: The Taming of the Shrew, deception is one of the major concepts. A tangled web is created in the play through deception of character behavior and the change between clothing and class. Most of the deception in the play have particular motives behind them and create dramatic irony. Shakespeare has used dramatic irony to create a comedic play.

The final suitor of Bianca is Hortensio. He was also unsuccessful in winning Bianca’s love. His main plan was to team up with Gremio and find a suitor for Kate so Bianca was free to wed. Otherwise, Hortensio did not stand a chance. He also tried to disguise himself

The story is about two sisters Katherine and Bianca. Bianca has a suitor who would like to marry her, Lucentio, but the only way that he will be able to marry her is if her older sister is married first. When Petruccio arrives to Padua he agrees to court and marry Katherine because she will provide a lovely dowry. Rumor has it that Katherine is a cynical, unruly, and

Petruchio, though rightfully attempting to stand as a master and man according to the homily, does not do so with his servant, Grumio, or wife, Katherine, with love and respect as it suggests. The scenes that introduce Petruchio and Lucentio begin by depicting their

Incontrast to Bianca's and Lucentio's love, their relationship is not built around romance" (Snider 327). At the beginning, the two do not even like each other. Their marriage is unusual because they are forced to have this harsh relationship. The differences between the two couples contributestowards the element of irony in the play. After both marriages, the couples begin to make drastic changes in their, previously, ever so constant personalities. Now the characters seem to make a total switch in behaviors. "Bianca becomes a disobedient wife and her disregard for Lucentio's wishes as a newlywed leads to speculation as to what her behavior may be when they have been married longer" (Hazlitt 321). This is shown at a banquet where

Economic considerations are high for all characters involved in the play “The Taming of the Shrew”. Lucentio is only allowed to marry bianca after he proposes his father can provide a larger dowry than Hortensio’s father. When Hortensio jokes that he knows a rich shrew, Petruchio jumps at the given opportunity to woo Katherine. Petruccio swears to only marry woman with a large dowry. In what ways is money and status more important than true love?

Marriage in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew At the time Shakespeare wrote The Taming of the Shrew the idealistics

The relationships between servants and masters closely reflect the gender relationships in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Lucentio and Tranio's relationship as master and servant is an ideal of the Renaissance era. Tranio risks taking the place of his master because of his love for him and Lucentio always treats him with kindness and respect, almost like an equal. Lucentio's relationship with Bianca reflects his role with Tranio: Bianca shows respect for Lucentio as he cherishes her and treats her with kindness. However, Bianca fails to complete her role as an ideal wife by obeying her husband. however Petruchio and his servant, Grumio, have a much different relationship. Grumio often disobeys his master, while Petruchio insults