Examples Of Double Standards In Taming Of The Shrew By Adichie

The International Crisis Group reports that America “and many of its European allies care less about the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza than that of Ukrainian civilians in the path of Russia’s all-out invasion.” The US government sees people’s lives differently depending on their country of residence. This perspective is inherently unjust because it does not consider how the person might be. This belief is a double standard, where people treat others unequally based on the same situation. Other types of double standards make women less advantaged; people see and comment on this specific injustice against women, which has occurred for centuries, and they still point out this prejudice today. Both Shakespeare’s and Adichie’s literature, Taming of the Shrew and …show more content…

Both Shakespeare and Adichie demonstrate, through their characters and stories, that people throughout time have double standards against women and feminists because of the societal norms in place. Shakespeare uses Katherine in Taming of the Shrew to emphasize double standards in Padua during the Elizabethan era. For instance, Katherine makes a speech that covers numerous expectations her society puts on her and other women: “KATHERINE Even such a woman oweth to her husband./[..]/And not obedient to his honest will,/ What is she but a foul contending rebel/ And graceless traitor to her loving lord?” (Shakespeare 5,2, 166-170). Even though her speech contrasts with her ideas of independence, its dramatic phrases that belittle women, like “graceless traitor” and “foul contending rebel,” expose her society’s views on disobedient women as evil. However, the kinder language in Katherine’s speech towards men, like “his honest will” tells the audience that Padua does not judge men for acting rebellious, but instead encourages them to act wild and violent, forming a double standard between men and