Gender Roles In The Taming Of The Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew examines the way traditional 16th century notions about gender and its hierarchy are tested and reinforced in tempestuous relationships. While patriarchy rules supreme at the plays end, it’s vital to consider the constant attempts to undermine the sexist assumptions about a women’s place in marriage. In The Taming of the Shrew gender plays a

Throughout the Elizabethan era, men had more advantages than women. William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew has characters such as Petruchio, Baptista, Katherine, and Bianca that show how men overpowered women. During the Elizabethan era, there was heavy sexism. Women were discriminated. Through Shakespeare’s language, men could speak to and about women in a disrespectful and derogatory manner. Women were voiceless and deprived of their right to speak. Women were inferior to men. During the Elizabethan era, through Shakespeare’s language, and in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, it is proven that men had more advantages than women.

Gender Politics encapsulates the hierarchy that separates men and women on an imaginary ladder based off of class or social status. In ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ and ‘10 Things I Hate About You’, men are portrayed as superior to women. Whereas women on the other hand are portrayed as subservient servants, and in many cases, more like objects than people. An example of Gender Politics clearly evident in the play, The Taming of the Shrew is when Katherine is bargained for by Baptista, without her consent nor say. This can be shown during Act II, Scene I when Baptista is convincing Petruchio to “woo” Katherine over along with a bribe.

Feminist and cultural historians have convincingly demonstrated that "rebellious women" were a concern for englishmen during the late sixteenth centuries (Detmer 273). The idea of “taming” a women is one that men can find useful, though women can also benefit from. Katherine cynically conforms to expectation, and in doing so displays how The Taming of the Shrew is a critique on gender essentialism. The Oxford English Dictionary states, essentialism is a belief that things have a set of characteristics which make them what they are. This theory in regards to gender refers to the fact that men and women have been born into particular roles which they must abide by. The men in this play measure their own fulfilment of gender roles through their relationships with women. Petruchio believes that if a man is unable to tame his woman, he himself is no better then a shrew. In this essay I will argue that Katherine 's transformation from miserable “shrew” to obedient wife signifies the necessity of assuming proper gender roles to survive in the patriarchal world of William Shakespeare 's The Taming of the Shrew. This is depicted through Katherine 's journey during the whole of the play, her actions, how she acts around others and how others act around her all come back to Katherine learning to play her part as the ideal 16th century woman.

The Taming of the Shrew was written in the Elizabethan Era in England at a time when men were considered to be superior to women. The patriarchal society of this time is reflected to a large extent in the text and various implications of traditional values can be noted.

The Taming Of The Shrew by William Shakespeare is an introduction in the everpresent battle of women to be loving and caring wives, while at the same time holding on to our independence. Its plot is derived from the popular 'war of the sexes' theme in which males and females are pitted against one another for dominance in marriage. The play begins with an induction in which a drunkard, Christopher Sly, is fooled into believing he is a king and has a play performed for him. The play he watches is what constitutes the main body of The Taming OfThe Shrew.

The dehumanization of women should not be shown in a play because it is against the common morals of today’s society. In The Taming of the Shrew, the objectification of women is shown

Sexism is the stereotyping and discrimination based upon gender. Typically steered towards women, it has played a large part in not only our society today but in the past as well. In the play The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, it is shown in the treatment of the women by their male counterparts. It is most prevalent in the way that fortune-seeking Petruchio goes about taming his aggressive and sharp-tongued wife Katharina. By examining Petruchio’s actions and Katharina’s reactions towards his efforts at taming her, once can see that the play is indeed sexist.

Elizabethan society was created on the belief the woman had no right or control over their own lives. Women had no choice in what their profession would be, as a matter of fact they weren’t allowed to have a profession such as medicine, politics and law. The only places they were allowed to work were in domestic areas. This essay will be focusing on the taming of the shrew with the role of status of women and attitudes towards marriage and courtship during the Elizabethan era. In Elizabethan society, all that women were considered of was the lower end of men and the weaker gender.

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.

One of the most notorious topics of interest in the works of Shakespeare is the role women receive in his plays. The way Shakespeare wrote his plays, women were very submissive to men and had no will and choice of their own. Women were extremely reliant upon the men in their lives, believing that they were inferior and thus following their desire for the women’s lives. This included that marriages were usually arranged by a powerful male, instead of giving the woman the opportunity of choosing marriage for love. It is not surprising that Shakespeare portrayed women in a way that was familiar to him and the time era in which he lived. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Taming of the Shrew, both focus on the development of love and not, with

“The Taming of the Shrew ‘ is undoubtedly amongst Shakespeare’s most popular and debated comedies .The main subject of contention amongst critics is the apparent misogynistic elements offered in the play.Some ,like Stevie Davies argue that ‘The Taming of The Shrew ‘ celebrates ‘ female subjugation and mistreatment ‘ .Others see it is a parody of ‘female subjugation’ which grotesquely exaggerates Petruchio’s ‘taming’ of shrewish Katherina and portrays their relationship as a ‘game’ .Whether the play is a ‘parody’ or a celebration of the mistreatment of women depends very much on how we perceive the actions of characters and how social ,political and gender issues influence that perception .

Perhaps the theme that is most recurrent in William Shakespeare's plays is that of filial relationships, specifically the relationship between daughter and father. This particular dynamic has allowed Shakespeare to create complex female characters that come into conflict with their fathers over issues ranging from marriage to independence. At the same time, the dramatist exposes his audience to the struggles women face when attempting to assert themselves in a misogynistic world. Through the daughter-father dyads portrayed in The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare highlights the effects that gender constraints have on female characters while simultaneously drawing attention to the sharp contrast between both relationships.

The important theme of marriage in the play The Taming of the Shrew, written by William Shakespeare, is the key to the dominance of men in the Elizabethan Era. During these times, it was socially expected for men to be powerful and be in charge, while women had to be there for a man’s beck and call and always follow the rules given to them. In The Taming of the Shrew, it begins with a young girl named Kate who is made to marry a man named, Petruchio. This marriage is only arranged for the benefit for Kate’s family and Petruchio’s friends, disregarding the feelings of Kate. Shakespeare uses this theme in The Taming of the Shrew to play with the Elizabethan stereotypes and expectations around marriage and how reversing the roles of femininity and masculinity in a relationship can produce a thought-provoking romantic comedy.

Throughout the course of the play “The Taming of The Shrew” author, William Shakespeare reflects the societal imbalance of gender roles in the Elizabethan Era through comedy. Considering Shakespeare was male, the text heavily highlighted men and their dominance over submissive females. Thus, Shakespeare reinforces these stereotypes constantly throughout the play while also undermining less popular stereotypes of the time such as Katherina being an independent woman and not at all ‘evil’. Exploring the text through a ‘Gender Lens’ allows readers to interpret the text from either side of the gender spectrum.