Inequality In The Taming Of The Shrew '

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

Katherina may be a shrew, but Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew does not truly show a study of how a selfish, spoilt individual is made to conform to society’s expectations, or be tamed into a ‘proper’ woman. At the end of the play, Katherina is not, necessarily, tamed - she just realizes what she must to do in order to get the things she wants. Two main examples of her submitting to Petruchio in order to achieve her desires are in Act 4, scene 5, (the sun versus moon scene) as well as Act 5, scene 2 (the kiss me kate scene and her final monologue).

Her honor is disgraced for her “actions” and Claudio will no longer accept her as his wife because of the dishonor she has caused him.

Examine the different ways in which Shakespeare presents the attitude towards marriage in the play, ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’

Katherine acts aggressively toward Gremio and Hortensio. She tells them “To comb your noodle with a three-legged stool and paint your face and use you like a fool” (I,i,65-66). This shows how Katherine rebels against what an ideal wife is. Traditionally, a female should be submissive, and obedient, to her husband, or potential husband. However, by the way Katherine first speaks with Petruchio, it is obvious that she refuses to speak to him with respect. She constantly insults him (II,i,190-281). In fact, she even strikes him at one point (II,i,233). Katherine’s stubbornness makes her less highly valued among suitors. This is an issue for Baptista because, at the time, marriage had one main purpose: financial gain. Baptista essentially sells off his daughters by negotiating dowries and dowers. He only approves the marriage between Bianca and Lucentio after Lucentio’s father assures the payment (II,i,417-421). This symbolizes that money has more importance than his daughters. It is for this reason that Petruchio favors Bianca over Katherine. Bianca is a more valuable asset to him than Katherine. He mistreats Katherine because she is unable to get married, and Bianca cannot get married until Katherine does (I,i,50-51). Therefore, Katherine is stopping Baptista from receiving the payment that comes with his daughters’

Katharina is treated unkindly by many of the men in the play including Hortensio and Petruchio, but perhaps her father is the person who is most unkind to her. Baptista’s obvious lack of respect and compassion for his elder daughter becomes apparent early on in the play when, in Act 1, Scene 1, he shares with Gremio, Hortensio, Lucentio, and Tranio the fact that Katharina must have plans to marry before her younger sister Bianca can be seriously courted. In doing this, Baptista essentially offers his eldest daughter to the men, a display done with such detachment; it can only be seen as an exchange of property.

This quote supports how a woman’s reputation is everything because in, the beginning, Leonato was very loving and supported her marriage with Claudio. But right after she was denounced as disloyal, his feelings towards her completely change and he lashes out at Hero. It is extremely drastic for a parent to wish death upon their own child ad proves the importance of a woman’s

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

Throughout the play, Petruchio’s behavior illustrates his chauvinistic mindset to force Katharina into obedience. After the wedding ceremony, Petruchio wants to head home with Kate while she disagrees and he says “I will be master of what is mine own:/She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,/My household stuff, my field, my barn,/My horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing;” (Shakespeare 52). Instead of treating her like a human being, he speaks of her as if she is an object that he owns and controls. Also, when the newly married couple prepare to leave for Baptista’s house, Petruchio claims that the time is different from what it actually is and when Kate argues, he states, “Look, what I speak, or do, or think to do,/You are still crossing it. Sirs, let ’t alone:/I will not go to-day; and ere I do,/It shall be what o’clock I say it is” (Shakespeare 69). Petruchio is basically saying that the only opinion

Petruchio's humiliation of Katherina is impractical. Starving Katherina and dispossessing her to sleep is not real. Petruchio cannot be this cruel and to Katherina at the start of their relationship and out of nowhere start loving her. It does not make sense. Petruchio humiliating Katherina on the wedding day, combined with his demands that Vincentio is an unmarried

The intended suitors use their servants to help them woo Bianca. In "Taming of the shew” there is a contrast of a struggle of power between a father and his children, in general between men and women, and class differences between nobles and servants. The conflicts of power can be seen between fathers and children in this play. The most prominent example of this is the rule Baptista has placed on his daughters. “That is, not to bestow my youngest daughter Before have a husband for the elder."

In lines 183 through 235 of the second scene of the third act of William Shakespeare's play, The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio tames Katherina with his controllability of harness, establishing a theme of Patriarchy. Furthermore, the theme is reinforced when he shows his patriarchism when he wants to “be master of what is mine own: she is my goods, my chattels; she is my house, my household stuff, my field, barn, my horse, my ox, my ass, my anything” (225-228). Provided that, she is treated like property, one of his possessions, as he degrades her to such common household objects. In addition, he has his own agenda.

Also, another leading character in the Merchant of Venice was controlled by her father, Jessica. But she couldn't be controlled, she eventually did what she wanted and proved to be a modern woman. Similarly, in the Taming of the Shrew, Kate is expected to marry the man her father, Baptista chooses and she has no freedom and choice of her own will. However, in the Taming of the Shrew, Kate is also being called property by her husband, Petruchio. Petruchio says that, "She is my good, my chattels, she is my house, My household stuff, my field, my barn, My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything;" Not only her father but her future husband doesn't respect her and calls her everything but his wife. Almost all of the woman in Shakespeare's play were treated as property, here you can see Portia and Kate, this clearly means that Shakespeare also agrees with this type of behaviour towards woman and that is why he always shows this behaviour towards the main female protagonists of the play. This type of behaviour towards woman was very common and both these plays have similarly shown how.

When commencing the Extended Essay meeting the first topic that came up was the question I was addressing: Investigate if Taming of the Shrew promotes sexual inequality or constitutes a commentary about men's endeavor to subordinate women? My mentor, Ms.Davey, pointed out that I might not be able to know Shakespeare’s intent with the play, therefore, I need to feel comfortable not having an answer. Thus, I will need to expose both perspectives that can be interpreted from the play. Furthermore, I asked for some directions in regard to the structuring of my paragraphs. For instance, if I should divide them in characters or literary aspects. We agreed upon the fact that addressing literary aspects such as hyperbole (hunting language), motif

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.