Much Ado About Nothing And The Taming Of The Shrew Analysis

A principal theme throughout Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew is the battle of the sexes. The battle primarily focuses on the relationship between Petruchio and Katherine, otherwise known as Kate. They each struggle for supremacy in a classic confrontation between male and female until Kate succumbs to Petruchio's dominance for the first time during Act IV, Scene V when she states "What you will have it named, even that it is. And so it shall be so for Katherine." In this first act of deference to her husband it remains unclear if Kate simply decides to play along and behave as the traditional Elizabethan wife so they can continue on their travels, or if she has an epiphany and realizes her preordained role in the traditional

Love is an ever-changing concept which varies from one person to the next. Not all love is positive for some is toxic and destructive. Shakespeare’s 1590s play ‘taming of the shrew’ is a representation of mainstream society views and ideologies of the Elizabethan era. The play displays what women should do and not do. The play is a precise preservation of how females and males acted towards one another. Since the play has first been released ideas and beliefs over certain genders and their roles have changed. The play ‘taming of the shrew’ which once embodied a love story is now seen a misogynist story. The play has since been constructed into a few films. The most well-known films are the 1967 film rendering ‘taming of the shrew’ and 1999 loose adaptation ’10 things I hate about you’. The film ‘taming of the shrew’ was directed by Franco Zeffirelli and at the time of the initial release of the film, it was seen as a love story. Certain themes can be identified in each movie. These themes consist of equality and dominance, which is mainly between the two genders, gender roles and social status in society. When I watched the movie I believed it showed very misogynistic views towards women with little evidence of a love story. In contrast, the comparative film ’10 things I hate about you’, directed by Gil Junger, display evidence of a love story with few misogynistic characters. Evidence that is easy to identify in both films is equality and dominance between characters.

Taming of the Shrew Character Profile · Romantic comedy Time and place written · Around 1592, London Date of first publication · 1623 Tone · The overall tone of the play is light and comic, though the exploration of larger social questions, such as the proper relation of the sexes in marriage, lends much of the comedy a more serious tone. Settings (Time) · Unspecific, though presumably sometime during the Italian Renaissance Settings (Place) · Padua, a city-state in Italy prominent during the Renaissance Major conflict · Petruccio's attempt to "tame" Katherine; that is, to assert his authority in their marriage and overcome her hotheaded

Two groups conspire against the pairs of lovers. In this, Shakespeare shows how common and group-oriented illusion is in society. Everybody from noblemen like Leonato and Don Pedro, to servants such as Ursula and Margaret, to scoundrels Don John and Borachio engage in deception. While involvement and motives vary drastically, we're all tangential to some form of illusion.

   William Shakespeare's comedy, The Taming of the Shrew illistrates the difficulty of trying to tame a headstrong, stubborn, and a high-spirited woman so that she will make a docile wife. The one attempting to tame Kate, the shrew, is Petruchio. They contend with each other with tremendous vitality and have a forced relationship. In contrast, there is another romantically linked couple who seemingly possess an ideal relationship. These young lovers, Bianca and Lucentio, share a love that is not grounded in reality, but in fantasy. These two sub-plot characters are stock characters and Shakespeare creates the irony of the play through the differences between the two couples. It

In this play, Shakespeare pairs of Hero with Claudio and Beatrice with Benedick. Using quotes from the play, discuss why Beatrice would never marry Claudio and why Benedick would not find Hero to be as suitable as a wife for him as Beatrice.

In the Elizabethan era, men were looked at as the dominant figure in the relationship. The ideal male of that time was supposed to be assertive when it came to making the decisions for the couple. However, there were some women that felt otherwise. The women of the Elizabethan era were morally obligated to be obedient to their husband. In The Taming of the Shrew, written by William Shakespeare, Katherine is a woman who ignores the normal standards of a wife. She is so rude that no man wants to marry her. Ironically, there is one man who is willing to try his hand at marrying Kate. This man’s name is Petruchio and he knows that Kate is stuck in her shrewish ways, but he feels that he can guide her in the right direction to knowing her role of

The Comedy of Nothing Rylee Ertle Shakespeare & Poetry 9/18/17 What is a comedy? A comedy is funny and has a happy ending, right? Well, that͛s only half correct. Comedy goes all the way back to Ancient Greece and the very first plays. The Greeks had two genres, comedy and tragedy. That was it. Thankfully, a lot has changed since then. Over the years, talented playwrights have come up with a lot more genres than tragedy and comedy. Equally prolific critics have also come up with guidelines to categorize these new plays. Lots of guidelines. In the end, though, it doesn't have to be too complicated. To be a comedy, you need three important things: 1)A comic hero or heroine 2)An ordinary world 3)And a happy ending 1You don't even have to have jokes! Believe it or not, they, along with a lot of other minor elements are optional. Much Ado About Nothing is generally considered one of Shakespeare͛s best comedies, because it combines elements of robust hilarity with more serious meditations on honor, shame, and court politics. It was probably written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was approaching the middle of his career. Much Ado About Nothing, though interspersed with darker concerns, is a joyful comedy that ends with multiple marriages and no deaths. Although the young lovers Hero and Claudio provide the main impetus for the plot, the courtship between the older, wiser lovers Benedick and Beatrice is what makes Much Ado About Nothing so memorable. Benedick and Beatrice argue with delightful wit, and Shakespeare develops their journey from antagonism to sincere love and affection with a rich sense of humor and compassion. Since Beatrice and Benedick have a history behind them that adds weight to their relationship, they are older and more mature than the typical lovers in Shakespeare͛s comedies, though their unhealthy competitiveness reveals them to be childish novices when it comes to love.

Through the ages, it is common for words to change in meaning. As the world around us changes, words often take on new meanings to accommodate the changes in lifestyle and society caused by progress. Thus, it is easy to become confused when reading literature that was written several centuries before, since the very same words may hold varying significance. In "The Taming of the Scold," D.E. Underdown offers background information which makes Shakespeare's The Taming of The Shrew much more understandable in terms of the discordant ideas on women in society in different time periods.

The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare was written in the latter years of the Elizabethan Era. In this play, Shakespeare looks at the themes of womanhood, patriarchy, courtship, and marriage, which are topics prevalent in Elizabethan Era. Amongst citizens, the topics hold strict beliefs in the public space. This play that illustrates a woman with such self-control and individualism, get forced into the life of a weak woman beholden to her husband. A once strong and domination female character is broken by the methods of taming. On the other hand, a very silent woman, Bianca, Katherine’s sister, is placed in marriage based on a romantic interest, which contrasts the very likes of the narrative of arranging marriages during this time period. Being very political in his writing Shakespeare never shies away from presenting ideas very much embedded into the everyday life of England’s citizen at the time through the mockery of characters or by having readers question these practices or ideas based on his deliberate word play; with the marriages of Katherine and Petruchio, and Bianca and Lucentio, he is able to criticize the practices and contrast the different styles of marriage, one being very widespread at the time and one beginning to emerge.

A few themes that are present in Much Ado About Nothing include, deception and the importance of honor. In the play, Claudio falls in love with Hero, and Don Pedro decides to woo Hero for Claudio, but Don John plots to deceive them. He has Borachio to woo Hero’s maid at Hero’s window. He then informs Claudio that Hero is going to be unfaithful. This results in Hero’s disgrace, and the only solution that seemed fit was to pretend to be dead as a way for her redemption and reconciliation with Claudio. On another note, Beatrice and Benedick are tricked by their friends into thinking that each loves the other, and soon they actually do fall in love. Much Ado About Nothing shows that deceit is not always evil, but it is something that can be used

Kate desires love, regardless of how mean and crude she begins. In act one, scene one, when Kate ties her sister’s arms, she questions Bianca of all of the suitors that are after Bianca. Bianca recognizes this cruel act as jealousy and a choice to be loved when she states, “is it for Gremio you do envy me so?”. It is not gremio or any other suitor that kate feels jealousy closer to; she feels jealous of Bianca and how every body, even their father, views her as the favored sister. Bianca is Katherina's more youthful, extra appropriate sister. While she is higher liked by most characters than Katherina, she has a slightly smaller position in the play. While she does talk, she shows herself to be smart, as while she flirts and trades witticisms with lucentio while he's "coaching" her. On the stop of the play, she refuses to return when referred to as via lucentio, showing with the aid of contrast how obedient Katherina has emerged as.

Much Ado About Nothing illustrates a kind of deliberately puzzling title that seems to have been popular in the late 1590s (ex "As You Like It"). Indeed, the play is about nothing; it follows the relationships of Claudio and Hero (which is constantly hampered by plots to disrupt it), and in the end, the play culminates in the two other main characters falling in love (Beatrice and Bena*censored*), which, because it was an event that was quite predictable, proves to be "much ado about nothing". The pronunciation of the word "nothing" would, in the late 16th Century, have been "noting," and so the title also apparently suggests a pun on the word, "noting," and on the use of the word

In the play, Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare comments on social expectations in the Elizabethan Era by consistently placing men over women in the sake of value and worth. The reader is placed into a very male-dominant time period, in which the social expectations were that women did everything a man told them to. Due to writing a play on this subject, Shakespeare is commenting on the inaccurate sexism that is going on, and portraying to the reader that if a women was not what her man wanted her to be, she had little to no worth in their society.

In the production, Taming of the Shrew, directed by William Ball, the characters Hortencio, Gremio, and Lucentio try to pursue the love of Bianca but are not able to marry her unless her fierce sister, Katherina, marries first. They plan to wed Katherina with Petrucio, who is also ferocious and interested in the wealth of her family. He plans to tame her by starving her and not give her what she wants, such as a clean pair of clothing. Meanwhile, Lucentio and Hortencio fight for Bianca’s attention under disguise. The setting of this play occurs in Padua and Petrucio’s house.