Relationships in Shakespeare's 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

In The Taming of the Shrew, the concept of love is a means of emotional manipulation, and manipulation is nothing more than a means of control between men and women. William Shakespeare critiques the patriarchal social structure by ironically employing the manipulative stance Petruchio takes towards winning Katherine as his wife by charming her with words and manipulating her psychologically, and then taming her after their marriage through legal, physical, financial, and psychological control and manipulation. Though Petruchio may think he yields power over his wife, Katherine uses obedience as a tool of manipulation and has the control of the household, as can be seen

Throughout the history of the world, honor has been an important part of life. In literature, as well, honor plays an important role in many plots and the development of almost any character. Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing is no exception. In this comedy about love and marriage, honor is revealed as the primary reason for many of the actions taken by several different characters. When Claudio breaks off his wedding with Hero, he does it because he believes she is not chastised as she claims to be and in being such, she would dishonor him as well as her father if the marriage were to proceed as planned. The play is an accurate depiction of the honor code and the different standards for men and women of the time in regards to

In the beginning, Petruchio is very honest with the audience and shares his thoughts out loud without caring what others may think. He admits that he loves money more than anything else in his life “Hortensio, peace. Thou know’st not gold’s effect./ Tell me her father’s name, and ’tis enough;/ For I will board her, though she chide as loud”(1.2.71-76.) This is why Petruchio is motivated to marry Kate which shows his selfish

            Hero does not get a chance to mull over the idea of Claudio as a husband.  Even the audience knows little about her going into the now famous “shaming scene.”  Details about Hero’s virtues and personality are purposely left out, partially to satisfy the dominant male perspective in the play, but also to give more clout to the heinous claim that Claudio makes during the wedding.  The reactions of Hero’s father and others indicate that a woman’s virtues are only as good as a man says they are.

“When love speaks the voice of all the gods makes heaven drowsy with the harmony,” Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, scene II.

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.

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

Character deception in The Taming of the Shrew is used largely, and Lucentio one of the main characters in the play uses deception throughout some of the first few acts. Lucentio, upon seeing the beauty of Bianca ‘falls in love at first sight’ and wishes to conjure a plan to woo her. Tranio (Lucentio’s best-friend) assists

Lucentio is a suitor to Bianca. In the beginning of the play, Lucenito is portrayed as the cliché “love at first sight” type of person. He must do everything in his power to get Bianca to wed

William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is an interesting story that demonstrates the patriarchal ideas of how a marriage is suppose to be according to society, what is acceptable of a woman's role in a relationship. It's a story that has many things to show for it's been remade, and remade, even slightly altered to better relate to the teenage audience.

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

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

Lucentio is discovered by affection for Bianca at first perception, says that "he will die if he cannot win her heart", and thusly puts into movement a sentimental and capricious arrangement to do as such. Though cherish in the play is frequently moderated by monetary and entertaining concerns, Lucentio is cleared up in a dream of dignified affection that does exclude the useful contemplations of men like Petruchio. All through a great part of the play, then, Lucentio and Bianca's relationship seems, by all accounts, to be invigorating and unadulterated in contrast with the relationship amongst Petruchio and Katherine. Petruchio's choice to depends on his self-declared yearning to win a fortune, while Lucentio's depends on sentimental affection.

With regards to The Taming of the Shrew, it can be determined that the relationship between Baptista and his daughters is built on the boundaries put in place by gender roles. This becomes apparent when, at the beginning of the play, Hortensio and Gremio confront Baptista about his intentions regarding Bianca's courtship: