Taming Of The Shrew Analysis

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 Elizabethan Society during the time in which William Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice, many marriages were arranged by the parents of the betrothed couple to ensure the transfer of wealth as opposed to assuring true love. Once married, the woman was expected to be subservient to her husband and not control any matters of the estate. Although not necessarily written as a stance on women’s position in society, it is from this perspective that Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice laying down an underlying theme of marriage for wealth within the play. Love in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is bartered like a tradable commodity in order to gain money, status, and resources.

to describe his gentle transformation towards Kate. For he declares that this falcon ?must not be full-gorged (4.1)? and the use of the comparison single-handedly shows his care towards Kate and demolishes any faint idea of the play being a celebration of patriarchal power. Shakespeare uses Petruchio to bear the character of a man who only teaches and liberates his wife and is willing to suffer to complete this transformation. Thus, Shakespeare indicates the importance of transformation and shows of how a lack of brutality and presence of love can allow a mutual love relationship to effectively exist.

In this respect, the play is a typical romantic comedy. However, unlike other Shakespearean comedies, The Taming of the Shrew does not conclude its examination of love and marriage with the wedding. Rather, it offers a significant glimpse into the future lives of married couples, one that serves to round out its exploration of the social dimension of love. Unlike in Romeo and Juliet, inner emotional desire plays only a secondary role in The Taming of the Shrew’s exploration of love. Instead, The Taming of the Shrew emphasizes the economic aspects of marriage; specifically, how economic considerations determine who marries whom. The play tends to explore romantic relationships from a social perspective, addressing the institutions of courtship and marriage rather than the inner passions of lovers. Moreover, the play focuses on how courtship affects not just the lovers themselves, but also their parents, their servants, and their

Taming of the Shrew is a romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare in the 1500’s. It takes place in the city of Padua, presumably during the Italian Renaissance. The major conflict of the play is ‘taming’ a hot-headed woman named Katherine and to overcome the rule her father holds on his two daughters where the eldest marries first. The script brings up a lot of attention in the feminist theory. But, Shakespeare’s play reflects on the archetypes of characters, situations, and symbols. These connections are made in the play to make the audience familiar with the text and provide a deeper understanding.

Early modern marriage could be likened to a financial trade which was mutually beneficial to both parties. Therefore in Othello, upon learning of his daughter’s clandestine marriage, Brabanzio’s refers to Othello as a ‘thief’ , because he considers Desdemona ta possession which he believed was his to trade but has been ‘stol’n’. Similarly in Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio regards Kate as a mean to a dowry as he states that he could put up with all her faults provided there was ‘money enough’. Furthermore, during the wooing scene with Kate he expresses his intention to change her into the ‘other household Kates’. This term has been interpreted by the scholar Natasha Korda as Petruchio’s assertion over Kate, she states that ‘Cates are thus by definition … commodities’ and the wordplay on the name Kate suggests that he simply views her as another household object. The fact that women were viewed as commodities and objects and not humans is an indicator of why they were subject to domestic abuse.

Baptista was the father of two daughters; he was a wealthy man and could meet the expense of two respectable dowries. One of his two daughters was seen to be a shrew amongst the people of Padua, this therefore making it extremely difficult for him to find a suitor for her. Money therefore played an immense part in the marriage of Katherina. Without Petruchio turning up in Padua, looking for a wife it could have looked dreadful for Baptista, not being able to locate a suitor. “I come to wive it wealthily in Padua,” admits Petruchio. He himself along with Hortensio and Baptista are very money orientated. Hortensio talks about Petruchio saying, “will undertake to woo Katherina, yea, and marry her, if her dowry please.” He suggests that she is only worth marrying if the dowry is high enough.

Kate is equal to Petruchio linguistically which also displays an aspect of her character, that she feels that she is easily the equal of any man. During their first exchange, Petruchio immediately sets about Kate, that he will, 'woo her with some spirit when she comes,' and that he will describe her as the opposite of everything she is in order to confuse her and break her down. In Petruchio's first exchange with Kate, it is clearly he who comes off better, immediately setting about her with short witty lines, and puns, 'for dainties are all Kates.' This gives the effect if making Petruchio seem very confident and sure of himself, if he begins his taming with such good humour and interest.

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.

Shakespeare's works reflect the values andk of his era, with the theme of societal conformity and unity necessary for harmony. The rigid stratification of societal roles evident in Taming of the Shrew are directly derived from the Elizabethan hierarchy, with power dynamics based on wealth, family name and gender, and costuming defining one's role. Discourse arises in Shakespeare's plays when a character does not conform to the expectations and code of their prescribed societal role, evident in Katherina's outgoing nature and aversion to playing her part described as a ‘intolerable curst, shrewd, and forward’----. The play concludes once Katherina appears to have conformed to her position as an upper-class wife and daughter, and societal harmony is achieved once more. This social disharmony is repeated numerous times throughout the play, as disguise and role reversals appear initially established in Christopher Sly, ‘Sly’s called a lord, but still is not a lord’ 2.6.1, the disguise of both Lucentio the wealthy student into a tutor and Tranio his servant into Lucentio himself. The most interesting use of costume is in Petruchio’s marriage apparel, claiming ‘To me she’s [Katherina] married, not unto my clothes’ 3.2.113, as he wears lowly, poor attire. Petruchio illustrated both the inability to transgress one’s self through disguise and deception, and his inherit contradiction, attempting to change Katherina’s nature, she may act the wife, but she is still Katherina. Shakespeare’s use of disguise and deceit adds humor to the play and creates a conclusive ending as each character’s transformations are undone, with no one permanently transgressing their societal roles. Similarly, 10 Things I Hate About You utilizes characterization through contemporary American stereotypes to display a simplified social structure. This replicated Shakespeare’s use of traditional social structure, within the first 5 minutes of the film, a montage of each stereotype and their corresponding place in the social hierarchy’s displayed, with Michael listing each one. This archetype is prevalent throughout the teen film genre over the last 30 years, with one’s wealth, physical appearance, and alignment to traditional characteristic of

In Act II, scene I, two marriage proposals occur that are economic. The […] emotional connect between the women and their love interest contracts made by their father” (Women and Power par.1). Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, comes searching for his fortune. His friend Hortensio tells him that he knows the right woman, but the obstacle is that she is the worst shrew. However, Petruchio does not care. He is sure that he can handle the situation, as long as she has a large dowry. Petruchio’s […] attraction for Kate and Baptista’s requirement that he woo his daughter change the nature of their relationship from a business proposal to one of attraction and, possibly, affection the relationship” (Women and Power par.1). Similarly, Baptista asserts that whoever can "assure my daughter greatest dowery / Shall have my Bianca’s love” (2.1.364-365). The oddly possessive “my Bianca’s love” highlights the patriarchal

Also, Katherine herself apprehended the error of her ways, making the women feel sheltered and making the men feel self-assured about their dominant position in society. The audience presumably went home contented, because such a shrew was tamed, and could be tamed so well. Katherine’s soliloquy reinforced the moral values of the Elizabethan era, making the conclusion of the play more enjoyable and entertaining. The final scene of The Taming of the Shrew shows ”the triumph of the unconventional over the conventional”, it shows that Katherina and Petruchio’s marriage, which has started rather unconventionally, seems to have better chances of being a happy. Shakespeare speaks out in clearly favors of the unconventional concept of love present in the relationship between Petruchio and

Economic considerations are high for all characters involved in the play “The Taming of the Shrew”. Lucentio is only allowed to marry bianca after he proposes his father can provide a larger dowry than Hortensio’s father. When Hortensio jokes that he knows a rich shrew, Petruchio jumps at the given opportunity to woo Katherine. Petruccio swears to only marry woman with a large dowry. In what ways is money and status more important than true love?

“Of all men's miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.” (Herodotus). Since ancient Greek times, man has been known to be in need of control. It is in one’s human nature to want power over someone or something. In Shakespeare’s

This paper critically analyses the theme of social mobility through marriage in Shakespeare’s play ‘Twelfth Night’. In addition, the paper highlights how different characters in the play got into higher social classes or desired to be in higher social classes through marriage. This paper holds that in a highly stratified society such as that presented in the Shakespeare’s play; marriage plays a significant role in in social class mobility. As opposed to some traditional society where marriage was only permitted along an individual’s class, Shakespeare presents a literally liberal society with marriage and other relationships permitted along all the classes within the society. In fact, marriage is more of a person choice, contrary to the perception in the tradition society.