Taming Of The Shrew Critical Lens

Women in the era of Queen Elizabeth I were often portrayed through stereotypes such as, “The Good and the Badde” by Nicholas Breton. In this work women have desired traits such as loyalty, obedience, and innocence. Undesirable traits would be just the opposite, disobedience, raunchiness, treachery, loudness, and being outspoken. The play, “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare, plays heavily to these stereotypes with the two female main characters; Bianca and Kate. Whereas Kate plays the Un-quiet one in the beginning, but transitions to more of a quiet one or the good wife while Bianca plays The Virgin.

Both Taming of the Shrew and Othello Shakespeare present a variety of relationships which dramatise abuse against women. In Taming of the Shrew Petruchio’s attempts to reform Kate to make her the ideal housewife can be interpreted as a form of domestic abuse. Not only does he withhold necessities such as food, he places her in isolation, and even plays mind games with her to such an extent that she is fearful of defying him - creating a relationship of dependence. In Othello too, there are two different types of abusive relationships that have the same outcome - a husband feels so betrayed by his wife that he subjects her to a barrage of verbal abuse, ultimately seeing no option but to murder her.

The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, and has weathered well into our modern era. For all the praises it has garnered throughout the centuries, it is curious to note that many have considered it to be one of his most controversial in his treatment of women. The "taming" of Katherine has been contended as being excessively cruel by many writers and critics of the modern era. George Bernard Shaw himself pressed for its banning during the 19th century. The subservience of Katherine has been labeled as barbaric, antiquated, and generally demeaning. The play centers on her and her lack of suitors. It establishes in the first act her shrewish demeanor and its repercussions on her family. It is only with the introduction of the witty Petruchio as her suitor, that one begins to see an evolution in her character. Through an elaborate charade of humiliating behavior, Petruchio humbles her and by the end

We live in a culture filled with certain expectations; which, we are expected to abide by in order to fit in with society. The pressure to conform has been an issue since the beginning of time because of the personal need to fit in amongst our peers. There are examples of this phenomena in many works of literature, but one of the most notable works is William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. This play is a perfect example of the horrors of conformism in a semi-modern case. In the play, the reader is able to see the ways that Bianca, Petruchio, and Kate are affected by the pressures of conformism.

In Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, the main character, Katharina Minola is portrayed as a shrew. Her behavior emanated from the fact that a father who treated her with indifference raised her and there was a lack of a motherly influence in her life. “Shakespeare sketches her character with a depth the typical shrew lacks” (“The Taming and Comic Tradition” 1) so her behavior is a defense mechanism used to protect herself from rejection. Katharina “is aggressive and belligerent, but she recognizes her own repulsiveness and ultimately responds positively to love” (“The Taming and Comic Tradition” 1). Once Katharina meets Petruchio, her intended husband, her behavior starts to transform into that of a socially acceptable wife. Katharina’s metamorphosis in behavior is

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

The Taming of the Shrew (TOS) is a play by Shakespeare set in Padua, Italy in the 1590’s. The play was written in 1590 and has had several films, reproductions and appropriations created from it. One of these appropriations is the 1999 movie Ten Things I Hate About You, which is set in the late 1990’s in Seattle, U.S.A. Why has this story been so attractive to society? It is not only because Shakespeare has crafted a brilliant story, but because the themes have been relevant over the 4 centuries that the story has existed. Some of the messages explored in this essay are that both texts explore the social expectations of men and women. Another theme is that both Shakespeare and Junger identify that men are the ‘gazers’ and women are the

There are few names as commonplace, ubiquitous, and recognizable as that of William Shakespeare. His enchanting story telling, complex plot twists, and brilliant usage of rhetoric make it easy to understand why connoisseurs of the English language are devotees to his style of writing. However, it is his extremely portable themes that endear him to today’s audience – plotlines that resonate with the modern everyday human just as much with someone from the 1600s.

All throughout Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare sends a clear message about power and gender, and he uses many literary devices to do so which helps the reader understand the text and empathize with the characters. Although an abundance of literary devices such as symbolism and genre are used in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew to highlight the discord between power and gender, setting plays the most important role because it reveals the rules and expectations of both genders in Elizabethan England. To begin, the induction shows how people from Elizabethan England view masculinity as above femininity. For example, when the lord orders Bartholomew to dress as Sly’s wife, he finds it comedic. This is considered funny because for a man to want to dress as a woman was unheard of in this society, and it subconsciously makes

Katherine and Petruchio begin their relationship with him starving, manipulating her words, and not allowing her to sleep, which is not condoned by Shakespeare. These unrealistic and exaggerated actions that pain Katherine are used to critique the treatment of women and their role in society. Shakespeare is not condoning these actions but rather emphasizing their irrationality. Shakespeare continues criticizing the role of women with demonstrating Baptista and how he is neglectful of Katherine, showing poor treatment will lead to the “shrew” behavior, in comparison to Bianca who is praised for everything, therefore is more desirable with a seemingly hire position in society. The position of women is based on their attractiveness as a spouse to men.

Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew showed many examples of challenging what was considered normal. He showed it when he introduced Katherine and Petruchio. “Shrew” is what Katherine was called, also meaning she was violent and stubborn. Being known as a shrew was not respectable. During Shakespeare’s time, people married for love and disguises were unfamiliar.

   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

makes known his power as a master in act 4 when he both physically and

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

In The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare reveals the flaws in gender and class roles by pointing out the flaws in when women always listen to men. For everyone that has strict parents or been in a relationship you understand these examples, the man(dad) is the boss, the women obey the man, and class roles are determined by society. Shakespeare challenges through many situations, the class and gender roles that are determined by society.