Taming Of The Shrew Critical Lens

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 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

William Shakespeare is the world’s pre-eminent dramatist whose plays range from tragedies to tragic comedies, etc. His general style of writing is often comparable to several of his contemporaries, like Romeo and Juliet is based on Arthur Brooke’s narrative poem, “The tragical history of Romeo and Juliet”. But Shakespeare’s works express a different range of human experience where his characters command the sympathy of audiences and also are complex as well as human in nature. Shakespeare makes the protagonist’s character development central to the plot.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

In addition, Shakespeare intermingles the play with the idea of appearance versus reality, highlighting how truelove can exist within even the curst and is absent amongst even the most attractive. As the play progresses, we see how true this is, as Bianca and Katherina contrast one another on the interior as well, yet Katherina?s true love underneath, allows her to dwell in an effective relationship. As we know, Petruchio?s love is obvious yet Katherina?s shrewish nature masks her true love for Petruchio - proving the deceptiveness of appearances. On the other hand, even though Bianca has many desperate suitors we see how shrewish she really is as she questions, ?Am I your bird? (5.1)?. Bianca?s rhetorical question and indignant tone towards Petruchio highlights her lack of respect and her internal shrewish personality. Moreover, Bianca?s interior personality

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

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.

Much of the text is dated or archaic and is initially unknown to the typical student. Yet upon thorough study, the student will gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare's words and the English language.Despite the difficulty that dated text presents, the passions and emotions described by Shakespeare touch the hearts of his readers and audience, students included. Vivid imagery and poetic descriptions are presented effectively and have a great impact on the audience. Readers are provided with the opportunity to step into the lives of his characters; to feel their emotions and understand their motivations, a rewarding experience for the student.Although Shakespeare's wrote his plays more than 350 years ago, the relevance of their themes and subjects still exists.

William Shakespeare is one of the most recognized playwrights in the history of man. People have analyzed every sentence of his works and have taken note of the various styles used in his writing. Ironically enough, little is known about Shakespeare's personal life. It is assumed, however, that like other literary writers, Shakespeare relates occurrences in his life into his writing. The average person experiences varied and numerous events that affect them personally, and shape them into who they are. Whether one expresses loyalty or betrayal to another can impact one's life greatly and can cause numerous outcomes in a person's life. In

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.