Theme Of Deception In The Taming Of The Shrew

In the play, The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, there is a recurring theme of people hiding their real identity. First, there are cases of deception, such as Tranio pretending to be Lucentio, Lucentio pretending to be a Latin tutor, Hortensio pretending to be a music tutor. More complex than these obvious examples of deception are Shakespeare’s clever uses of psychological masks. Several characters in the play take on roles that do not agree with their personalities. The psychological masks that they wear are not immediately apparent to the audience, or even to the characters themselves, until they are unmasked through the course of the play. Shakespeare mostly uses this device with the characters of Katherina, Bianca,

this story, Shakespeare uses certain structures to reveal that by using deceit one may actually be

Murderers, thieves, and all types of criminals - these are all unlawful and corrupt people. But what is the driving force that causes them to murder, steal, and go against the law? Some criminals are motivated to do illegal things because of their greed for money or wealth. Others do it out of revenge. Even some people are driven to do bad things because of their conceit; they just like to ‘win’ against the government. In William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio is defined and driven by many unfavourable attributes. Greediness, arrogance, and deceit, are the most prevalent negative aspects of Petruchio seen through his actions and words.

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

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

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.

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

In the Shakespearian play: The Taming of the Shrew, deception is one of the major concepts. A tangled web is created in the play through deception of character behavior and the change between clothing and class. Most of the deception in the play have particular motives behind them and create dramatic irony. Shakespeare has used dramatic irony to create a comedic play.

Baptista Minola, the heavy-handed father in The Taming of the Shrew, can be characterized as having difficulty expressing his love effectively to his daughters Bianca and Katherine. While Bianca is charming, tranquil, and stunning, Katherine, being the shrew of the play, is hostile, peevish, and quick witted. After raising both daughters until the day of their marriage, Baptista has been caught in the middle of their opposing characteristics. Understandingly, his actions to deal with this discrepancy can be viewed as cruel and tyrannical; however, he is a loving father that cares deeply for his daughters and their well-being. Many readers only consider Baptista’s concern for the marriage of his daughters as cruel and the amount of wealth they may inherit as greedy when describing his manner and personality, but he acts with logic in each situation and values the happiness of his daughters.

In William Shakespeare’s comical play “Much Ado About Nothing” it is easily said that trickery and deceit are major themes portrayed throughout the story. With the intense use of deception, it becomes hard to realize whether the deceit was an intentional or righteous act. While using deception the play keeps anyone who comes to read it interested and entertained. Throughout the play there are multiple times that the theme is being used for malicious reasons, however it is also evident that it is used for ethical and logical reasons. These themes lead to love and romance distinctly, considering that most deception used all through the play is unfortunate. Deception and trickery are most evident, in the interaction between Beatrice and Benedick.

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 according to "An Homily on the State of Matrimony." 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. Though they are not involved romantically, Lucentio and Tranio fulfill these ideals better than any marriage in The Taming of the Shrew. Lucentio's relationship with Bianca reflects his role with Tranio: Bianca shows respect for Lucentio as he

“The course of true love never did run smooth,” comments Lysander of love’s complications in an exchange with Hermia (Shakespeare I.i.136). Although the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream certainly deals with the difficulty of romance, it is not considered a true love story like Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare, as he unfolds the story, intentionally distances the audience from the emotions of the characters so he can caricature the anguish and burdens endured by the lovers. Through his masterful use of figurative language, Shakespeare examines the theme of the capricious and irrational nature of love.

Battle of the Sexes would have been another appropriate title for this play because the entire play is women verses men, men verses women. This battle of the sexes shows no boundaries between the rich and poor, young or old, man or women. The basis of all the rivalry stems from the fact that the men in this play look at the women as if they were objects, instead of human beings with feelings. This theory that women are merely objects creates an environment that the women have to adapt to and survive in and the environment of a person will depict what he or she will become, resulting in a battle between the sexes.

Disguise in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night has many purposes. Even though disguising one's gender is a common theme in Shakespeare, some say it is instates bonding and allows a way for it to happen. It is known that it is used as a necessity for survival. In Twelfth Night, Disguise and Identity is shown in feelings, appearances and decisions. Disguise is an occasionally seen force which drives one’s mind into believing in something unrealistic. Disguise and Identity get mixed up which causes confusion. Both factors are compared in the meaning of Truth.

The concept of disguise has been known and used since the beginnings of drama, but this concept was most famously known for being used in plays written by the biggest playwrights of the Elizabethan era— especially for being used in William Shakespeare’s plays. What do we mean by disguise? In broad terms, it would mean pretending to be something that one is not. The concept of disguise can mean changing behavior, or hiding intentions, the most frequent form of disguise is the change of ones personal appearance, usually through the changing of clothes, to mask ones true self. Shakespeare used disguises in various ways in his plays; As You Like It, Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night were all plays in which Shakespeare used the concept of disguise as a device to further the plot, it was sometimes even used for comic relief. Disguises can be used both maliciously and/ or morally, depending on its use and its influence on the characters. In both Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure, both Portia and Duke Vincentio donned a disguise to pursue justice how they saw morally fit, but ultimately their deception was only for selfish gain; Portia disguises herself to save a friend, and Vincentio disguises himself to know the true feelings of his subjects, both manipulate the law in the name of justice while in their disguises.