Taming Of The Shrew Individualism Essay

The Taming of the Shrew examines the way traditional 16th century notions about gender and its hierarchy are tested and reinforced in tempestuous relationships. While patriarchy rules supreme at the plays end, it’s vital to consider the constant attempts to undermine the sexist assumptions about a women’s place in marriage. In The Taming of the Shrew gender plays a

Katherina may be a shrew, but Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew does not truly show a study of how a selfish, spoilt individual is made to conform to society’s expectations, or be tamed into a ‘proper’ woman. At the end of the play, Katherina is not, necessarily, tamed - she just realizes what she must to do in order to get the things she wants. Two main examples of her submitting to Petruchio in order to achieve her desires are in Act 4, scene 5, (the sun versus moon scene) as well as Act 5, scene 2 (the kiss me kate scene and her final monologue).

In the play Taming of the Shrew, written by William Shakespeare, many characters are reshaped and given new personality traits. Petruchio is known as being a cocky man who intends to help tame a shrewish young lady named Kate. There are many critics that believe Petruchio is solely obnoxious and a bully but through out his interactions with Kate it is shown that he truly cares about the well being of others. Of course at the beginning of Petruchio’s plan to tame a young lady he is acting off of his confidence and trying to impress those around him but this soon changes once he begins to interact with Kate. Petruchio proves that his ways have changed and he is only taming Kate to make her feel better about herself, “Petruchio uses psychological methods, not aggressive or barbaric ones, to tame Kate, which alls her to still be witty and intellectual, but also happily married, at the end of the play”(Natale,98). Petruchio truly believes that by taming Kate he is preforming a good deed and helping her accept herself in this process.

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.

In the play, The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio is a foolish nobleman who tames the character of Kate because she is a shrew. A shrew is ill-spoken woman who has a negative reputation in the Elizabethan period. Petruchio tames Kate by abusing her physically and mentally, Petruchio starves Kate and deprives her of any sleep, finally he humiliates her. Kate is forced under submission because of Petruchio trying to “...cure her wild and willful nature...” (Act 4, Scene 1, Pg. 10). Petruchio explains that all his abusing is because he loves her and for her own good, when in fact he is trying to break her down. The Taming of the Shrew is about the conflict between Kate and Bianca in which their father’s rule which does not allow Bianca to get married

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

Petruchio conforms to the gender role of being a masculine man who is supposed to control his woman. In the play, he speaks of his shrew-taming abilities countless times in the play in order to assert in masculinity. Petruchio decides to “tame” his love pursuit, Kate. This taming involves violence, starvation, and sleep deprivation. Nowadays, this so-called “taming” would be considered domestic abuse because Petruchio’s tendencies are abusive in nature. J. R. Mahalik described masculine conformity as “…conformity to masculine norms is defined as meeting societal expectations for what constitutes masculinity in one’s public or private life.” This is relatable to Petruchio’s conformity since he is comparing his masculinity to the other men in the play. Petruchio easily gives in to his gender role in order to control his woman and impress those around

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

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

The Taming of the Shrew perfectly demonstrates how Shakespeare connects all classes to his plays. Anyone of a lower class can relate to being thought of in harsh and mean ways, so when the Lord in the induction of The Taming of the Shrew says (regarding Christopher Sly), “LORD: O monstrous beast, how like a swine he lies!/ Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image,” thoughts trigger in their minds (Shakespeare Induction. 33-34). To relate to those above lower class citizens, Shakespeare shows how powerful men get along and help each other sustain their power while also showing how the women supported no other than their husband (Thorne 53).

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.

Sexism is the stereotyping and discrimination based upon gender. Typically steered towards women, it has played a large part in not only our society today but in the past as well. In the play The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, it is shown in the treatment of the women by their male counterparts. It is most prevalent in the way that fortune-seeking Petruchio goes about taming his aggressive and sharp-tongued wife Katharina. By examining Petruchio’s actions and Katharina’s reactions towards his efforts at taming her, once can see that the play is indeed sexist.

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

In Shakespeare's comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare has a woman as one of the story's main characters. Katherine Minola (Kate) is off the wall, and kinda crazy. Because of her actions, the “male centered world” around her doesn't know what to do with her.

The role of woman in the society has always been really controversial, whether it was 400 years ago or now. Shakespeare's two very famous comedy plays, The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice challenge a very serious social issue, the role and importance of woman in society. We all know the stereotypical image of woman in the society but Shakespeare questions the society on these thoughts through his plays. While Shakespeare expresses his ideas in a very unique way in each of his plays, this issue is common in both plays and is portrayed very similarly. Whether it is the way woman are treated, portrayed or judged, Shakespeare repeats the same idea through difference acts and events between the two comedies. There are some