Women In The Taming Of The Shrew

Men had the authority to say whatever they wanted to, no matter what it was. Although they were allowed to do a lot more that women, they were also allowed to say a lot more than women. Men did not really have boundaries when it came to speaking. They were allowed to speak their mind and have an opinion. Men could speak to and about women in a disrespectful and derogatory way. Women were also allowed to have an opinion, but they were not allowed to express it to others. Women were voiceless. They were deprived of their right to speak. The title itself, The Taming of the Shrew, already proves how strong men were compared to women during that time period. If a woman wanted to speak their mind, they would be criticized and judged. They would gain a bad reputation because women were expected to listen to men and follow their commands. However, Katherine did not like that. Instead, she spoke her mind and refused to do certain things. As a result, nobody liked her. They viewed her as a “fiend of hell” (I.i.90). A man would not be called that though. On the other hand, if a man did the same thing, no one would care. “Much more of shrew of thy impatient humour.” (III.ii.29) This proves that even the woman’s father would call their daughter a “shrew”. This was also normal

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.

Katherine acts aggressively toward Gremio and Hortensio. She tells them “To comb your noodle with a three-legged stool and paint your face and use you like a fool” (I,i,65-66). This shows how Katherine rebels against what an ideal wife is. Traditionally, a female should be submissive, and obedient, to her husband, or potential husband. However, by the way Katherine first speaks with Petruchio, it is obvious that she refuses to speak to him with respect. She constantly insults him (II,i,190-281). In fact, she even strikes him at one point (II,i,233). Katherine’s stubbornness makes her less highly valued among suitors. This is an issue for Baptista because, at the time, marriage had one main purpose: financial gain. Baptista essentially sells off his daughters by negotiating dowries and dowers. He only approves the marriage between Bianca and Lucentio after Lucentio’s father assures the payment (II,i,417-421). This symbolizes that money has more importance than his daughters. It is for this reason that Petruchio favors Bianca over Katherine. Bianca is a more valuable asset to him than Katherine. He mistreats Katherine because she is unable to get married, and Bianca cannot get married until Katherine does (I,i,50-51). Therefore, Katherine is stopping Baptista from receiving the payment that comes with his daughters’

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.

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 dehumanization of women should not be shown in a play because it is against the common morals of today’s society. In The Taming of the Shrew, the objectification of women is shown

Throughout the play, Petruchio’s behavior illustrates his chauvinistic mindset to force Katharina into obedience. After the wedding ceremony, Petruchio wants to head home with Kate while she disagrees and he says “I will be master of what is mine own:/She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,/My household stuff, my field, my barn,/My horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing;” (Shakespeare 52). Instead of treating her like a human being, he speaks of her as if she is an object that he owns and controls. Also, when the newly married couple prepare to leave for Baptista’s house, Petruchio claims that the time is different from what it actually is and when Kate argues, he states, “Look, what I speak, or do, or think to do,/You are still crossing it. Sirs, let ’t alone:/I will not go to-day; and ere I do,/It shall be what o’clock I say it is” (Shakespeare 69). Petruchio is basically saying that the only opinion

Petruchio is pretty honest at the start of the play when he claims "I has come to wive it weathy in Padua; If wealthy then happily in Padua” (Act 2 Scene 2 Line 74-75). This is just a declaration that of him to marry Katherina for love. On the contrary, He proclaims his goal is to marry for money, which is marrying rich wife. He also says that he does not care if the woman is ugly, old or the shrewish one in town as he says “Be she as foul as was Florentius’ love, As old as Sibyl, and as curst and shrewd, As Socrates' Xanthippe, or a worse.” (Act 1 Scene 2 Line 62-73).

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

“How would a modern audience view this play in a different way to an audience in Shakespeare’s time, particularly in relation to the role and status of women and attitudes to marriage and courtship?

In the play The Taming of the shrew by, William Shakespeare, there are a lot of sexist remarks and feminist criticism that comes to affect at the beginning to the end of the play. Its scenario is obtained from the popular " war of the sexes" theme in which males and females are put against one another for dominance in marriage.On the other hand, men had more advantages than women throughout the Elizabethan era.

William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew has been the subject of many debates discussing whether the play is pro-feminist or anti-feminist. The final speech given by Katherine allows speculation as to whether she was coerced into an unwanted marriage and speaks with irony or has, in fact, been ‘tamed’. Several scholars such as Coppélia Kahn and Natasha Korda have also questioned whether the ‘taming’ references to Katherine solely, or to a number of characters or as Korda discusses, whether the play demonstrates the progression of women’s role within the household. However, the play could also be read as silently acknowledging the circumstances which lead to Katherine’s ‘shrewish’ behaviours. William Gouge, in his Of Domesticall Duties, played out rules for managing a household.

Also, the point that Bianca’s characteristic has changed overall needs to be estimated. The change is not as dramatic as the case of Katherina, but Bianca still goes through a change. She was a docile and lady-like woman at the beginning, but in Act5, she turns out to be a woman who can reject her husband’s request and insist her own opinion. Consequently, it is hard to jump to a conclusion that this play sugarcoats the virtue of submissive women. In this point of view, the progress of Petruccio taming Katherina can be interpreted as an aspect of an individual putting another person under his own control rather than a husband taming his wife.

One of the most notorious topics of interest in the works of Shakespeare is the role women receive in his plays. The way Shakespeare wrote his plays, women were very submissive to men and had no will and choice of their own. Women were extremely reliant upon the men in their lives, believing that they were inferior and thus following their desire for the women’s lives. This included that marriages were usually arranged by a powerful male, instead of giving the woman the opportunity of choosing marriage for love. It is not surprising that Shakespeare portrayed women in a way that was familiar to him and the time era in which he lived. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Taming of the Shrew, both focus on the development of love and not, with

Although women have reached a point in our modern society where they are fighting for equal rights, and endorsing feminist movements, some women still face some serious issues that have been happening since 1593, and even before. An example of this is evident in the Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, in which Katherina (Kate) is seen as a fairly quick witted, courageous, and headstrong character. However, after her marriage with Petruchio, she is drained of her individuality, and develops many dynamic characteristics. Kate has received little to no love throughout her lifetime, and so, she trusts Petruchio's intentions, despite not knowing him very well. While Petruchio's intent may be well, the way he carries out his plan in such an unorthodox and inhumane way, suggests that the end does not justify the means of Petruchio. To this end, it is evident in how Petruchio takes away Kate’s voice, deprives her of survival needs, and hurts others in the process of achieving his truly abhorrent goal, that the ending does not justify his means.