Analysis Of Taming Of The Shrew

The Taming of the shrew is play penned by William Shakespeare. The setting of the play is set to be in a 16th century Italy mainly in the cities of Padua and Verona. Even though the play has many characters, there are two main character, Petruchio and Katharine. The Play has 5 acts and many scenes in between those acts and also includes a framing device i.e. an induction in the beginning. The ending of the play and objectification and treatment of the female character has drawn the ire and harsh criticism from various critics and commentators. Shakespeare has brought up societal issues like Materialism, Patriarchy, Gender relations and Female submissiveness. The play has been performed and adapted in many version, most relatable one for a common

She is a blunt lady who doesn’t fear speaking and her mind and her behavior is considered quite repugnant. She knows her behavior puts at her odd with the family members and possible suitor but she is not bothered by that. But the bad treatment of Petruchio brings up the change in her behavior.
Petruchio – The male protagonist and husband of Katharine. Petruchio moves from Verona with his servants after his father’s death. He has moved to Padua with a motive to enjoy his coming life. He takes up the challenge of taming the shrew i.e. Katharina though initially he agrees with her and tries to charm her. He doesn’t value Katharina as her Bride and only sees her a challenge to be conquered. He treats her cruelly and is shown in believing traditional orthodox patriarchal male dominant character.
Bianca – She is the sister of Katharina and is complete anti-thesis of her sister. She is the one suitor’s line up for but due to the ridiculous condition put up by Baptista, they cannot. She is shown to be submissive and materialistic qualities of her which are despised by her sister

The way the play progresses we notice a certain foolishness associated with the societal norm and certain form of penance is put on those who tend to challenge them. In the end when the wager for most loyal wife is made , Petruchio clearly wins even but he still humiliates her in regards to her hat and tries to assert a sense of authority there irrespective of her feelings. The key part which signifies submission is the Katharina’s Speech in the end of the play. Now it can be debated whether the speech was a sincere display of feelings or was a farce or satirical take on the issue. If we believe it to be a sincere effort then we can truly believe that the shrew has been tamed which is sad because it has led to the death of Katharina’s personality. A second way to the understanding of speech is farce which is linked to the initial induction in the play which shows that the play in a farce and nothing happening is to be taken in a serious sense. It could be satirical where katharina realizes that it is in her best interest to budge according to petruchios demands for her own well being and she gives that speech just to re affirm her false sincerity to her husband. Since the language of the speech is highly exaggerated, I tend to believe it as