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Role of women in shakespeare's play
Taming of the shrew analysis
Role of women in shakespeare's play
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Role of women in shakespeare's play
Taming of the shrew analysis
Role of women in shakespeare's play
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Role of women in shakespeare's play
Act III of The Taming of the Shrew had a recurring theme of “Marriage”. In scene 2 of this act, Katherina gets married off to Petruchio. Marriage of the time was a very formal, “The Bridegroom wore his best clothes which consisted of a doublet, breeches, hose, box pleated neck ruff and a codpiece. A cloak might also be worn and a pair of boots.” (william-shakespeare.info) Petruchio’s outfit was unheard of, it showed incredible disrespect to Baptista and Katherina.
Grumio is Petruchio's servant, albeit not a very good one. According to The Taming of the Shrew, Grumio says, "Knock at the gate? O heavens! Spake you not these words plain: 'Sirrah, knock me here, rap me here, knock me well, and knock me soundly'? And come you now with 'knocking at the gate'?"
She was described as a “shrew”, bring us back to the title “Taming of the Shrew”. Petruchio knew that Katherine was tamed when she finally complied with him. On the road to Padua, Petruchio "breaks" Kate. He pretends that the sun is the moon and demands that Kate go along with what he says. Then, when they encounter an old man, Petruchio pretends that the old man is young girl, which Kate also goes along
Throughout history, women have always been considered inferior to men. Women are typically supposed to stay home and care for the children, quieter than men, do not need an education, and are supposed to listen and do what they are told. The men are the ones in charge. They are “always at the top”, expected to work to provide for their family, and tell their wives what to do. When reading “Taming of the Shrew” by Shakespeare and watching “10 Things I hate About You” directed by Gil Junger, the stereotypes and gender role of Katherine (Kat) and the sisterly relationship between Katherine (Kat) and Bianca come across.
“To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor.” (Taming of the Shrew 5.2.147) Katherine states this because the women thought that the men were the only way to live, and women are only alive because of the men. Katherine also states “When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.” (Taming of the Shrew 5.2.173)
After watching the Philadelphia Shakespeare Company preform scenes from Taming of Shrew it caused me to think about the stress both Petruchio and Katherine were under. When I first read Taming of the Shrew I focused more on the truly horrible treatment of Katherine. What I had forgot to think about was that Petruchio was also experience the horrible treatment. Everyday that Katherine went without sleep as did Petruchio, when Katherine did not eat neither did Petruchio. This is not to say that what Petruchio had done to Katherine was in any way ok
Katherine, the shrew in Shakespeare's play based movie “Taming of the Shrew”, is a lonely woman that has never been married and goes through a dramatic change as the story progressed. As the story begins we do not see Katherine right away. When Katherine is brought into the picture she would not cooperate with anyone, she was just a bad tempered and hostile woman who could take care of herself. She hated her sister, Bianca, that she envied because Bianca might get married. Her father, Baptista, did not have a relationship with Katherine, therefore, she struggled with relationships with her family.
Finding a husband, bearing children, and listening to the husband, that’s how women are expected to behave during Shakespeare’s time. As a model for how modern-day women behaved, Katherine can’t even meet one of the standards. Katherine’s verbal attacks, compromise towards Petruchio, and attitude to the widow and Bianca showed how she’s simply playing a wife’s role to get what she wants in the play, Taming of the Shrew. As furious as she was, Katherine managed to attack others verbally even after her marriage. One of the reasons that Katherine is considered to be a shrew is her constant verbal attacks.
In The Taming of the Shrew, women were expected to behave according to the standards of society by being quiet and obedient, much like Bianca. When Lucentio was listening to the commotion in the square with Baptista’s daughters, he saw Bianca and noticed her “mild behavior and sobriety” (1.1.71). Being quiet and well-behaved were
Now, I realize what you are thinking, “how can you have English class without Shakespeare?” Well, learning his plays and teaching his beliefs are two different conditions. In “The Taming of the Shrew,” a man is the authoritative member and the women is their trophies. In America, men and women have equal rights; considering women have the right to vote, work, and decide their own spouses. Teaching how men treat women during Shakespeare's time might cause another suffrage that is unwanted.
Katherine is often labelled as “shrewish” due to her unwillingness to comply with society’s conforming behavioural standards; women are to be quiet and subservient to their male counterparts, seen to have higher status than women. Shakespeare challenges these traditional ideas by allowing Katherine to speak up for what she wants. Although she may not receive her wishes, she makes it very difficult to deny her. One such instance occurs when Petruchio—a man who wishes to marry Katherine to inherit her dowry—meets with Katherine in an attempt to convince her to marry him. However, when Petruchio tells Baptista that they have agreed to be married the coming Sunday, she expresses her obvious reluctance by exclaiming, “I’ll see thee hanged on Sunday first” (2.1:292).
The Ill-Mannered Shrew In the comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, the protagonist Katherine, a stubborn, ill-mannered women, does not follow the directions of anyone. The word “Shrew” in the title of the play represents Katherine because someone needs to tame her. Katherine does not illustrate saintly behavior in the comedy because she degrades and insults all of the men she encounters, continues to disobey her father, and bickers with her sister to the extent of harm.
From Sexism to Social Reformation Many actions and ideologies of the characters in The Taming of the Shrew create an overarching conflict between comedy and sexism for most readers. Specifically, the relationships between the men and women introduce controversial topics such as obedience and love which must be questioned thoroughly. The conditions of Petruchio and Katherine’s marriage was more “traditional” in the sense that it was primarily patriarchal, and that Kate was expected to be subservient and obedient. While this is sexist, on the surface, this was not the intended meaning behind the works.
Publicly kissing and giving orders to Katherina made Petruchio feel like a manly man who would not be swayed by a woman. After all women “are bound to serve, love and obey” (Shakespeare 5.2.85). Katherina’s transformation in The Taming of the Shrew is a great example of the expectations for women in the past. Instead of being welcomed and popular for having a backbone women were shot down until they believed they were less than men. Today women are not asked to change themselves to be submissive to men but to be strong and confident in
Ever wonder about gender roles in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew? In Taming of the Shrew, the gender roles affect the characters in a rather negative way, and when they surface in the play, it’s rather shocking. This essay will discuss how gender roles affect the characters in what I believe is a negative way, and how they surface in the play. In this play, the men appear to have a particular idea on how all women should behave.