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Patriarchy In Taming Of The Shrew

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Katherina Minola, the main character of William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, is not a shrew; she is simply a woman who has opinions. In the setting of Shakespeare’s time, the patriarchy is absolutely monstrous. Any woman who speaks her mind is out of line, and menfolk know what’s best. As clearly shown in the play, society as a whole does not care what Kate thinks. The way the townspeople and her family have treated her throughout her life forced her into a more outspoken, aggressive nature. In the ending scene of the play, Kate has become a paragon for women of the time. Evidently, when a shrew ceases to be one, other women must bear the title. Petruchio tells Katherina to throw her hat on the ground, and she complies. Bianca calls the exchange foolish duty, and, in Act IV scene II, Lucentio (her husband) replies, “I would your duty were as foolish too”. Bianca and the Widow, though they are consistently mild in manner, disappoint their husbands by not jumping at the opportunity to serve them and thus become shrews themselves. Being ‘disobedient’ makes the women seem bad-tempered to their privileged mates. The …show more content…

However, as she was ignored more and her views were rejected, a choice had to be made; bite her tongue or teach her tongue to bite. As Kate says, her sting is in her tongue (2.1.224-227). The author of The Taming of the Shrew: Modern Criticism and Critical Controversies cites Nevo’s opinion that the way Baptista and the citizens of Padua treat Katherina is the root of her violent temper (Gender). Kate chose to fight back in this instance. She fought bravely for years in spite of her own sister, who was as much of a problem as anyone else. Kate may have once been a good little girl like her Bianca; the change from angel to demon occurs when a nonconformist such as Kate begins to form and express their views. At this point, her younger sister is placed on a pedestal for her

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In William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew the question of who is the real "shrew" is a subject of much debate. Throughout the play, the characters of Katherina and Bianca are portrayed as contrasting figures, with Katherina being described as the initial "shrew" and Bianca being seen as the sweet, submissive woman. As the play progresses, we see the switch between the two women as Katherina becomes more obedient and Bianca’s true colours are shown. At the beginning of the play, Katherina is depicted as a sharp-tongued, unruly woman who defies authority and engages in verbal battles with those around her. Her behaviour is exemplified when she strikes Petructchio, and he responds, "I swear I'll cuff you if you strike again" (2.1 222)

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Kate, as strong-headed as she is, would not give in to Pertruchios's verbal coercion. This causes Pertuchio to torture her, further mocking and undermining her solidarity. The combined pressure of mental, verbal, and physical abuse affects Kathrine’s motives which originally became evident at the beginning of the play. All these external factors are simplifying her as a character, and forcing her to fit into the spouse archetype of the English Renaissance era. It causes Kathrine to question Pertuchio’s intentions further, as well as question her actions.

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If Kate acted like that at the wedding, she would be shunned and a disgrace. Katherine is expected to play along with and do as Pertuchio says. This point is further proven when Tranio says, “Why, she’s a devil, a devil, the devil’s dam.” (Act 3 scene 2) After everyone has witnessed Pertuchio’s poor behavior, the men still perceive Kate as the

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The Taming of the Shrew consistently showed women being forced into conforming into the pre-established norm. Throughout The Taming of the Shrew, written by William Shakespeare, conforming to male ideas of how women should act was forefront as the most important thing a woman could do. Katherine originally portrayed herself as a cold, aggressive wench that everyone despised. Petruchio starved her out and showed his dominance until Katherine would finally act in the way that she was expected. At the end of the book, after Katherine was turned and Bianca was beginning to reject the standards of a wife at that point in time, Lucentio was no longer impressed with her.

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The story The Taming of the Shrew written by William Shakespeare is a tale of how a nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Christopher Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself. Christopher being of nobility watches a play about a marriage of Petruchio and a stubborn shrew Katherina (Kate). Throughout this play there are numerous examples of how Petruchio is abusive towards Kate as he attempts to tame her. Petruchio starves Kate along with being extremely careless when dealing with Kate’s feelings. He is very impolite, immature, and knows the best way to tame Kate.

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This is why I do not agree for Petruchio to remain standing. Kate does not deserve to live because of her ill-mannered being. Firstly, her mistreatment towards others is the reason why people loathe her. She retaliates by striking men who perceive her as a vicious woman. Although we both have shared the life without our mother, there is no reason for her to become so heartless.

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Katherine’s final speech in The Taming of the Shrew is misogynistic. William Shakespeare's brilliant play, The Taming of the Shrew, has led to heated debates over its exhibition of gender roles and the treatment of women. At the root of this controversy lies Katherine's concluding speech, a sexist monologue that has left audiences divided. However, an analysis exposes sexism woven throughout the entirety of the play, extending way beyond Katherine's controversial speech. Katherine's final speech stands as a perfect example of the play's misogynistic undertones.

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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

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Katherine’s final speech in The Taming of the Shrew is misogynistic. William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is a famous play, known for its brilliant writing. However, it is filled with sexist ideas, especially shown in Katherine's final speech, where she supports male dominance over women. Though The Taming of the Shrew is an iconic play delivered by a genius writer, it should be canceled due to its ongoing sexist themes. The Taming of the Shrew is sexist because it demonstrates women as inferior to men and supports old-fashioned gender roles.

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Katerina met her match and for her to have someone dominate her was something the kingdom was in no way used to. It is believed that Kate deserved what she got in the end, the common woman that must respect her man, and be second when it comes to opinions. She was not expecting to ever bow to a man and that 's exactly what ended up happening, Shakespeare has a funny way of letting people get what they deserve in the

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While Patrick is paid by Joey to take out Kat on a date so his is able to take out Bianca. The transformation of the characters is another similaty between Shakespeare’s play and the movie. In The Taming of the Shrew, Kate transforms from someone who rebels against all acts of conforming into an obedient and polite wife who respects her husband. In the movie Kat has a massive transformation in her views and behavior because of her experiences throughout the

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715 Words | 3 Pages

Both the play and the film show a patriarchal society where women must be mild and obedient to men to be attractive. Shakespeare uses violent imagery when Kate talks to demonstrate her “Shrewish” behavior, seen in the quote “paint your face and use you like a fool”. Highlighting that in the Elizabethan society women were not attractive unless they were mild and gentle. Jung similarly

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1215 Words | 5 Pages

Taming of the Shrew is a dramatic comedy in which several suitors try to captivate and marry a beautiful woman named Bianca. However, the suitors stumble upon an issue; Bianca’s older sister, Kate, is not married. Bianca is only eligible for marriage if Kate is married, so the suitors set out to find Kate a man. During Taming of the Shrew, the suitors of both Kate and Bianca are dishonest and deceive the sisters using disguises and mind games which results in a breakdown of all the characters.

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815 Words | 4 Pages

Kate is sworn off by her community while Petruchio gets to share a laugh with the other men, despite having arguably acted worse than her. Shakespeare intended for the viewers of the play to leave feeling guilty about the harshness Kate met; an inequality that is only apparent when done so excessively, especially considering the patriarchal forces in society at that time. Unlike Katherine, many women of that time would not have been given the opportunity to speak and act so boldly without severe punishment. Because of this, Shakespeare used her character as a medium through which to make society question its practices behind the thin veil of

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465 Words | 2 Pages

You abide by their will, do what they want, speak when they want you to, and are basically there to just look beautiful and agree with your man. This shows, how women are not only oppressed and have an ideal image to live up too, but that some women are willing to accept these expectations, like Kate, who was once considered a “shrew” but is now the perfect wife. In retrospect, gender roles affect the characters negatively, because Kate ends up being the only woman who will obey because if she doesn’t she has to suffer. The Widow and Bianca however, believe the expectations they should follow are stupid which is why they don’t listen in the bet.

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