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Petruchio Gender Roles

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Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew focuses mainly on gender roles through Petruchio taming Kate by forcing her to act as a submissive wife. The main theme throughout this play was the contradicted roles of genders. The acts of Petruchio throughout the play shows the basic depiction of a male from the perspective of Shakespeare. He basically acts like a man who has supreme power over his wife and can do whatever he wants. His carless behavior is highlighted when he came to the wedding “in a new hat and an old jerkin, a pair of old breeches thrice turned, a pair of boots that have been candle cases, one buckled, another laced; an old rusty sword ta'en out of the town armory, with a broken hilt and chapeless; with two broken points; his horse hipped, with an old mothy saddle and stirrups of no kindred” (Act III. Scene ii. page 46). On the other hand, Kate who used to rebel against male supremacy, starts acting as a woman after being tamed by Petruchio. “Unknit that threat'ning unkind brow and dart not scornful glances from those eyes to wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor.” (Act V. scene ii page 85). Kate …show more content…

Couple of these stereotypes are the males being the lord, owning most of the land, choosing everything in their life. This was shown when they arrived at Petruchio’s house. He decided whether the meat was good or not. He even threw it away after Kate begged him that the food wasn’t dry or overcooked. Female stereotypes that were mentioned in the comedy were that she had to obey her husband, always be nice and not to defend herself, accept anything that happens to her and her husband is always right. Obviously this is not present today. The idea of a man being complete ruler over his wife is not present these days. Some stereotypes that are common today about males are being strong, tough, and brave. While female stereotypes are being weak, love the color pink, and have clean jobs like

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When it comes to the way modern society functions, somebody’s gender can influence the amount of respect given to them. This exact structure of power based on gender was in place during the English Renaissance era. This is when English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare, created his most famous works, where these ideologies of gender superiority are evident. He uses his plays to critique society and its flaws. In The Taming of The Shrew, the complex character of Katherine and her arranged marriage with Pertruichio makes a mockery of her true identity and develops the plot as well as the theme that misogyny and gender roles defined humanity in the English Renaissance era.

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793 Words | 4 Pages

Katherine the main character, is labeled as a shrew by the whole town for the fact that she would rather speak her mind then be put down by others. Grade A comedy. If the roles were to be reversed and Katherine was the one to tame Petruchio this would no longer be a comedy of this era but a controversial portrayal of women being superior to men in a way. * Gasps*

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Patriarchal mentality in Shakespeare’s female characters In my present time, I have considered women as presidents, ministers or leading figures, who have the same potential equally as men, so they play significant roles that have effect on the society in some part of the world, such as, European countries, USA and Australia. One the other hand, in other part of the world, I observe non-educated and oppressed women who are neglected and deprived of their rights to be influential partner with male gender in their societies, especially in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. And if there are few exceptions of strong female figures, they are portrayed as evil and manipulative in assisting the male ruler to usurp the power and rule the country with an

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This text underscores Petruchio's belief that it is his purpose to control and tame Katherine. He sees Kate not as an equal human being, but as a wild creature meant to be put in her place by a male superior. Petruchio's treatment of Katherine as less than human and his need to be in control of her reinforces the sexist concepts within the play, bringing attention to just how accepted the oppression of women was in the cultural attitudes and beliefs of that era. Additionally, the drastic change in Katherine's character from a bold, fiercely independent woman to a “perfect”, obedient wife is concerning in terms of how the play shows gender

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Petruchio and Katherine are two characters in Shakespeare ’s play “Taming of the Shrew”. Petruchio was a single man with money running out looking for a rich wife. There was a situation between Katherine and her sister Bianca. Bianca couldn’t get married until Katherine did.

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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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“The Taming of the Shrew” is a comedic play composed by Shakespeare. The play is centred around the Elizabethan conventions that were relevant during Shakespeare's time. The ‘Taming of the Shrew’ is based around the story of two young damsels who are sisters, but very different from one another. Bianca is the youngest sister and is praised for being a submissive and beautiful girl, a true manifestation of the male fantasy, while Katherina, the oldest sister is notoriously known for being shrewish and rough. The conventions portrayed in the play are patriarchal dominance and female subordination between Petruchio and Katherina, courtship and dating whilst showing the power imbalance between women and men throughout the Elizabethan era, and finally

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William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a great example of this, as the setting takes place in the fifthtenth century. These gender norms highly impact the story, as for some characters, their role had already been decided at the moment they were born. In older times, it was thought that women should be wedded as teenagers, primarily at 12. Women were governed by their parents from the moment they were born until the day they were married, at which point they were handed over to their husbands, who inherit that role. In Romeo and Juliet, women are portrayed as being subservient to men and lacking independence because of men's superiority.

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Micah Sapp 5/29/18 4th period Taming Of The Shrew In Shakespeare’s play The Taming of The Shrew, the main character Petruchio tries to tame Katherine and force her to be an obedient wife in the midst of a series of comedic and bizarre moments. Throughout the play, the theme of gender roles is subtly woven in as sisters Kate and Bianca deal with the expectations of men and society. First, the women are expected to fall in line with the expected gender norms of the time--in the 16th century, this means that they are always considered not to be as much worth as that of a man. Next, the men support these gender roles in the way they treat women--with many men in that time period, especially in The Taming of the Shrew, that means that they force

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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.

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1259 Words | 6 Pages

As in the 16th century, the man is suppose to be dominant in a family or marriage. But in Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare shows the opposite of a male dominance and the female characters show more of the dominance and defy the men and there suppose to be dominate rein. Gender roles are defined as a set

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212 Words | 1 Pages

The taming of the shrew act 4 essay question By johnathen worthing Gender roles play a huge role in this play because in this time a woman was supposed to fill the “role” and be quiet and listen to whatever the man says. The part of gender roles also plays a big part in this play because the women have no choice in who they marry they marry who their father says. Most of the men have a very strict way of thinking when it comes to women's behavior and yes it does extend to all women because they all treat women the same they all think that they should be kind and nice and mindful of men most of the women go along with the roles for them set by men but some like kate have a harder time accepting such roles but eventually come to terms with

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991 Words | 4 Pages

Animal Imagery Being Linked to Gender Norms During the Elizabeth ear, it also became known as a Shakespearean society, but was represented as a masculine hierarchy. Women’s roles consisted of taking care of children alongside with keeping the house clean and well put together. While researching, Shakespeare’s play it became well known he would use animal imagery to describe characters’ personality.

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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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1169 Words | 5 Pages

In holding this power Petruchio degrades and humiliates his wife in hopes to tame his “shrew”. Petruchio must use tactics such as starving her, not allowing her to sleep and blatantly talking down to her in attempt to change her into someone he can bare to spend the rest of his life with in order to reap the benefits of having a wife with a rich family. When meeting Petruchio, we learn that from the very start of his relationship with her, he already does not show her any respect as he continues to refer to her as “plain Kate, And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst, But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom, Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate—For dainties are all Kates” (2.1.179-183) after being asked specifically to refer to her as “Katherine”. This rough start to their relationship contradicts the Elizabethan era’s ideals of courtship. In this way, their relationship is unconventional and should be looked down upon in society’s eyes” (Keene).

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