Bryce Smith Per. 4 Parley assessment 1. How does Shakespare manipulate the expectations of gender roles in creating his comedies? In his comedies Shakespeare shows the different gender being exaggerated, almost like a satire. In the scene where Petruchio has his wedding, Shakespeare has Petruchio mock his own wedding. When Biondello was talking to Baptista he says, “… An old jerkin… old breeches thrice turned…Boots that have been candle cases… an old rusty sword… broken hilt” (III, ii, 46). During this time a wedding was supposed to be grand and respectful. Petruchio’s character did not show any respect for Kate and her family by publicly humiliating them by the way he dressed. The expectation for women was to be obedient to their husbands and follow them blindly. Kate’s persona was not obedient and all around opposite of what they …show more content…
Throughout the play Shakespeare shows the “evolution” of Kate’s personality from shrewd spoken to obedience. Bapista’s character is supposed to get the best dowry for his daughters by listening to the best offers by their suitors. The men attempting to get Bianca’s hand in marriage to great extents from offering their fathers money by forgery to pretending to be teachers. Nowadays men don’t go to the extreme measures to get a woman’s hand in marriage. In the United States dowries aren’t really part of a marriage setup, however if one party is wealthy then it would be obvious that the other would want to marry them to inherit their wealth. When Kate became obedient with help from Petruchio she makes a speech. Kate says, “…Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign; one