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Sexism In The Taming Of The Shrew

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Since the beginning of the Taming of the Shrew, by Willanm Shakespeares, there have been numerous sexist remarks and feminist criticisms that are made. Most of the time, sexist comments and behaviors are addressed to the primary character, Kate. Feminist criticism is frequently used throughout this play. These comments are frequently used to suggest that women are less important than men. The sisters Bianca and Kate are the primary targets in the play. Kate and Bianca are finally won over by Pertruccuio and Lurencio, but it takes “taming” and money to get them.

Bianca was originally a bet in this play on by the men, they wanted to see who could win her over. This form of picking a spouse is very upsetting. It is basically treating a woman like an object and showing that love back then was like winning a prize. “Yea, and to marry her, if her dowry pleased”(Act.1 Sc.2, 185) this basically implies that he …show more content…

Petruchio hears about her and sets off to go marry her and “tame” her, Petruchio sees her as an animal he will train and command. He has a conversion with her and Katherine is being herself like she always is with the other men but he doesn't give up, they back a back and forth conversation of Katherine being rude and him just responding back like nothing. These two end up getting married and on the day of the wedding he was acting like a goof. He showed up late and dressed up funny, after that he took her home straight away. He starts right away with the tamming. He doesn't let her eat and he aslo doesn't let her sleep. She is basically his puppet, she ended up agreeing with her husband. “worse and worse. She will not come! O, vile, intolerable, not to be endured! Sirrah Grumio, go to your mistress. Say I command her to come to me.”(Act. 5 Sc.2, 105). What is basically showing how a woman can't think for herself and she'll do what her husband

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In the play, the love story is hidden and almost overlooked. The play focuses so much on the hatred between the couple and the struggle to “tame” Katherine that the love story can get lost. Katherine has an ending speech in the play, expressing her feeling about a good wife and how they should submit to their husbands. This scene is supposedly a confession of love yet, it can be seen as Katherine, almost, sucking up to Petruchio to get on his good side and gain respect from him, not love. In the movie, the love story is more prominent and is easily noticed throughout the movie.

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Baptista states that “Bianca must not be Wed unless Katherine is wed first”.  Hortensia and Gremio divide a plan to wed Katherine to Petruchio . On Katherine's wedding day Petruchio  refers to Katherine as “my goods, my chattels; she is my house, my household stuff, my field, my barn, my horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing”. To tame Katherine Petruchio abuses her. Junger’s film is baed on Kat Stratford and her sister Bianca who attended Padua High.

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Consequently, for the duration of the play The Taming of The Shrew Katherine’s behavior is attributing the struggles of being a victim of reoccurring problems due to manipulation from Petruchio, and Bianca. Furthermore, the characters Bianca and Petruchio are not only victims of their own problems, but also is Katherine who is facing problems as well and her approach to the manipulation is allowing herself to remain easily influenced by her father, plus manipulated by Petruchio and Bianca. Also the possibility of a mental illness hinders her towards being obedient when women shouldn’t be compliant to their husbands, and the struggle of a hindering bipolar disorder is limiting her state of mind. Katherine from the play The Taming of The Shrew

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There was a big difference in how women, especially Katherine, were portrayed and seen in both of the plots. This was also because the play was written and took place in the 1500’s where women were seen as property and the movie took place at a highschool in the 1990’s where women had a lot more rights than before. To start, in the play Petruchio treated her like property saying “to make her come and know her keeper’s call. That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites. That beat and beat and will not be obedient”(Shakespeare Act 4 Line 196) while in the movie she was able to do as she pleased.

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During their marriage Petruchio antagonizes Kate, shows up to the wedding late and inappropriately, and Petruchio is depriving Kate of her basic needs. Overall, Petruchio is abusive to Kate as he tries to tame her into being an obedient wife. From the start of their relationship, Petruchio has been treating Kate poorly. Petruchio is lying to Baptista and verbally antagonizing Katherine. He is doing this to Kate by saying all these “great” things that he has heard about her.

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Besides Katherine's speech, the play has lots of misogynistic themes and moments. Petruchio's behavior toward Katherine highlights this through his harsh "taming" methods. He deprives her of food and sleep, messes with her sense of reality, and manipulates her emotions. Petruchio acts this way because he deeply believes that women should see them as lords and as someone to obey. For instance, when he proclaims on page x, line x, "I am he born to tame you."

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This was all just an act that Petruchio was playing to “tame” Katherine. He wanted her to start acting the way she was supposed to, more like her sister Bianca who was the favored sister. He also had a goal of gaining some money because katherine was a part of a rich family. Katherine was very different than all the rest of the women when it came to gender ideals. She needed to be “tamed” and start acting like all the rest of the women.

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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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Hortensio and the Widow are married for the money, Lucentio and Bianca represent love at first sight, and Petruchio and Kate were married for the happy ending. Hortensio failed miserably had winning Bianca’s heart, so he went against his own word and married an old widow to at least gain a profit for himself. Lucentio saw a single glance of Bianca and instantly fell in love with her petarchian looks. He was so desperate for her, he disguised himself as a language teacher to win her heart. On the other hand, Petruchio married Kate to tame her nasty ways to gain happiness.

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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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Bianca and Katherine Minola are portrayed in the beginning as the opposites of each other. The elder, Katherine is unruly, boisterous, and very quick-witted, as can be seen in the first meeting of Katherine and Petruchio, where the two have sharp, insulting, back-and-forth (Shakespeare, act 2, scene 1, lines 190-193). Bianca, on the other hand, is seen as a meek, obedient, and even childish, girl. In the first act, she speaks only once, to say "to your [Baptista's] pleasure humbly I subscribe." (Shakespeare, act 1, scene 2)

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This is when we discover how the men believe the women should be treated. It is also shown at the end when Kate makes her speech about how a wife should be submissive to her man. Such duty as the subject owes the prince/ Even such a woman oweth to her husband;/ And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,/ And not obedient to his honest will,/ What is she but a foul contending rebel (V.ii.7). In this quote, Kate compares wives to subjects of a prince.

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By including gender as a component of deciding status, it is implies that gender is not simply male or female, but a concern of authority and power. Thus, it suggests that someone who defies traditional gender simultaneously rejects the chain of being. Going back to the play, a shrew, a stock female character determined by her lack of self-governance and unruly behavior, is branded as one because of her defiance towards social norms and expectations. While it is never specified which character is the eponymous shrew, there are a number of possibilities; the candidates are Kate, Bianca and Christopher Sly. These three qualify because they have strong personalities that are not only unpleasant, but also unacceptable for someone of their gender and social status to showcase.

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