Taming Of The Shrew Social Class Analysis

The three social classes during the time of the Renaissance were comprised of people who lived very different lives. The wealthy class were the people with most control. Men would be abusive towards their servants, and wives, however the only reason they would act this way, was because they wanted to give off the appearance that they were the ones with the money, the power, and no one was allowed to tell them otherwise. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare revolves around the wealthy, such as Petruchio, Petruchio was abusive towards his servants, and his wife Katherine, he also made it his priority to find a way to “tame” his wife, thus having control. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare celebrates male dominance in marital and social hierarchies and encourages abusive behaviors towards people of a low status. The Renaissance, and many other time periods in the past included men being bureaucratic towards their wives. There are

Petruchio’s servants Grumio and Curtis were very small characters, but were symbols of the wealthy and how the wealthy acted. If you were wealthy during this time period, you had a servant, being wealthy did not necessarily mean that you had to abuse your servants, or treat them terribly, it depended on how they wanted people to see them. Petruchio wanted to present himself as wealthy, confident, and proud, however, he did not want people to know that he was self-centered, and that he was a gold-digger. “Let’s each one send unto his wife, And he whose wife is most obedient To come at first when he doth send for her Shall win the wager which we will propose” (Act 5, Scene 2). Petruchio only wanted money, he got paid to marry Katherine, and knew he would be able to tame her, therefore he bet money with the other men at the end to see who's wife was most tamed. Hence taking advantage once again of his wife