Taming Of The Shrew Women

In William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, the female lead, Katherine, is labeled a shrew because of her sharp tongue and standoffish behavior. The early modern woman was held to incredibly high societal standards. Along with the constant threat of violence if they strayed from these stringent guidelines. Those who did were labeled as shrews, women who were selfish, disobedient, cruel, and outspoken. Her shrewish behavior is a protective reaction to the onslaught of predatory behavior and neglect she faces because of the true shrews that surround her. This includes her idealistic sister Bianca and especially her husband, Petruchio. Not only has Katherine been mislabeled as a shrew but is subjected to the shrewish nature of all the people

Women who did not conform to societal rules and roles would be ostracized and shamed. Either carted around town or abused by the men in their lives until they bent to their will. At this time, women were seen as inherently subject to men and voraciously sexual. Due to this assumption, women were kept at home to prevent interaction with other men. Their voracious appetites could not be fulfilled by other men if they were forced to stay at home and do housework, thus keeping the wife faithful to her husband and isolating her from her community. On the aspect of community, it is essential for housewives to avoid gossiping with other women, other than to spread news for the benefit of the community. The wives of a community must not convene with each other to refrain from gossiping but to also avoid being convicted of witchcraft, as groups of women frightened men due to their collective power over them. Also outspoken women were condemned and often unlistened to, adding expressiveness to the compilation of shrewish characteristics. This list was used as a standard that women were held to for many centuries and is heavily explored in The Taming of the Shrew in the case of Katherine and those around

Katherine must construct a front of ideal womanhood, obedient and passive, to avoid persecution and further accusations of being a shrew. Only through this is she able to exist in this society that punishes women for protecting and speaking for themselves. Using this front she is able to suggest deeper meaning within her newly filtered speech. Even in the face of true shrews such as Petruchio, she is able to fly under the patriarchal radar and maintain her personhood by using her