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The Role Of Katherina In The Taming Of The Shrew

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Favorable Transformation During Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Katherina’s transformation from the shrew to the perfect model of a wife teaches how women in Shakespeare’s time had to tailor themselves to meet men’s standards rather than being accepted for who they are. In today’s world a woman like Katherina would be a role model to young girls but then she was deemed intolerable. Throughout The Taming of the Shrew Katherina alters her personality drastically to become favorable. According to some men, women were supposed to follow men’s orders and fit all the stereotypes while belonging to a rich family. In Katherina's case they only saw her money as an attractive feature. No man wanted to marry someone who would be able to …show more content…

Despite her prior tag of the shrew, Petruchio manages to change the views of the men and the behavior of Katherina. She expressed to her sister and the widow that her “husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper”. Katherina went as far to say that she was “ashamed that women are so simple to offer war where they should kneel for peace” which goes against her previous beliefs harshly (Shakespeare 5.2.85).
Katherina being “tamed” was considered an accomplishment to Petruchio who was patted on the back for transforming the “curst shrew” into his faithful wife (Shakespeare 5.2.86). After Katherina was the perfect wife Petruchio placed bets on her and used her as a trophy. Publicly kissing and giving orders to Katherina made Petruchio feel like a manly man who would not be swayed by a woman. After all women “are bound to serve, love and obey” (Shakespeare 5.2.85).
Katherina’s transformation in The Taming of the Shrew is a great example of the expectations for women in the past. Instead of being welcomed and popular for having a backbone women were shot down until they believed they were less than men. Today women are not asked to change themselves to be submissive to men but to be strong and confident in

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