The Taming Of The Shrew: Has Society Really Changed?

Has Society Really Changed? For all of human civilization, the world has been majorly a patriarchal society with women having certain “expectations” on how they should and shouldn’t behave. In the time period of William Shakespeare’s play, The Taming of Shrew, women were expected to be submissive and gentle; however, in modern society, women are less passive to men, but they are still expected to act a certain way. In The Taming of the Shrew, women were expected to behave according to the standards of society by being quiet and obedient, much like Bianca. When Lucentio was listening to the commotion in the square with Baptista’s daughters, he saw Bianca and noticed her “mild behavior and sobriety” (1.1.71). Being quiet and well-behaved were

In The Ten Things I Hate About You, Kat is more sporty, aggressive, and hot-headed and is judged by her peers because of it. Although women’s rights have significantly increased since the time period of The Taming of the Shrew, there are still certain behaviors that society expects women to follow. Not following these expectations often lead to judgment from society, much like how Kat is treated in the movie. Also, when a couple has a child, it is often expected for the mother to stay home from work or quit her job in order to keep the child while the father stays home. A man’s job is seen as superior to a woman’s job because women are expected to be motherly and men are expected to be the provider of the household. Although this perspective is slowly fading, it is still a prominent expectation in today’s society which often causes women to have to give up on their dreams because of this notion. Lastly, the phrase “act like a lady” is still commonly used in society in order to tell women to behave more gracefully and properly. This is a phrase that goes hand in hand with the stigma of women who are too aggressive and improper. If a woman doesn’t “act like a lady” she isn’t conforming to the expectations of society. Therefore, even in this modern society, there are still outdated expectations for women and how they