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The Taming Of The Shrew Sparknotes

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Hook. Set In Padua, Italy, The Taming of the Shrew is a Shakespearean comedy depicting the courtship between Petruchio, a young man searching for a rich wife, and the shrewish Katherine, a violent and angry merchants’ daughter. Petruchio vows to tame Katherine and throughout the book he employs a variety of methods to shape her into his ideal submissive wife. The play concludes with Petruchio winning a contest in which he proves that Kate has been turned into an obedient wife who will submit to his will without argument. In her essay “The Raw and the Cooked in The Taming of the Shrew” Camille Slights argues that Petruchio aids Kate in breaking out of the social norms that confine her and teaches her how to properly function in society. In an …show more content…

She also discusses the implications of the modern term Stockholm syndrome. In her article Detmer states, “Just because Petruchio never hits Katherine, or whips her and wraps her in the salted hide of his favorite horse, does not neccesarily mean his treatment is better or less oppressive than if he had” (Detmer). Detmer points out that just because Petruchio's methods were considered civilized compared to past wife-taming stories, it does not mean that we should dismiss the harm his actions had on Katherine. Detmer proceeds to state, “Rather than beat Kate into submission, he threatens her in a manner that recalls Stockholm syndrome, coercing her into internalizing his wishes if she is to eat or sleep or escape isolation…Depriving her of both food and sleep will make her weak and materially dependent on him” (Detmer 285). Detmers analysis in this quote supports her claim that Petruchio’s coercion and actions towards Katherine, in terms of Stockholm syndrome, make him a “quintessential abuser” (Detmer 284). She argues that his isolation of Kate from any who would help her and his threats in the name of love, in the modern day, would classify Kate and Petruchio’s love as Stockholm syndrome. Dertmer continues to support her argument saying, “He repeatedly alternates

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Examples Of Double Standards In The Taming Of The Shrew

502 Words | 3 Pages

The most apparent show of behavioral double standard is the treatment of Katherine compared to the treatment of Pertuchio. Both characters are presented as wild and free. They never hold their tongues, have violent tendencies, and are of sufficient wealth: yet, only the female character is painted as a shrew. Katherine’s behavior is the focal point of the play.

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Petruchio's Power In The Taming Of The Shrew

1521 Words | 7 Pages

And thus I’ll curb her mad and headstrong humor.” He believes that in starving his wife and keeping her awake, she will do anything he wishes to acquire these basic human necessities. Shuqair states it perfectly, “In Act IV, Petruchio's power is further established through Katherine's loss of identity and her subjective vision of the world. Starving her into submission and denying her sleep, Petruchio effects complete mastery over her. All of this violence is done, as Petruchio himself says, ‘in reverend care of her’(IV.i.204), and, as Katherine recognizes, ‘under

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Petruchio In A Taming Of The Shrew

1124 Words | 5 Pages

He pushes the Priest and drinks the communion wine, afterwards he brings her to his home where his servants try and feed her but he insists that its no good for her, neither the dress she wore and she doesn 't need rest. He’s using the tactic of over loving to beat her into the ground, to wear her to the bone and in a sense it’s getting Kate to respect him and come to terms she is not longer the alpha in the equation. Some may argue that in fact she’s just pretending do please him and shes secretly rebelling in her inner sense, but a person that can barely keep their eyes open has no fight left in them, she wanted to marry Petruchio (cite 2) “... She says she will see Petruchio hanged before she will marry him, but these remarks constitute the extent of her argument. She has the opportunity to say more, but she does not because in fact she wants to be married for she has met her match” Consequently, Kate doesn’t hate or despise Petruchio anymore, she may still have trouble coming to terms with her treatment, its new to her to be put in her place.

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Similarities Between Taming Of The Shrew And 10 Things I Hate About You

1010 Words | 5 Pages

One of his techniques is taking her on a wild ride. Another example is in the play Bianca and Katherine fight and Katherine slaps bianca. Slapping Bianca makes Katherine feel superior. In the film Kat and Bianca have an Argument, Kat stands at the top of the stairs and Bianca stands at the bottom of the stairs pleading with Kat, then Camera then goes to a low angle shot of Kat to show she feels superior. In the taming of the shrew Katharina is embarrassed with petruchio's behavior at the wedding.

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Taming Of The Shrew And 10 Things I Hate Analysis

775 Words | 4 Pages

The two stories that are being compared are, Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I hate about you. Taming of the shrew is a play written by William Shakespeare about a woman named Kathrin who knows as a shrew and gets tamed by a wealthy man that’s named Petruchio who try’s to tame “A shrew.” Then there’s ten things about you that is a remake of Taming of the Shrew, but it’s placed in a high school that’s in the 90’s and theses two girls are sisters, Kate and Bianca, what ever Kate does then Bianca can do it, and Kate is the “shrew.” The difference between the relationship of Kate and Petruchio in the play Taming of the Shrew and 10 things I hate about you is seen through Petruchio’s motivation to be with Katherine. This ultimately influences the way Katherine responds to him and is “tamed.”

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Petruchio's Deception In Taming Of The Shrew

809 Words | 4 Pages

Petruchio and Katherine are two characters in Shakespeare ’s play “Taming of the Shrew”. Petruchio was a single man with money running out looking for a rich wife. There was a situation between Katherine and her sister Bianca. Bianca couldn’t get married until Katherine did.

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Taming Of The Shrew Double Standards Essay

532 Words | 3 Pages

She is very self aware and knows he is trying to make a “fool” out of her even on her big day. When Katherine was doing the smallest act to disrespect a man, she got harrassed, but when Petruchio shows up and disrespects his soon to be wife, she's still the one who gets looked down upon. CONCLUDING In “We Should All Be Feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she expresses how even from a young age women are being treated unfairly and that it is becoming such a normal thing to do. In this book, Adichie had talked to one of her friends about her workplace and her experiences there. It was uncomfortable because, ”She didn't want to speak up because she didn't want to be aggressive(23).”

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Similarities Between Taming Of The Shrew And 10 Things

475 Words | 2 Pages

In the film, Kat and Patrick overcome many obstacles that eventually make them a strong and loving couple, however, in the play, Petruchio marries Katherine, due to her wealth instead of feeling love and passion towards his wife. In the play, the Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio is depicted as a man who is emotionless by only looking for money from a woman. On the other hand, Katherine believes that she does not need a man to make her happy and neglects the idea of marriage, yet she does not like the idea of dying alone; “She is your treasure, she must have a husband; I must dance bare-foot on her wedding-day, And for your love to her lead apes in hell”. (Shakespeare II. i. 35-37).

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Petruchio Gender Roles

642 Words | 3 Pages

Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew focuses mainly on gender roles through Petruchio taming Kate by forcing her to act as a submissive wife. The main theme throughout this play was the contradicted roles of genders. The acts of Petruchio throughout the play shows the basic depiction of a male from the perspective of Shakespeare. He basically acts like a man who has supreme power over his wife and can do whatever he wants. His carless behavior is highlighted when he came to the wedding “in a new hat and an old jerkin, a pair of old breeches thrice turned, a pair of boots that have been candle cases, one buckled, another laced; an old rusty sword ta'en out of the town armory, with a broken hilt and chapeless; with two broken points; his horse hipped, with an old mothy saddle and stirrups of no kindred” (Act III.

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Theme Of Deception In Taming Of The Shrew

1215 Words | 5 Pages

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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Gender Roles And Power In Margaret Atwood's Happy Ending

1363 Words | 6 Pages

Featured in “The Taming of the Shrew” is Katherine's character arc and development. At the start of the play, she has enough power to avoid any possible suitors and be her person. But in the course of the play that power is stripped away slowly, at first with Petruchio forcing their marriage, then with Petruchio starving and depriving Katherine of sleep, and finally with her fully giving up all of the power she had when she kissed Petruchio’s feet. Katherine being a woman has a direct effect on the nature of how people viewed her acting with power. They saw it as unladylike and called her a shrew, which is an ill-tempered scolding woman.

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Taming Of The Shrew Deception

1199 Words | 5 Pages

Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’ is a controversial play as it includes ideas which do not correspond with the norms of the era in which it was written. It even goes as far as to mock the traditional views on marriage and gender roles in society. There are many enduring themes that are explored throughout the play, but the most significant the theme of deception and the idea that the truth eventually is revealed. The most prominent dramatic techniques in Shakespearean plays are language as there are no stage directions available, therefore as the lack of it, it is the directors’ actions which determine how the characters are interpreted. Shakespeare is often seen contradicting himself, as the play goes on, this reveals the thinking process

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Taming Of The Shrew Sexism Analysis

815 Words | 4 Pages

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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Taming Of The Shrew Women

1785 Words | 8 Pages

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

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Taming Of The Shrew Plot Structure Essay

1049 Words | 5 Pages

It is a story of how Petruchio, the money-grubbing wife hunter, transforms the aggressive and bad-tempered Katherine Minola into an obedient, honey-tounge trophy wife. Written by William Shakespeare between 1590 and 1594, it's one of Shakespeare's earliest comedies. It is also one of his most controversial works as well. The Taming of the Shrew has been criticized for its representation of abusive behavior and misogynistic attitudes toward women, and the play has pretty much been dogged since it was first performed. There is a lot of evidence that Shrew made, even Shakespeare's contemporary audiences more than a little squeamish.

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