Women's Sovereignty In The Taming Of The Shrew

Women’s Sovereignty Women do not exactly play a large role in any of William Shakespeare’s major works. Taking all factors into consideration, like time period and assumed gender roles, women did not play a significant role in society. During the sixteenth century, at which Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew was written, it was natural for women to be confined to a lifestyle that allowed no independence. Katherine Minola, one of the female protagonists of this play, initially is far from fitting this assumed gender role of her time. Katherine is the “shrew” as described in the play’s title. She is a headstrong, intimidating, ill-willed, young woman. These qualities immediately make her unsuitable to most of the men who could take her hand in marriage. One of the suitors in this play, Hortensio, describes her as such when advertising her to another suitor, Petruchio: “She is intolerable curst, and shrewd and forward, so beyond all measure that, were my state far worser

To save herself from more agony, torture, and pain, Katherine allowed herself to be tamed. Gleed refers to this in his article: “Kate enjoys a kind of triumph at the end, not only maintaining dignity but manipulating a bad situation into an acceptable outcome.” (Bloom 2011). This explains how Katherine surrendered her sovereignty to find happiness and harmony within her marriage. Lucentio, Katherine’s sister Bianca’s husband, mentions after Katherine’s spiel about the position a wife must take that she allowed herself to be tamed by saying “Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tamed so.” (248) Ultimately, implying that Katherine now views her marriage as a chance to find peace within her prescribed role as Petruchio’s wife. Also, that one must find independence and happiness within a wife’s role; not that women must entirely submit themselves to