Women today take many of their liberties for granted. Faced with discrimination and abhorrence since the Common Era, women lacked the ability to grow and work to their full potential. Unable to speak, unable to break societal norms, and above all unable to be themselves, women’s practical futures only included housewifery and submission. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, is a famous play where a “shrewish”, forward woman is forced to become reserved and submitting by her overpowering husband and societal influences. Katherine, who remains strong for a large part of her life, learns to maneuver her shrewish ways in order to appease her husband, which many women were forced to do during this time. Thus, even the most powerful women, …show more content…
Katherine Minola lived with a fancied sister and a neglecting father. Though Kate yells at her father in public, ties up and beats her little sister Bianca, breaks a musical instrument over the head of a competing suitor, throws tantrums and insults everyone she meets, Katherine’s misbehavior is the only thing protecting her from her inevitable feminine destiny. Katherine’s unhealthy and damaging living environment fed her erratic behavior, thus her shrewishness was simply a response to her mistreatment. When Petruchio approaches Baptista to ask for Katherine’s hand, Petruchio states “Pray have you not a daughter/ called Katherina, fair and virtuous?”, praising Katherine as a suitor should. Baptista oddly responds, “I have a daughter, …show more content…
Katherine has to deal with being unwanted and “ostracized because she dares to speak her mind and defy male characters, while Bianca disguises her defiance.” (Shakespearean Criticism 97. 353). Bianca, who is wanted by nearly every man in the region, is actually more dangerous and defying than Katherine, but because she is less forward, she is viewed as less of a threat. Baptista, who clearly favors Bianca, “see[s] that he is going to be checkmated- that is, to yield up his youngest daughter, [uses] Katherine to reach a stalemate, a deadlock situation in which neither player can win the game.” (Shakespearean Criticism 97.312). What Baptista doesn’t know is that his daughter was betraying his will and sneaking off with Luciento, a man posing as a tutor trying to court her. Yet Baptista remains oblivious to this throughout the play, and continues to seek ways to give up his eldest daughter, fearing that she will forever be a burden on his unrelenting shoulders, and as a result he “insist[s] upon marrying Katherine first . . . by personal wish of Baptista [rather] than by any enviable social rule,” (Shakespeare Criticism. 97.312). Trying to kill two birds with one stone, Baptista’s “rule” assures that not only will his undesirable daughter be relinquished from his care, but also that the inevitable departing of his
However, it is the the effects of each of these situations that allow us to evaluate the two as a whole. Although Kat’s emotions go up and down about Patrick nonstop throughout the movie, in the end she is much happier than she was before she met Patrick. Similarly, Katherine ends up stating how submission has “made her heart great”, implying that she is content with the situation, but she does not appear to be truly happy with Petruchio. She is aware that she has no choice in regards to submission, and that her life will be better if she just accepts it. Thus, Katherine’s happiness is superficial as opposed to Kat’s which is real. Also feminism did not exist until the 19th century, so during the time of Shakespeare Katherine and Bianca did not even think of the idea that they could have a choice when it comes to men. Marriages were arranged, and that concept was accepted for many centuries,In fact, Katherine and Bianca are not even considered to be citizens because they
“The Taming Of The Shrew” by William Shakespeare is a work of satire created to criticize the misogynistic outlooks of the 16th century. With this play, Shakespeare is trying to say that the idea and role of women in his society is deeply flawed and should be fixed, as well as to make other social commentaries, such as on the treatment of servants. Through exaggeration and parody, Shakespeare makes society look silly.
In William Shakespeare 's play, The Taming of the Shrew, was written in 1590’s to 1610. This time period was very hard for a women. The culture was very misogynistic, the culture demanded that a women
Katherine and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew. & nbsp; The Taming of the Shrew brings out the comedic side of Shakespeare. where irony and puns carry the play throughout. In my paper, I will. concentrate on the irony of the play, the introduction of the two. sisters. These two sisters begin off with the elder, Katherine, viewed as. a shrew, and Bianca as the angelic younger of the two. However, as the play proceeds, we begin to see the true sides of the two sisters and their roles totally turn around. I will try to analyze the method in which Shakespeare introduces the two sisters and how he hints at their true identity.
From the beginning of the play, the differences between Katherina and Bianca are highlighted through their interactions via dialogue. Early in the second act, Bianca pleads with her sister to not “make a bondmaid and a slave of me” because, as deemed by society, Bianca is not supposed to marry before her older sister (2.1.2). Bianca asks Katherina to “unbind [her] hands” so that she can get rid of all the gawdy implements she is forced to wear as a polite woman of the time, because if she doesn’t want to follow one rule, she doesn’t see why she should follow any of them (2.1.4). This immediately sets up these two sisters by showing how one depends on the status of the other to be truly happy, or happy as deemed by the doctrines of society anyway.
Shakespeare, sets up a teaching lesson, helping us to see the mistakes of our own judgment. When Baptista announces that Kate must marry before Bianca may take suitors, Gremio describes Kate by saying "She's too rough for me" (1.1.55). Later in the scene, Gremio reiterates his dislike for Kate, claiming she is a "fiend of hell" (88) and offering that "though her father may be very rich, any man is so very a fool to be married to hell" (124–126). He finishes by saying that to marry Kate is worse than to "take her dowry with this condition: to be whipped at the high cross every morning" (132–134). Hortensio, too, is quick to add to the situation, calling Kate a devil (66) and claiming that she is not likely to get a husband unless she is "of gentler, milder mold" (60).
Men over power any ladies opinion if they belong to them. Petruchio finds out about the opportunity to marry Katherine and decides he will be the one to wed her since no one else will. He says to Baptista, “Am bold to show myself a forward guest. Within your house, to make mine eye the witness. Of that report which I so oft have heard” (Shakespeare II.i. 54-56). Men have so much power even over their daughters. They decide who they could marry
During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.
The younger sister cannot have a relationship with a man until her older sister does remain the same in both the play and the film. In the play, Lucentio wants to marry Bianca and pretends to be her tutor so he can spend more time with her. He pays Petruchio to wed Bianca’s sister, Kate, so he can marry Bianca. Cameron acts as Bianca’s French tutor to gain more face time with her. He convinces Joey Donner to pay Patrick to date Kat. Patrick is nice to Kat throughout the movie and tries to win her back after she finds out that he was paid to go out with her. Kate never finds out that Petruchio was paid to marry her. Petruchio and Patrick both use deceitful tactics in order to be with their respective loves. They disguise their true feelings and motives for being with their girl. Both Kat and Katherine fall in love with the man who was paid to be with her. The fact that they fell in love is meant to show how they were tamed. Kate gives a speech about how she understands how she should be subordinate to her husband. Petruchio has tamed her bec...
In Shakespeare's, "The Taming of the Shrew" the relationship between the sisters Katherine and Bianca appears to be strained with rampant jealousy. Both daughters fight for the attentions of their father. In twisted parallel roles, they take turns being demure and hag-like. Father of the two, Baptista Minola, fusses with potential suitors for young Bianca and will not let them come calling until his elder, ill-tempered daughter Katherine is married. The reader is to assume that meek, mild-mannered, delicate Bianca is wasting away while her much older, aging, brutish sister torments the family with her foul tongue. Katherine seems to hold resentment toward Bianca. Her father favors Bianca over Katherine and keeps them away from each others' torment. When gentlemen come calling, Bianca cowers behind her father and Katherine speaks up for herself. "I pray you sir, is it your will to make a stale of me amongst these mates?" (1.1.57-58) Bianca and Katherine dislike each other feverishly. Katherine torments Bianca with words and physical harm. She binds her hands, pulls her hair then brings her forth to her father and the gentlemen callers. Bianca denies liking any of the visitors and portrays herself an innocent that merely wants to learn and obey her elders. She says, "Sister, content you in my discontent to your pleasure humbly I subscribe. My books and instruments shall be my company, on them to look and practise by myself." (1.1.80-84) Because Katherine speaks freely and asserts herself she is labeled as "shrewish." When Hortensio describes her to Petruccio, he spews out that she is "renowned in Padua for her scolding tongue." ( 1.2.96) He gilds the lily further by clearly telling of her fair fortune if suitable man comes courting and wins her hand in marriage. Petruccio sees dollar signs and rushes onwards in grand dress and fluently gestures to court the gracious "Kate." When he first begins his ritual of winning the family and Katherine to his love, he is seeking his fortune in her dowry. The mention of her being at all undesirable does not put rocks in his path.
"Women have a much better time than men in this world; there are far more things forbidden to them." -Oscar Wilde. This quote embodies the fight over gender roles and the views of women in society. Taming of the Shrew deals with Kate and Bianca, two sisters who are at the time to he married off. However, suitors who seek Bianca as a wife have to wait for her sister to be married first. Kate is seen as a shrew because she is strong willed and unlike most women of the time. In his 1603 play The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare enforces traditional gender roles and demonstrates how little say women had in society. He accomplishes this through the strong personality of Kate, Baptista 's attitude towards his daughters as transactions, and
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare is a play that is ahead of its time in its views toward gender roles within society. Katherine is a woman who is intelligent, and is not afraid to assert her views on any given situation. She is paired with another obstinate character in Pertuchio. The marriage formed between the two is a match made in heaven for two reasons. First, because Katherine is strong enough to assert her views, and more importantly, she realizes when she should assert them.
The Taming of the Shrew is one of the earliest comedies written by William Shakespeare. The Taming of the Shrew focuses a great deal on courtship and marriage. Especially the life after marriage, which was generally not focused on in other comedies. Notably, the play focuses on the social roles that each character plays, and how each character faces the major struggles of their social roles. Which plays into one of the most prevalent themes of The Taming of the Shrew. The theme of how social roles play into a person’s individual happiness. This is displayed through the characters in the play that desperately try to break out of the social roles that are forced upon them. This exemplified through the character, Katherine, an upper-class young maiden-in-waiting, who wishes to have nothing to do with her role.
The Taming of the Shrew is set in a time period that did not accept women as we do today. In today's society, women who are strong and independent and quick witted are praised. In Elizabethan times women were supposed to know their role in life, being good to their husbands, making children and taking care of them. There were no women in politics, there were no women in business, it was only acceptable for women to participate in domestic areas of life. Women could not live a respectable life in this time period without a male figure to take care of them, rendering them helpless without men. If there was anything that must be done involving economics or education, it was up to the men. Men were the ones who worked and brought home the money to support the family. The roles of men and women were very distinct, and it resulted in giving the men the majority of the power.
When someone is a female their first thought should not be weak or nurturing, just as when someone is male their first though shouldn’t always be powerful. Unfortunately it has becomes so ingrained in societies mentality that this is the way that things work. The Taming of the Shrew is a past writing piece that expands on a mentality that is modern. The male gender cannot be put into this same constraint. Petruchio is the epitome of what society would describe a male as. He thinks he is in charge and always the superior to women. He expects Katherine to always do what he tells her to do, because he believes that is her duty as his wife. Moreover he should not be expected to do that for her. Furthermore, Bianca is what many would describe as the perfect woman. She is nurturing and she does not speak out against what she is told. When she does speak she always speaks like a lady. She exists merely for decoration in the home and to serve her husband. Katherine is the inconsistency in this stereotype on femininity. Her purpose in the novel originally is to rebel against this biased thought on female gender roles. Katherine is not afraid to speak out against the things that she is told to do. If she disagrees with something she will act on it and she is just as strong as the men in the novel; which is why many of the men actually fear her. Katherine is not submissive and does not believe that the only reason that she exists is to serve a husband. Katherine does not want to be just the damsel in distress, she wants to be in charge. At the end of the novel there is a switch in the personalities of Katherine and Bianca. This alteration provides the purpose of showing that gender is not something that someone can be confined in just because they were born a female. A woman can have many different traits and still be feminine. It is impossible to put femininity in a box because there are no real qualities for what