The War of the Sexes in The Taming Of The Shrew

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The Taming Of The Shrew: The Battle Continues in the War of the Sexes

The plot of William Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew is derived from the popular 'war of the sexes' theme in which males and females are pitted against one another for dominance. Although the play has been condemned for the blatant sexist attitude it has toward women, a close examination of the play reveals that it is not a story of how men should 'put women in their place'. The play is, in fact, a comedy about an assertive woman coping with how she is expected to act in society and of how one must obey the unwritten rules of a society to be accepted by it. Although the play ends with her outwardly conforming to the norms of society, this is in action only, not in mind. Although she assumes the role of the obedient wife, inwardly she still retains her assertiveness.

The play begins with an induction in which a drunkard, Christopher Sly, is fooled into believing he is a king and has a play performed for him. The play he watches is what constitutes the main body of The Taming Of The Shrew. In it, a wealthy landowner, Baptista Minola, attempts to have his two daughters married. One is very shrewish, Katherine, while the other is the beautiful and gentle Bianca. In order to ensure Katherine is married, Baptista disallows Bianca to be espoused until Katherine is wed, forcing the many suitors to Bianca to find a mate for Katherine in order for them to vie for Bianca's love.

Most of the play's humor comes from the way in which characters create false realities by disguising themselves as other people, a device first introduced by having Christopher Sly believe he is someone he is not and then by having the main play performed for him. By putting The Taming Of The Shrew in a 'play within a play' structure, Shakespeare immediately lets the audience know that the play is not real thus making all events in the play false realities. Almost all characters in the play take on identities other than their own at some point of time during the play. Sly as a king, Tranio as Lucentio, Lucentio as Cambio, Hortensio as Litio and the pedant as Vicentio are all examples of this. Another example of this is Katherine as an obedient wife.

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