The first Shakespeare play which Zeffirelli adopted to the cinema, The Taming of the Shrew, deals with the theme of gender roles. In a grander scale the play explores the behavior expectations of males and females both in society at large and within a domestic relationship. For many years, most critics agreed that the heart of the play suggested male domination and female submission, especially to the authority of their husbands, as the accepted male-female dynamic. This view went unchanged for many years and audiences widely accepted Petruchio's “taming” of Katherina as politically correct.
By the time of Zeffirelli's depiction of The Taming of the Shrew in 1967, the second wave of the feminist movement was well under way in the United States and women's liberation groups began to spring up all over America. It was also in this year that President Lyndon B Johnson signed executive order 11375, expanding affirmative action and ensuring equal rights for education and employment to women and minorities (archives.gov).With the changing socio-political views of the role of women during the second feminist movement, critics began to rethink The Taming the Shrew and directors began to employ the element of irony in the plays conclusion (Kahn, 98) to undermine the traditional chauvinistic reading of the play and enhances the battle of the sexes.
Zeffirelli's film is the first notable production of the late nineteenth century to accomplish the revisionist approach to the play, and according to literary critic Mei Zhu, in her essay entitled “Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew and the Tradition of the Screwball Comedy,” Zeffirelli's approach to the film as a Hollywood screwball comedy provided for a natural exploration of the ba...
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...Shrew and the Tradition of Screwball Comedy." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 6.1 (2004):
Kahn, Coppélia. "The Taming of the Shrew: Shakespeare's Mirror of Marriage", Modern Language Studies, 5:1 (Spring, 1975), 88–102
Schwartz, Terri. “Remembering Elizabeth Taylor Through the Taming of The Shrew.” MTV Movies Blog (2011):
Henderson, Diana E. “A Shrew for the Times, Revisted.” Shakespeare the Movie II, Popularizing the Plays on Film, TV, and DVD. Eds. Burt, Richard and Boose, Lynda E. New York: Routledge, 2003. 120-139. Print.
Cartmell, Deborah. “Franco Zeffirelli and Shakespeare.” The Cambridge Campanion to Shakespeare on Film. Ed. Russell Jackson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 212-221. Print.
The works of William Shakespeare have been one of the diligent hotspots for adaptation and appropriation. We see dramatic adaptation of Shakespearean playtexts began as early as Restoration period. Different fields like poetry, novels, advertisements, and movies have connected themselves with Shakespeare as well. The adaptation of Shakespeare makes him fit for new social settings and distinctive political philosophies.
I have been involved in the theater since I was a child so I was aware of the ways that actors and directors adapt plays to fit their own interpretation but I did not know that in Shakespeare’s day those adaptations were reflected in the print. It is very surprising to me that his works were published as they were acted as opposed to how they were first written. This made me think of the Taming of the Shrew and how we discussed the many interpretations of various parts. To this day various casts will portray Kate and Petruchio in different lights. I found this to be an example of the ways that history can be of use to us when analyzing literary texts. Kastan reveals that in the past these interpretations of the play were much more influential than they are now. Today, doing another take on a Shakespearian play is creative experiment, while in Shakespeare’s day modifications were fundamental to how the text would be perceived in the future. The emphasis on history and its place in literary study such as this proved compelling and seems to hold great value. It is something I plan on considering in my future studies of
Women As Propriety In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice and The Taming Of the Shrew
William Shakespeare is a master of satire, and it is very evident in his work “The Taming Of The Shrew”. His use of exaggeration is impeccable, and he managed to make the entire work one giant parody. Through this satire, he makes a very important social commentary, using his influence to bring new ideas into people’s minds, and make them realize the flaws in their
Vickers, Brian. 1993. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Many of Shakespeare's works have been transposed from stage to screen, none so more than Hamlet. Two of the most unique film appropriations of the play are to be found in Rodney Bennett's 1980 film and Kenneth Branagh's 1996 blockbuster. The two films share many parallels between them in both interpretation and method, however they also have marked differences in their respective approaches to the text.
Vickers, Brian. 1993. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Shakespeare, Wiliam, and Sylvan Barnet. The Taming of the Shrew. . Reprint. London: New American Library, 1998. Print.
"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 second reason the bond survives is that Petruchio is strong enough to accept the fact that Katherine has a mind and, more importantly he loves her for that reason. Petruchio cleverly weaves the relationship into the framework of society without compromising the integrity of the relationship. Petruchio does this by comparing Katherine’s at attitude to repulsive clothing. Carefully and calculatingly, Petruchio forges a relationship that is envied by all who witness it.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
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.
William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is an interesting story that demonstrates the patriarchal ideas of how a marriage is suppose to be according to society, what is acceptable of a woman's role in a relationship. It's a story that has many things to show for it's been remade, and remade, even slightly altered to better relate to the teenage audience.
Sexism is an ever changing concept in today’s world. Every day the concept morphs a little bit, changing the entire definition of what is sexist and what is not. In The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, the male characters lie to and abuse their women in order to have the women marry them. Lucentio come to Padua to study, but when he sees a beautiful girl, he pretends to be a teacher in order to marry Bianca. Petruchio on the other hand forces a woman to marry him and then trains her to follow his every command. Although the The Taming of the Shrew is frequently regarded as a particularly sexist play, it is not sexist and demeaning towards women.
William Shakespeare and the new millennium seem to be diametrically opposed, yet his works are having a renaissance of their own after 400 years in the public domain. Why have some major film producers revisited his works when their language and staging would seem to be hopelessly outdated in our society?Perhaps because unlike modern writers, who struggle with political correctness, Shakespeare speaks his mind with an uncompromising directness that has kept its relevance in this otherwise jaded world.