William Shakespeare is an English writer born on April 23rd 1564. Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 long narrative poems. Some of Shakespeare’s works include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Venus and Adonis just to name a few. He is often considered one of the greatest writers of all time. Shakespeare’s father was John Shakespeare who belonged to the merchant class. His mother was Mary Arden. Arden came from a yeoman family of a higher social class. At 18 years old, Shakespeare married Ann Hathaway of Stratford. He then had 3 children with her; Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Shakespeare actually started his career as an actor and part owner of a playing company. From 1585 to 1592, Shakespeare became known as a dramatist. Some of Shakespeare’s …show more content…
This play is a comedy. In this play, Kate is the “shrew” because of her attitude and hate towards love. Her younger sister Bianca is the complete opposite. Kate and Bianca’s father comes up with a rule. The rule is that Bianca can not get married until Kate does. Petruchio ends up getting set up to “tame” Kate in efforts for Bianca to be able to marry. The movie 10 Things I Hate About You puts a completely different twist to the original story. While continuing to follow Shakespeare’s original story, the film takes place in a completely different time and setting. The setting is Padua High School, a spoof of Padua Italy in which the original story takes place. Petruchio is paid to date Kate. Petruchio has a reputation of being a “bad guy” that nobody messes or socializes with. Eventually, Kate ends up falling in love with Petruchio. This shows us that Shakespeare still has a great influence on plays and films today. His plays can still be applied to current day situations and settings. There are not many other writers whose plays can be applied to modern times like Shakespeare’s
The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. It is both a witty and complex play with characters that are appealing and believable drawn from life and based on a keen understanding of human nature. One can see this in the main character of the play, the shrew Katherine. The reasons for Kate's shrewd behavior as well as her tameness have puzzled Critics and Shakespearean scholars for ages. This essay will attempt to decipher Kate's shrewish character from the beginning with her father and sister, through the middle with her first meeting of Petruchio, to the finale where she is finally tamed.
The Taming of a Shrew displays the significant dilemma of whether or not a female should be seen as her husband’s property or whether she can be perceived as an important social figure without the aid of one’s partner. In this play, the audience is able to depict the obvious frustrations of power struggle between Petruchio and his newly wedded, Kate. Kate is a very dominant figure in ways females aren’t usually perceived in this time period. She is in a constant battle with Petruchio to see who will quiver first in their never-ending game.
She is alluring, kind, serene, and deferential to her suitors and other men. Lucentio woos, “...I achieve not this young modest girl,” (1.1.158) when talking about Bianca because she fits the role of a ‘perfect wife’. To contrast, Katherine is known as the “wild-cat” (1.2.196), suggesting she is both malicious and untameable. People in Padua and beyond are cognizant of Kate’s reputation, and all spread rumors and talk behind her back. When Baptista decides to marry Kate off, nobody deduces that there would be a suitor that can take on a woman like Kate. When her father attempts with all his means to get free of Kate, one man remarks “I would not do it for a pot of gold” (Zeffirelli, William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew). Gremio pronounces that he would preferably take Kate’s dowry without the wife, and instead be “whipt at the high cross every morning” (1.1.132). He would rather be punished in front of everyone in the square market than marry Katherine. She is so undesirable to men because during this time in their society, it was unruly for a woman to be as blunt as Kate is. While Kate sometimes handles situations in the wrong way and is violent, she is the only women in the play that vocalizes the way she feels, and acts how she fancies. Kate is the only one that is testing for female and male equality, yet she is the one that is looked down on, even by other women. Shakespeare conveys how being
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.
Biographical Information: Biographical Information: All though much is not known about Shakespeare the man, there is numerous speculations about Shakespeare the playwright. He was the son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. At the age of eighteen he married Anne Hathaway and had three children, Susanna, Hamlet, and Judith. William Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays and over one hundred and fifty poems which are renowned for their wisdom, knowledge of human nature, and genius
William Shakespear was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1964 (Bloom 7). He was the third child of John and Mary (Arden) Shakespeare (Bloom 7). At eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway and they had three children, Susan and twins Hamnet and Judith (Bloom 8). In 1592, he became a recognized actor and wrote his first play, Henry VI, Part one (Bloom 7). The success of the play impelled him to write the second and third parts (Bloom 7). In 1594, he acted in a comedy before Queen Elizabeth and many more royal performances followed (Bloom 8). In 1596, Hamnet died, that same year Shakespeare bought a home, New Place, in the center of Stratford (Bloom 8). Shakespeare began the Lord Chamberlain's Company and they performed in the G...
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.
William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, takes an interesting approach to the role of women through his character Katherine. She is a wild and rebellious woman for her time, the complete opposite of the prefect elizabethan housewife. To most men she is undesirable while her sister, the perfect representation of a woman, was wanted by more men than she could ever indulge. Katherine is not the typical elizabethan woman, instead, she is the woman that the other married women in the play strive to be. Shakespeare uses interactions between Katherine and Bianca, as well as conversations between Petruchio and Katherine to express her character.
William Shakespeare’s play, The Taming of the Shrew, is notorious for its parade of sexism throughout the play. The Taming of the Shrew is a play that takes place in the Renaissance Era where Baptista, a well-respected man raises his two beautiful daughters: Katherine and Bianca. Bianca, the sweet and youth child is loved by her father and every other man in society. Katherine, however, is the least favorite woman in society because of her outspoken and blasphemous behavior what is not seen ass lady-like behavior. The men of the city fight to win Bianca’s sweet hand in marriage while they try to have nothing to do with Katherine. Baptista realizes that it is wrong to have his youngest daughter marry before his eldest so he puts up a propostion; Bianca can marry only if Katherine marries first. Lord Lucentio catches Bianca’s heart and falls deeply in love with her. Petruchio, a new comer to town is looking for a woman with an enormous dowry, and he finds Kate to be the perfect fit. Disregarding everyone who warns him of her shrewishness. Petruchio and Lucentio overcome several the obstacles until they both get the woman they desire. Sexism is portrayed in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew by using the role of women in society during the Renaissance Era.
Shakespeare uses Petruchio to develop the theme of gender roles. Petruchio's actions towards Katherine showed that men do not care much about love and men should be lazy and not prioritized. When Petruchio shows up late to his wedding with Katherine, he does not say why he was late and he does not look ready. This behavior by Petruchio shows that Shakespeare believes that a man should
...st play, it is not sexist and demeaning towards women. Petruchio, Hortensio, and Lucentio may have bet on their wives compliance in some eyes, but after further analysis, they were actually betting on the trust between the couple. The reader must also take into account the time period the play was written in which was the 16th century, where women were usually not even allowed to go to school to be educated, and Bianca was having private tutors for her education. Kate was changed by Petruchio’s “taming” from the beginning to the end of the play, but at the end of the novel when Kate was called upon and made her speech, she was the happiest she had been in the entire story. There are however some sexist elements in the story, but just because there are certain characteristics of sexism in a play does not mean the play in itself is sexist and demeaning towards women.
The Taming of the Shrew is a play written by a famous playwright Shakespeare, in which illustrates the social norm of the dominance the man has over the woman during the Renaissance period. Kate is forced to marry a man arranged by her father and she has no choice but to obey to her father’s authority. Throughout the play, Shakespeare criticizes the role of a woman through Kate’s ruthless behavior towards her father and Petruchio. This whole play ties back to the thesis that through Kate’s diction from bold to submissive, it supports to define the feminine role, which depicts Shakespeare’s contempt for the dominance that a man assumes over
William Shakespeare's comedy, The Taming of the Shrew illistrates the difficulty of trying to tame a headstrong, stubborn, and a high-spirited woman so that she will make a docile wife. The one attempting to tame Kate, the shrew, is Petruchio. They contend with each other with tremendous vitality and have a forced relationship. In contrast, there is another romantically linked couple who seemingly possess an ideal relationship. These young lovers, Bianca and Lucentio, share a love that is not grounded in reality, but in fantasy. These two sub-plot characters are stock characters and Shakespeare creates the irony of the play through the differences between the two couples. It is through his use of stock characters and irony that the differences between the two couples are revealed.
Petruchio discusses the details of a marriage between him and Kate with Baptista, and demands to know what he will receive in return. With no care for Kate and her feelings, Petruchio declares her as his, “Then tell me, if I get your daughter’s love, / What dowry shall I have with her to wife?” (Shakespeare 2:1:126-127). Petruchio uses Kate to get to money for his greed and does not consider what she might be feeling. Treating her as a piece of property, Petruchio puts a price on Kate and “His role as property-owner is the model for his role as husband; Kate, for him, is a thing” (Kahn). Petruchio does not care for Kate’s feelings because he is simply after the money. As the play continues, Petruchio moves from treating Katherine as property to comparing her to his own property. After the wedding, Petruchio orders Katherine to come with him to his home. Comparing her to items of his property, he explains himself to the guests, “She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house; / My household stuff, my field, my barn, / My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything” (Shakespeare 3:2:236-238). Petruchio does not treat Katherine as a human being, therefore; not as an equal. As he compares her to his property, Petruchio is making Kate his. He is saying he owns Kate and can do what he wishes. Though some critics believe Petruchio is comparing Kate to valuables, in actuality he is degrading her to property and owning her. Petruchio sees Katherine as nothing more than a body that benefit him financially. Shakespeare reveals the inequality between the sexes as men disrespect women and degrade them to a piece of property. Different men in Katherine’s life continue to humiliate her as they treat her as property and not as a human with
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.