In Taming of the Shrew, a play by William Shakespeare, the ideas of gender roles in early modern European civilization is brought up as a headstrong girl is transformed into the ideal wife. In Shakespeare's Padua women are valued when they are quiet and submissive to their husband, this enforces the patriarchy in society as women have no major roles in the relationship. In the play Bianca and Katherine, the daughters of a wealthy man named Baptista, both express their true identities even though it goes against the social norms. Katherine does this in a "loud and proud” method as she shows off her identity to everyone, while Bianca expresses herself only in private. Due to this Katherine is seen as the fowl daughter, and Bianca hiding her true …show more content…
During Petruchio’s bet to see who has the best wife Katherine gives a lesson to the other women on how to treat their husband, “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,” (V.ii.219). By saying this Katherine is able to show the community that she has finally been shaped into the ideal wife. One that listens to every request of the husband and takes care of him just like he will take care of her. Katherine does this switch in personality in order to live a life without hardship and to fit the social norm. In reality, she is using deception to alter her image in the community, this is evident since in the play she gives off gestures that she is saying the entire speech with the awareness of the lies. By doing this Shakespeare is able to convey that women have to use deception in order to be accepted by society and remain true to themselves. Bianca, on the other hand, has been using this type of deception to fit into society her entire life. She reveals her true identity in secret, “But learn my lessons as I please myself…. Take you your instrument, play you the whiles;” (III.i.111). Revealing her true identity as a head-strong woman just like her sister, Shakespeare shows Bianca’s use of deception. Just like he shows with Katherine he is able to prove that without the use of deception …show more content…
While Petruchio is trying to woo Katherine he uses similes to compare Katherine to ideal women standards, “sweet as springtime flowers. Thou canst frown, thou canst not look askance,” (II.i.93). With this simile, Petruchio refers to a feminine image of a rose and helps convey that men of that time period expect women to relate to only feminine images. Petruchio also refers to Katherine as being happy and nice all the time, which is a strong oxymoron to what she really is like. By creating these scenarios Shakespeare is able to represent how vastly different Katherine is compared to the social standards for women. This further strengthens Katherine’s personality as she continues to stay the same even though she knows exactly what men are looking for in a woman. Shakespeare uses other metaphors to further represent how restrictive male dominance is on women, “she is my house, my household stuff, my field, my barn, (III.ii.133). By creating these metaphors to compare Katherine to everyday items, Shakespeare is able to convey just how intense the male dominance is. Showing this to the audience will make Kate look better as a character and even strengthen the point that women should not be treated with such disrespect. Overall, Shakespeare uses figurative language throughout the play to strengthen the audience’s idea of the power Katherine has to stay
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
In the play The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Petrucio recognizes, respects and desires Katherine’s strength of character. Petrucio is a clever man who sees beyond facades because he uses them himself. (II, i 46) (II, I 283 - 89) He is stimulated by Katherine’s sharp tongue and harsh actions. He proves this many times throughout the play.
In Shakespeare's comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare has a woman as one of the story's main characters. Katherine Minola (Kate) is off the wall, and kinda crazy. Because of her actions, the “male centered world” around her doesn't know what to do with her.
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.
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
In this play as any other, Shakespeare proves to be a visionary. Petruchio achieves his goal through witty persuasion rather than resorting to beating his wife like many a man before him has done. Though Shakespeare does not go as far as some feminists would like him to, Shakespeare does much for the fight of equality of the sexes. Katherine’s as strong, or stronger than any woman in Shakespeare’s plays. The amazing thing is that she achieves this without ulterior motives such as lady Macbeth. She is an honest, bright independent woman. She is not underscored by her subservience to petruchio in public, for "the sun breaks through the darkest cloud" and so do Katherine’s assets break though the public visage of subordination to her husband.
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.
In the taming of the shrew, the play focused on two women in particular, Baptista's daughters, Bianca and Katherine. These women lived in this environment that gave men power for all their lives...
The introduction to this play was among the best I have read for this class and I don't mean to seem to be "slamming" Anne Barton, but her justifications for Petruchio and Shakespeare were pretty funny, in my opinion. Maybe I am crazy, but I don't see how starving your new wife and refusing her sleep is enlightening behavior in any way, shape, or form. Barton tells us that, in Shakespeare's time, "shrewish" wives could become the victims of "physical violence, the more ingenious and excruciating the better." She further tells us that, in comparison to the men of that day, "Petruchio. .
...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.
...ironic use of manipulation before and after the wedding, Petruchio is able to tame Kate. Or so he thinks. The only real change is that Kate agrees with him, but she only does this to get her way. Therefore she is manipulating him by pretending that he has been able to tame her. He has not tamed her, because she also utilizes the art of manipulation. Before, Kate’s only defense against patriarchy is to be outspoken; now, she negotiates her own sense of power within patriarchy by using manipulation. Shakespeare’s critic of the patriarchal social structure is therefore just, because not only are women denied the same legal power as men, but their manipulative power is also disregarded and considered a weakness. Therefore women are not to be blamed for utilizing this powerful form of control, because that is what the patriarchal social structure forces them into.
Bianca originally fits the explanation of the expectation given to us from the author himself. She is timid, morally acceptable and a sponsor for how a wife should act. It isn't until later on that Shakespeare writes off Bianca character. The theme of deception carries on as we see Bianca become the shrew herself. Her future partner had placed a bet on whether or not Bianca said who she was, where she said she was and overall statistic to see if she wasn't being real. They came to the conclusion that Bianca indeed did not tell the truth and her monstrosity of a soul became apparent to them. “The more fool you for laying on my duty.” (V,2,2637). Factual evidence that proves that Shakespeare explicitly write Bianca character as an overly charming young who was not true to her real identity. This is how he prorated the literary concept of gender towards this specific
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
Shakespeare doesn't even try to hide the fact that he is setting Katherine up as a prize. I find this kind of arrogance offensive and very belittling to women.