The Changing Meaning of The Taming of The Shrew

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The Changing Meaning of The Taming of The Shrew

Through the ages, it is common for words to change in meaning. As the world around us changes, words often take on new meanings to accommodate the changes in lifestyle and society caused by progress. Thus, it is easy to become confused when reading literature that was written several centuries before, since the very same words may hold varying significance. In "The Taming of the Scold," D.E. Underdown offers background information which makes Shakespeare's The Taming of The Shrew much more understandable in terms of the discordant ideas on women in society in different time periods.

The Taming of the Shrew has a much different effect on contemporary readers than it may have had on 16th century readers, since the world has changed and society is vastly metamorphosed. When Shakespeare wrote The Taming of the Shrew, it was widely known that women should be subservient to their husbands. Today, however, in America this notion seems ludicrous. After the feminist movement, the fight for equality, women have gained much more liberty and respect than they once had. With the increased liberty, it is difficult to seriously consider how women were once treated as possessions. Because of the incongruity in views of the two eras, pieces like Underdown's "The Taming of the Scold" are crucial to a modern understanding of literature that deals with archaic social norms, chiefly since it puts the literature into the context of its creator's social mentality. Through Underdown's piece, I was able to achieve a much better understanding of the significance of Petruccio's "taming" of Kate in the examples which explain the common practices and occurrences of the age. Kate experienced a chariv...

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...low the direction of their leaders or rulers. Through explaining the relationship between the family and society, Underdown divulges the intent with which Shakespeare wrote the play. In Kate's surrendering to Petruccio, Shakespeare maintains familial and social order.

Since words and the meaning or ideas behind them change over time, it is important to be able to put the literature into social context in order to derive from it its full meaning. Underdown addresses many issues in "The Taming of a Scold" which are relevant to Kate and Petruccio's behavior that are not known or understood today. Pieces like Underdown's serve as a bridge between two eras - the one in which the story was read and the one in which it was written. With the assistance of such pieces, it is possible for one to gather a much better understanding of the writer's meaning in the story.

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