Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The Taming of the Shrew gender norms
How does shakespeare explore gender roles in 'the taming of the shrew'
How does shakespeare explore gender roles in 'the taming of the shrew'
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The Taming of the Shrew gender norms
:
Throughout The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare manipulates mostly female gender roles of the time period. Kate is a prime example of his commentary, because she swings, through the duration of play, from one extreme of femininity to the other, from extreme outspokenness to extreme submissiveness. The ideal role of a woman is clearly laid out at the beginning of the play, when Gremio and Hortensio are pining for Bianca, yet Baptista tells them, “That is, not to bestow my youngest daughter/ Before I have a husband for the elder” (I.i.12). Shakespeare mocks, from the beginning, the societal norm that an older daughter should be married off before the younger, as it’s just so shameful for a woman to be unloved and unwed. Bianca, at the start
…show more content…
A woman—namely the wives of significant male characters in the play, Kate, Bianca, and the widow—is still supposed to be quiet, visually appealing, and amicable. The criticisms of Hillary Clinton, that she should smile more, stop yelling so much, and that a woman is too emotional to be an effective president, that one might often hear in the news during this 2016 presidential election, are proof enough that women just aren’t women if they aren’t properly submissive and quiet, and the stereotype that all females are emotional. This is shown in the book in the induction, when the Lord is attempting to fool Christopher Sly, and tells one of his servants, “And if the boy have not a woman’s gift/To rain a shower of commanded tears,/An onion will do well for such a shift” (Induction.ii.5). I would argue that these stereotypes are not accurate but are nevertheless relevant; not every woman is emotional, and they shouldn’t be told to quiet themselves for the sakes of others. Likewise, a man is not a man unless he is big, strong, unemotional, and the breadwinner of any relationship. Do you know many stay-at-home dads? Men are called weak for playing a traditional woman’s role. Petruchio and the other men in the play are always telling Kate to be more feminine and quiet, and the time period wouldn’t allow a woman to make money for herself, so that was up to the men, and while the men …show more content…
Kate and Bianca were laughably different in personalities, both at the beginning and end of the play, as they seem to switch places somehow, once married. They ended up in two completely different relationships as well, Kate in one with a man just as fiery as she, and Bianca with one as seemingly mild as she. One was loving, the other was a business contract. Switching back and forth between the two stories emphasized the strange situations that each couple was in. How did it go unnoticed and then so easily forgiven that Lucentio and Tranio switched places, and that the pedant was allowed to play Vincentio for so long? Kate and Petruchio’s relationship was the focus of the play, and the most outrageous; though cruel, it is vaguely comedic to a modern audience—and far more so for an audience in Shakespearean times—when Petruchio starves Kate and pretends “That all is done in reverend care of her” (IV.ii.59). Now, they are humorous for the same reasons. Every romantic relationship is different, and many aren’t set in perfect circumstances. It’s just so fun to giggle about your friends’ dates in high school because of the awkwardness associated with romantic
“The Taming Of The Shrew” by William Shakespeare is a work of satire created to criticize the misogynistic outlooks of the 16th century. With this play, Shakespeare is trying to say that the idea and role of women in his society is deeply flawed and should be fixed, as well as to make other social commentaries, such as on the treatment of servants. Through exaggeration and parody, Shakespeare makes society look silly.
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare What does the play say about attitudes toward love and marriage and about the relationship between the sexes? What might be the reaction of a modern audience to what takes place on stage? It could be said that “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare is focused entirely on attitudes toward love and marriage and the relationship between the sexes. This is demonstrated in many ways throughout the play. For example in Act 1 Scene 1, Baptista Minola is telling his younger daughter’s suitors that they cannot pursue her until his older daughter, Katherina, is married.
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 Taming of the Shrew written by William Shakespeare depicts the common roles of men and women in the early seventeenth century. Shakespeare writes of Petruchio and Kate, a male and female who sharply oppose each other. Petruicho must "tame" his wife Kate without breaking her true inner spirit.
Taming of the Shrew: Male Domination. The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, deals with marriage. The ideas explored are primarily shown through the characters of Petruchio and Katharina. We are introduced to the trials and tribulations which present themselves in their everyday lives.
Kate who never wanted to show any affection by the end is kissing Petruchio in the street. “Nay I will give thee a kiss. Now pray thee love stay” (Shakespeare Vii 148). Heath Ledger, as Patrick Verona, displays the mysterious charm necessary to make him seem like a rebel. He seems to be only in it for the money in the beginning much like Petruchio.
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
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 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...
This play has many themes of patriarchy concerning the roles of males and females in a marriage, the authority of fathers over their families, husbands over wives, and men over women (Bloom 13). In the title alone, there's the indication of the husband over the wife, the "taming" of the shrew (16), and the word shrew that is chosen to describe Katherine is somewhat demeaning. In modern day society there is no such boundaries put on women. There should not be one party who overpowers the other one. It is a marriage, a bond that is shared, and each should be respected in the same way. Today, women and men are equals in a marriage, or at least in the United States. Women are no longer as oppressed as they once were. This play is rather primitive on the views of women in society.
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.
...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.
A Shakespearean scholar expanded on this, “The play enacts the defeat of the threat of a woman’s revolt; it does so in a comic form – thus so offers the audience the chance to revel in and reinforce their misogyny while at the same time feeling good” (Gay). The Taming of the Shrew at many points is just praising the men in the novel despite their behavior and putting down the women for being anything but perfect. The novel makes the actions happening comedic and the reader does not get upset at the things happening, but in reading further into it and comparing it to modern day, it is not hard to see the plain and simple abuse. Although gender roles are still prominent in today’s society, they are toned back. In contemporary versions of The Taming of The Shrew, such as 10 Things I Hate About You and Kiss Me Kate, the character Kate is always mitigated.