Trickery and Deceit in Shakespeare's Works
William Shakespeare had a way of creating intelligent characters who made use of the art of deception for their own personal gains. Characters such as Lucentio and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew; Oberon and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream; Portia in The Merchant of Venice; and Richard in Richard III, all wanted to further their own agenda and did so in very sneaky and deceitful ways. These characters smartly used trickery and deceit to achieve their goals, and succeeded.
"And let me be a slave, t' achieve that maid whose sudden sight hath thrall'd my wounded eye, " (I.i.219-220) In The Taming of the Shrew, Lucentio has come up with a plan to woo his love Bianca. It involves his servant Tranio pretending to be him so that he can pretend to be a schoolmaster. Bianca's father, Baptista, has decreed that she stay locked up in the house until her sister, Kate, is married. The only people allowed in to see her are her tutors, one of which is Lucentio in disguise. Ironically, Lucentio came to Padua to study Philosophy and virtue. While disguised as Bianca's tutor, he woo's her and in the end he wins her heart and her hand in marriage.
Petruchio, who's one driving need is to marry a rich woman, uses trickery once he has wed Kate to change her from a shrew to a loving wife. He acts foul and ill-tempered
toward all of his servants, more ill-tempered than Kate ever had, and at the same time he keeps reassuring her of her own good qualities, such as sweetness and kindness. She immediately sees from Petruchio's actions that her own shrewish ways were wrong and impossible for others to tolerate. At the same time, she realizes what kind of a person she is inside, the same kind of person that Petruchio has been insisting she is. Petruchio effectively tricks Kate into stopping the shrewish behavior so that she can be that kind of person. In the end, Kate is a more loving and attentive wife than her own sister.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, the fairy king Oberon wants an Indian boy to be his henchman, but the fairy queen Titania will not give him the boy. They argue about it and Titania simply leaves. "Well; go thy way. Thou shalt not from this grove till I torment thee for this injury," (II.
The Renaissance may have been a time filled with the revolutionary concepts but the people of this time still regarded woman as mere property. This milieu formed the Taming of the Shrew, a play about an outspoken Katherina who gets tamed into a “good wife” by Petruchio. “She [Good Wife] is the eye of wariness, the hand of labour, and the heart of love, a companion of kindness, a Mistress of Passion, an exercise of Patience, and an example of experience. “ (Good and Badde)The methods used by Petruchio, to tame her such as starving Kat, are not seen as revolt...
Kate and The Taming of the Shrew describes the progression of the outspoken and headstrong Kate, wife of Petruchio, as she gradually transitions into an almost perfect example of an archetypal loyal wife. This classic female archetype can be expressed through blind and ignorant support of their husband without any personal opinion or any priorities and objectives other than to satisfy the needs and desires of their husbands. While Kate begins possessing traits that oppose the loyal wife archetype due to her strong willed personality, her shift to obedience. However she continues to think with cunning strategy throughout the entire play, regardless of her weakened mental state caused by Petruchio limiting her food and sleep.
As was stated, although Kate, in many instances, appears to be controlled by others, she is actually in control of her actions. She is the one who does everything, such as allowing herself to be married off to Petruchio. Some people may say that she was forced to marry Petruchio, but she could have just run away if she really hadn't wanted to marry him. In this instance, Kate's family, especially her father Baptista, and society were influencing Kate to make the choice to not run away and follow through with the marriage. In the end, though, this was Kate's decision - no one made it for her, she had to make it for herself. She had the ability to choose to run away or do something else about being forced to marry Petruchio. Kate was already considered a shrew and often did not let society's roles for men and women influence her: Why couldn't she have done the same in this instance?
1. William Shakespeare, the most popular playwright of all time, experiments with comedy, mystery, betrayal, romance, and tragedy in his play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The author uses a variety of characters from different social backgrounds to give us an elaborate picture of deception. From the opening line of "Who’s there?" the reader gets the impression that people are not what they seem in this play. The interrelationships between the royalty and people of the court are well-developed to illustrate the major and minor similarities and differences between the characters. Shakespeare reveals the deceptive nature of man and the ruin it causes through his use of foils. [Many of the other essays did not follow the directions and used the definition of foils as the introduction. This writer understood that the essay was to be about the use of foils in the play. The introduction, therefore, is about the play, and it leads up to a thesis which briefly states the function (meaning) of the foils within the play. The thesis, in other words, does not simply state that the essay will discuss foils in the play, but rather that the essay will show how the foils help reveal the deceptive nature of man and the resulting ruin. This is, I believe, also the only writer who alludes to "Who's there?" and thereby nicely connects the essay -- and thus the foils -- to much of what I emphasized in class discussions of the play.]
“And to conclude we have ‘greed so well together That upon Sunday is the wedding day” (Act 2: scene 1 l 314-315.) Throughout the first scene of act 2 Kate and Petruchio fight about Kate loving him. He only cares about himself he is self entitled. His sexism towards his wife escalates throughout the entire play. Sexism normally isn’t vocal the person doesn’t really point it out that there being sexist they just go with it. Petruchio doesn’t say to Kate “hey um you're wrong because your a girl.” He portrays it through his actions in the scene right after they get married he doesn’t allow her to eat, claiming the food is all burnt and none of its good. Another example of him only thinking of himself. Poor Kate is thinking to herself am I that horrible? Kate isn’t the problem, Petruchio is. He wants her to be something that shes not. He wants her to be calm and a obedient wife. He doesn’t ever take time to think abou...
Everyone at some point in their lives lies even when they know that they should be telling the truth. Deception is a key element in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet are both deceptive to their parents when they do not tell them about their marriage. They then continue to lie, Juliet telling her parents she would marry Paris when she secretly arranged to fake her death and Romeo deceiving Friar Laurence by going back to Verona. All of the deceiving in the play leads to conflicts, which eventually ends in death of both Romeo and Juliet. By showing how Romeo and Juliet being deceptive to their parents and role models led to pain and conflict, Shakespeare shows that you should always be honest if you want to maintain
The Taming of the Shrew unravels to reveal a wild beastly Katharine lacking respect for her family, herself and others around her. Kate is a very outspoken and vulgar woman without respect to authority. Katharine, although depicted as a beautiful woman quickly becomes the talk of Padua. Kate has found that if she is loud and obnoxious she can have her way. She screams and grunts and pushes those who she does not get along with. The general character of Katharine seems to be that of a small child.
Indeed, Hortentio’s assurance in the taming of the “curst shrow” Katerina seems a wonder to all the audience in the final scene of “The Taming of the Shrew.” After hurling furniture, pitching fits and assaulting her sister, Katerina delivers a speech that lauds obedience and censures rough behavior. Allegedly, this speech demonstrates Katerina’s obedience to her husband, Petruchio, who has forced her to realize the error of her former behavior. Genuine submission, however, is an unlikely disposition for Katerina to adopt. A complete reformation becomes more improbable after an examination of the scenes surrounding her “taming.” Several of these episodes attest to excellence of her acting ability. This evidence suggests her ability to impersonate the character of a tamed shrew. Her dialogue during these moments of obedience seems to mirror the language Petruchio uses earlier to tame her, suggesting that Katerina employs Petruchio’s own dissembling devices against him. Even the nuances of her language, filled with double meanings, belie her supposed transformation.
So how does Kate’s attitude go from this, “No shame but mine; I must, forsooth, be forced to give my hand, opposed against my heart, unto a mad-brained rudesby…” (III:II 8-20) to this, “What is your sir, that you [Petruchio] send for me?” (V:II 104). At the beginning of the play, Katherine lashes out at everyone around her with violence and spite, but at the end she is completely subservient to her husband. I do not truly believe that Katherine has been “tamed” by Petruchio, but rather has developed a more mature
... between Petruchio and Kate is contrasted with the superficial properness of the relationship of bianca and lucentio.
Petruchio deprives Kate of all her fundamental needs and essentials to prove he is going to be a master tamer to her. As soon as they get to Petruchio’s house and sit down for dinner, Petruchio refuses to eat the meal because he verbally expresses it is burnt and forbids Kate to eat the meal as well saying they will fast. Exhibiting his authority as a master tamer, Petruchio stops Kate from eating the meal to weaken her so she cannot resist him. Deprived of sleep, Kate angrily states, “But I, who have never known how to beg and never had to beg, am starved for food, dizzy with lack of sleep, kept awake with curses and fed with brawlings”(4.3.6). Petruchio believes that depriving Kate of her sleep along with food will make her unable to go against what he asks for and says. Getting ready for Bianca’s wedding, Petruchio takes on his role as a master tamer and shows Kate a new dress and hat he has had made for her but he changes his mind. He argues with Kate stating that if she were an elegant and graceful woman she could have the dress and hat, however she is not, therefore she does not deserve them. Depriving Kate of all her necessities, Petruchio believes he is acting as the best master tamer possible.
Hamlet is a play by William Shakespeare about a prince named Hamlet who was spoken to by the ghost of his dead father telling Hamlet to kill his uncle Claudius (the new king) because Claudius killed him. The story revolves around Hamlet's dillema of how to kill his uncle while being deceptive enough so that no one finds out about the ghost. This essay will prove how deception is often used in Hamlet for many reasons. Claudius uses deception to protect himself from being prosecuted for his crime of killing the King. No one knows what the deal is with Gertrude because she deceives everybody by keeping to herself all the time keeping everyone from knowing anything. By using quotes from the book I will prove how these two (Claudius and Gertrude) and among a few others , use deception for different reasons and in different ways. A lot of the times it is to protect someone, or themselvs because they believe that the truth will hurt more than their lies.
By charming her with kind words, Petruchio is able to manipulate Katherine into marriage and woo her, but in an unaccustomed way, as Kate is not used to men being so nice and direct with her. Petruchio is able to achieve this end by manipulating Katherine’s words. He twists what Kate says and makes it seem as if she is coming on to him sexually, while in reality he is the one implying the sexual innuendo. This manipulation can be seen when they have an argument about whether or not the wasp carries his sting on his tail or tongue, and Petruchio says “What, with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again, good Kate. I am a gentleman—” (II, 1; 230-231). By contorting the words he ...
In Taming of the Shrew Hortensio mentions that Katerina is a shrew, but Petruchio does not care because she is wealthy. Petruchio could have easily found another woman, but with money involved Petruchio does what he can to “win” her love by attempting to talk with Katerina and eventually takes his time to try and tame Katerina. “When Petruchio first meets Baptista, Petruchio inquires about the dowry, once Baptista replies, Petruchio immediately demands to sign the contract. Baptista tells Petruchio to first win her love. Petruchio acts and has a one to one debate with Katerina, Petruchio does not win her love but tells Katerina he will marry her anyways, resulting in Petruchio tricking Baptista in winning Katerina’s love” (Shakespeare, Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 110-308). The paraphrase examines Petruchio increased desire to marry Katerina after being told about the dowry or money involved by attempting to win her love and deceiving Baptista of achieving to win Katerina’s. In 10 Things I Hate About You Patrick has an increased desire to attempt again and date Kat after being offered more money. Patrick takes the money and takes her out to different places, however, Patrick ends up falling in love with Kat and money began to no longer play a role for him showing a difference between the play Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You. In the scene where Joey confronts Patrick about his failed
...nt to creating a deeper, more harmonious relationship involved a mature acceptance of the dark, shadow sides of Kate. The “baggage” of her wounded past with all of its unmet needs had been waiting to be loved and transformed. In the radical courtship of Kate and Petruchio, all “buttons” got pressed, character armor was released, and in the mirror of lover and beloved, childhood vulnerabilities eventually diminished freeing up enormous reserves of creative energy. It is in this light that I appreciate Kate’s final impassioned speech to the other women who, in their selfish defiance of their new husbands had acted immaturely. For here, Shakespeare ironically exposes Bianca as the real, untamed shrew and reveals a very sagacious and loving Katherine.