The Role Of Women In Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew

1265 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender issues in taming of the shrew

Some interpret William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew as a representation of equals in a marriage, however, that is not the interpretation Shakespeare intends. The patriarchal society in which men dominate women in every way sets specific standards for how a husband should be and how he should treat his wife. The patriarchy does not consider men and women equals at any level. Critic Harold Bloom claims Kate and Petruchio to be “social equals”, but that is not the case. Regardless of critics’ beliefs that the play displays a forging of a partnership, Shakespeare uses Petruchio and Katherine to promote male chauvinism by suggesting men dominate women as they take away their voices and change their identities.
While Petruchio uses his higher …show more content…

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

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Women As Propriety In The Merchant Of Venice and The Taming Of the Shrew

    2877 Words  | 6 Pages

    Women As Propriety In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice and The Taming Of the Shrew

    Read More

  • The Taming Of The Shrew: An Analysis of Kate

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Success of Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Power In The Taming Of The Shrew

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this marriage Katherine has no power. She is verbally abused by Petruchio and denied what she needs. As said in the article,“ Kate is transformed after enduring the irrational world of Petruchio 's country house, where she is denied food, sleep, and fashionable accoutrements of her social class” (Karen 263). Katherine is tamed and she praises and respects him now that she is tamed. At the end of the play, when Katherine and Petruchio are at the wedding, Katherine is the only woman out of all at the wedding that actually listens to her husband when they all call their wives. Katherine ends up giving them a speech and telling them to respect their husband: “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head thy sovereign, one that cares for thee And for thy maintenance commits his body” (Shakespear V. ii . 162-164). She respects who he is and all the work that he does for her. Petruchio has the power in marriage because she respects him and his

    Read More

  • The Battle of the Sexes in Zeffirelli's Taming of the Shrew

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Role of Women in Shakespear's The Taming of the Shrew

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    "The Taming of the Shrew" is a great example of Shakespear's use of women. Shakespeare indeed does transcend the stereotypes of his own time.

    Read More

  • How Is Katherine Presented In The Taming Of The Shrew

    492 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout Shakespeare's play, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare depicts a significant amount of transformation in characters, which some involves a physical disguises while others leave the reader wondering about what is real and what isn’t. The reader can see many transformations like when Lucentio disguises himself into Cambio, so that he can become Bianca’s tutor. However, some disguises aren’t as obvious without the readers interpretation like how Katherine’s character changes after her wedding. Therefore, the reader can interpret that Katherine puts on an act towards marriage so that she can get what she wants, also Petruchio’s character puts on an act so that he can “tame” Katherine. So that means that both Katherine and Petruchio put on an act

    Read More

  • Gender Quotes In Taming Of The Shrew

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    "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

    Read More

  • The Feminist Perspective of Taming of the Shrew

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Taming Of The Shrew Social Roles

    1751 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay on the Battle of the Sexes in Taming of the Shrew

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Taming of the Shrew, the battle of the sexes is more so in the mind of each and every woman, rather than an actual battle between men and women. It is a battle that the women have to overcome in order to be able to enjoy life and to love their husbands, and situations like the fights between Katherine and Petruchio are symbolic of this. When a woman, like Katherine is able to see that love is something that has no roles, or expectations, is when she and her husband can "live happily ever after".

    Read More

  • The Taming of the Shrew - Feminism and Shakespeare

    491 Words  | 1 Pages

    Some have made the claim that Shakespeare was pro-feminist and did all he could to illuminate the wrong done to women of his time by creating some overwhelmingly misogynistic characters. This was his way of showing men the errors of their ways and shaming them into showing women more respect.  This is an interesting hypothesis for a number of reasons.  First of all, there are no signs that it worked, if Shakespeare did indeed intend to reform men.  Could the Bard, supposing that he was trying to shame men into changing, influence men in this manner?  Can we blame him if he failed?  Secondly, and by far more interesting to me, is that, in some cases, feminists seem to be more interested in martyring the Bard than in promoting feminist agendas What proof do we have that Shakespeare was really that enlightened?

    Read More

  • Manipulation in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew

    1554 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Taming Of The Shrew?

    1613 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Taming Of The Shrew Analysis

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    During The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare has used pleasure and pain in order to tell the story of Petruchio and Katherina’s courtship. This is problematic for modern day audiences, as they do not find the courtship methods that Petruchio employs to woo Katherina particularly comical. However, it could be argued that Shakespeare crafted The Taming of the Shrew precisely for this reason, to feature his views on patriarchy and to make the audience see what was happening through a new perspective. The Elizabethan audience would have been shocked at the methods used in order to achieve the taming, even though it was well within a man’s right to discipline his wife if she was deemed unfit. From the very beginning of The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare indicates that this play will not follow traditional rules of decorum, and that it is intended to both give pleasure and cause pain in order to make both Elizabethan and modern audiences take note of his underlying message.

    Read More

More about The Role Of Women In Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew

Open Document