Women In The Taming Of The Shrew

Ladies First, Women Last Shakespeare is often regarded as one of the greatest writers in history, and his works are constantly studied in academics, even over four hundred years later. After that much time, it is natural to question why his plays are still relevant. Though much has changed, Shakespeare’s lasting influence comes from the fact that readers can still apply his ideas on love, marriage, family, and politics on a personal and cultural level. Through reading The Taming of the Shrew, I have been better able to understand my role as a woman in the 21st century and address the gender inequality inherent in the social, political, and romantic aspects of life. Men in Shakespeare’s play live up to the societal expectation of being dominant,

Over the past four centuries, women have achieved their right to own property, accumulate their own wealth, and vote. In The Taming of the Shrew, both Bianca and Kate have arranged marriages that their father, Baptista, negotiates. Baptista tries to mask his daughters’ power by telling Petruchio “Ay, when the special thing is obtained, / That is, her love” (TotS 2.1.128-29), yet later in the scene agrees to the marriage without proof of Petruchio having won Kate’s love at all. Kate essentially has no authority over her personhood, and while arranged marriages are mostly eradicated today, women still fight for control of their bodies. Men make up an astounding majority in politics, so any legal proceedings involving women’s rights are essentially decided by men. Another aspect of inequality in Shakespeare’s time was a woman’s inability to control her own funds or even accumulate her own income. After World War I, women created a huge tide of cultural change when they entered the workforce; now they are able to obtain economic independence from their husbands, yet are still held beneath men due to the wage gap. A white woman will make seventy-seven cents to a white man’s dollar, and the gap only widens when one includes female minorities (“Your Right”). Therefore, even though women can say they are financially liberated, society still holds them at bay by not demanding equal