Essay on The Taming of the Shrew - 1781 Words

The Taming of the Shrew Examine the different ways in which Shakespeare presents the attitude towards marriage in the play, ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’ The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, and it shares many essential characteristics with his other romantic comedies, such as Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. These characteristics include light-hearted and slapstick humour, disguises and deception and a happy ending in which most of the characters come out satisfied. The play has been dated from as early as 1594 and as late as 1598. (http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/shrew/context.html) The main themes in the play are love, marriage, domination, society expectations, betting and†¦show more content†¦The view of the society on marriage is that women should obey their husbands, as they themselves are unimportant. This is the view in which Shakespeare took on board whilst writing the play. Baptista was the father of two daughters; he was a wealthy man and could meet the expense of two respectable dowries. One of his two daughters was seen to be a shrew amongst the people of Padua, this therefore making it extremely difficult for him to find a suitor for her. Money therefore played an immense part in the marriage of Katherina. Without Petruchio turning up in Padua, looking for a wife it could have looked dreadful for Baptista, not being able to locate a suitor. â€Å"I come to wive it wealthily in Padua,† admits Petruchio. He himself along with Hortensio and Baptista are very money orientated. Hortensio talks about Petruchio saying, â€Å"will undertake to woo Katherina, yea, and marry her, if her dowry please.† He suggests that she is only worth marrying if the dowry is high enough. Hortensio first told Petruchio of Katherina, and he claimed that his deceased father knew her father well. †I know her father, though I know not her, and he knew my deceased father well†. Even though he was told she was known in Padua for being a shrew he still insisted on meeting her. â€Å"I will not sleep, Hortensio, till I see her.† Shakespeare shows Petruchio as an awful man andShow MoreRelatedThe Taming Of The Shrew1180 Words   |  5 PagesDuring the 1600s, William Shakespeare wrote the play The Taming of the Shrew. This play has been well-known throughout the ages. The play has been adapted into film and the two most popular version of it are The Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You. The movie The Taming of the Shrew was released in 1967, while the newer version came out as, 10 Things I Hate About You which was released in 1999. Even though these two variations are based off the same play they have many similaritiesRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew916 Words   |  4 PagesThe Taming of the Shrew was written somewhere between 1592 and 1594 (Bevington 2). Taming of the Shrew’s titular theme is Petruchio â€Å"taming† his shrewish wife, Katharina, which was a common theme for plays during Elizabethan England. However, the play delves so much deeper into their relationship than just focusing on a male’s forced submission of a female. In fact, The Taming of the Shrew offers a sophisticated opinion on how a married couple should interact. Petruchio’s grand scheme of how he willRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew1132 Words   |  5 PagesIn order for two comparative texts to develop ones understanding of shared themes and ideas they must over come the boundaries of differing contexts and explore the strong parallels between them. Shakespeare’s play â€Å"The Taming of the Shrew† (1590-1592) was composed during the Elizabethan era in contrast to Gil Junger’s â€Å"10 Things I Hate About You† (1999) set around 1990s America. Although the diverse time periods their correlating plots are indicators of appropriation and pronounce an intertextualRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew1723 Words   |  7 PagesThe Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare is a rich play for interpretation mainly because of its controversial content, du e to the of power dynamics of Petruchio and Katharina. I chose to stage The Taming of the Shrew because I found the storyline engaging and I felt that the play would be able to be staged nontraditionally while continuing to retain its storyline and original language. For my production I would like Katharina and Petruchio to be in their late teens around 16 to 19 years oldRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew1322 Words   |  6 PagesIn Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, the main character, Katharina Minola is portrayed as a shrew. Her behavior emanated from the fact that a father who treated her with indifference raised her and there was a lack of a motherly influence in her life. â€Å"Shakespeare sketches her character with a depth the typical shrew lacks† (â€Å"The Taming and Comic Tradition† 1) so her behavior is a defense mechanism used to protect herself from rejection. Katharina â€Å"is aggressive and belligerent, butRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew1313 Words   |  6 PagesThe Taming of the Shrew is a comedy/love story written by Shakespeare between 1590 and 1592. However, in the current era with new beliefs of men and women’s roles, The Taming of The Shrew is seen as pure misogyny. The plot of the play follows the idea that Bianca, the youngest daughter, is a beautiful young girl with lots of male attention and is eager to wed, though her wealthy father will not allow it until her older hot-tempered sister also has a suitor. Many modern films has been made on thisRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew934 Words   |  4 PagesShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew introduces the audience to the Elizabethan era. The mindset of the people in this era might be hard to grasp for the modern reader. The demeaning treatment and subsequent submission of women is a constant theme in the play. During this era, women were meant to obedient, submissive, and compliant to their husband. Katherine Minola, the daughter of Baptista defies society’s standards and is known for her outspokenness and thus labeled a â€Å"shrew.† Due to her aggressiveRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew Essay980 Words   |  4 PagesKatharina, also known as Kate, is the main protagonist and her fiery personality is the focal point of the Shakespeare play, â€Å"The Taming of the Shrew†. Her outspoken and quick-witted disposition is at odds with polite society thus earning her the offensive moniker ‘Shrew’, which essentially means a bad-tempered despicable old hag. Contrary to belief, she is, for the most part, an opinionated woman who has the courage to speak those opinions loudly to men that would prefer she’d be quiet. ThroughoutRead MoreTaming of the Shrew866 Words   |  4 PagesTaming of the shrew The Taming of the shrew was just one of William Shakespeares 4 great comedies. Taming of the shrew is based on a king named Baptista who had two daughters named Katherina and Bianca. Both daughters had arranged marriages by there father. Since Katherina was older she had to get married first. Her father chose Petruchio for her to marry. Katherina did not want to get married to Pertuchio, but Katherina did not have a choice. Katherina was very disobedient at the begging ofRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew1023 Words   |  5 PagesKristine Lieu Mr. Smith English 2, Period 1 02 March 2016 The Taming of the Shrew Introduction What happens when two fouled tongue and short tempered human beings gets married and try to get dominate each other? In the play, The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, the shrew, Katherine is compelled to marry the severe Petruchio, whose ravenousness for Katherine s settlement is coordinated just by his nonchalance for her contentious mentality. To start with, Katherine is unwilling to comply