But however harsh life was in Elizabethan times, things have changed dramatically in the last Century and the role of women is forever changing. Today, women are respected for what they are and the work they do. Women are allowed to work and are given almost equal pay to men. This is largely due to women’s contribution in the 1st and 2nd World War, when women took the men’s place while they were fighting. Marriage today is a totally different story. Women are no longer forced to marry the highest bidder, marriage is based on love and the relationship between two people, rather then money or power to be gained. In contrast with Shakespeare’s time there is a lot of change, but some issues still occupy us in the 21st Century. Men still occupy the jobs, which are seen to be, “not fit for women” such as plumbing, carpentry and building. Women are still expected to stay away from work and look after the children at home, this is something which had stayed with us from many years ago.
“The Taming of the Shrew” is obviously designed for an Elizabethan audience and so contains a script that would please people from this time. However people still enjoy the play today but they see the play in a different light to people in Shakespeare’s day, as many things have changed since the play was first seen. When Katherina, the shrew, is tamed, this is seen as a triumph for men over women once again. But women watching the play today may see it as a tragedy. This is because women of today who are completely independent, would see Katherina, possibly the first woman of her kind, rebel against men and give in to the lifestyle of the Elizabethan’s. Her independence is crushed once again by men. This play is designed as a comedy. It goes without saying that the play is not without it’s funny scenes, however, the audience in Shakespeare’s time would have found the violence used against Katherina in order to tame her extremely funny. This was because it was the normality at this time, whereas the 21st Century audience would quite possibly find this offensive, as it is most definitely illegal to mistreat your wife.
The play can be interpreted in different ways, firstly, when the play was shown in Shakespeare’s time the people would have seen Katherina’s behaviour as unacceptable and would have enjoyed seeing her tamed, they would see it as necessary. But people viewing the play in the 21st Century would see Katherina’s behavior as quite acceptable. This shows just how people’s thoughts and interpretations can change and have changed with time. People in Elizabethan times would have looked at life in the 21st Century and not believed what they saw.
Shakespeare’s theatre, the Globe in London, is designed so that the stage is at the front and the seating curves around it in a semi circular shape, with the standing area in between the two. This enables the audience to see everything that goes on, on the stage, but if the actors stay on one end of the stage, the audience on the other may not see very well. This means that the way the actors move on stage must be carefully thought out so that the audience all gets a good view of the action. The stage is not that large so the movements of the actors are slightly limited and any scenes that require the stage to be cleared up after must have an interval following it, for example the wedding scene.
In “The Taming of the Shrew”, Katherina is greatly mistreated by Petruchio, but who do we feel sorry for and what affect does the change in time have on the audiences’ feelings towards Katherina and Petruchio’s relationship? When the play was first viewed, the people would have felt sorry for Petruchio for having such a shrew for a wife and would have laughed at the stupid way in which Katherina was appearing to act. There would be no sympathy for Katherina, because they viewed what Petruchio was doing as the right thing; they did not know any better. However the 21st Century audience would have had a very different view as to exactly who was being treated wrongly. They would have felt undying sympathy towards Katherina, for she was in a terrible situation, not being able to express her true feelings as a woman. The audience would feel hatred for Petruchio, not sorrow, for what he was doing is viewed as wrong in the eyes of the modern day world. This feeling of sympathy grows throughout the play, when Katherina finally gives in to Petruchio and decides she cannot take any more violent treatment from her husband. While the Shakespearean audience would have been celebrating when she makes her final speech, today’s audience would see her behaviour as a step back in the fight for women’s respect. They would feel deep sympathy for what Katherina had to do and dislike towards the power of men, in the Elizabethan world. Shakespeare, living in the Elizabethan world, but with a seemingly modern view on life, wants us to see that women were beginning to feel that they were designed for more than a servant to men. Men were still triumphant and that stage had not yet been reached, where women could win the battle of the sexes. But their time would soon come.
At the beginning of the play, Katherina seems almost immature to what is going on around her. As the play progresses, she seems to learn more about men and how to play them. As Petruchio tries to tame her she eventually responds and becomes a loyal wife, but is this change really what it seems? In her final speech, Katherina speaks of how all women should be loyal to their husbands. However there is a note of sarcasm in her voice that brings one to believe that she is just keeping Petruchio happy so he will treat her accordingly and is planning some kind of revenge in the near future. In this thought there lies the undeniable power of women over men, here, Petruchio shows that he may not have an idea of the overall picture and what could possibly be going on behind the scenes. Bianca, Baptista’s daughter, who eventually marries Luchentio, appears at the start to be a perfect Elizabethan woman. She does what she is told by men and does not question what they wish to do, but at the end of the play she does not come when her husband calls her and begins to rebel against the men. This is a dramatic role reversal between the two sisters, Katherina and Bianca. Why does this happen? Katherina is tamed as a result of being constantly harassed by Petruchio, Bianca however, may have finally grown tired of serving the men and now she is also married, she wants some freedom to do what she wants. Also, this ties in with the beginning of the play where Sly is taken and tricked into being a lord, nothing is what it seems. In the end it all stretches back to the battle of power between men and women that is always raging and is still not resolved.
The relationship between Katherina and Petruchio is hard to read at times. At the beginning of the play when they first meet, it is obvious that Katherina definitely dislikes Petruchio and it looks this way through most of the play. Although she has no choice as far as being with him is concerned; she hates the way he treats her, but whatever he does to her he also puts himself through it for example not eating or sleeping. However when they return to Padua, her attitude towards him suddenly changes as though a switch has been flicked inside her head. She begins to show loyalty to him and treat him as she is expected; in return he begins to treat her like a real wife and stops using violence against her. This could be a sign of love or more likely a facade put on by Katherina to get her way and plan some kind of revenge.
Shakespeare shows us relationships in many ways, he shows us the relationship between Petruchio and Katherina, which is not one based on love, but a forced relationship based on money. Then the relationship between Bianca and Luchentio, which is based on love or at least physical attraction, but he presents us with the question at the end, will this relationship last? This is because at the end of the play, they do not seem to be getting on at all; perhaps they rushed into marriage too quickly. Then the classic father/daughter relationship between Katherina and Baptista, this does also not seem to be happy. All Baptista wants is to get rid of his daughter, the shrew and laughing stock of the community. So it seems all the relationships in this play are not what they seem, feelings change with the wind and no one seems sure of whom they want or even why they want them.
Shakespeare uses many aspects to get his messages across, the first of these is imagery. Petruchio uses birds as imagery to refer to Katherina in Act 4 Scene 1 where they are in his house, “My falcon is sharp and passing empty” when he says this he means Katherina is starving and hungry. “I have to man my haggard” he is saying, he will tame his female bird. By using this bird imagery, Shakespeare is trying to say that Katherina is like a wild bird, who could be free but is domestic and caged, this suggests that she has been tamed. He also uses political imagery when he uses words such as: sovereign, lord, rebel, war and peace, serve and obey. All these words suggest that Petruchio is the king and that Katherina must obey him and everything that he wants to do should be the right thing.
Shakespeare uses witty poetry between Katherina and Petruchio when they first meet, this also has a comical affect on the situation, when Petruchio says, “women are made to bear, and so are you.” He is talking about bearing children; it is a comical remark. Then Katherina responds, “Asses are made to bear, and so are you.” Her sentence had a double meaning, the ass meaning donkey and she is calling him an ass at the same time. They both exchange these comical remarks to each other throughout the scene and one tries to be wittier than the other.
Language is an important factor in Shakespeare’s plays, it sorts out the status of people in Elizabethan times. People in high status, for example, Petruchio, spoke in Iambic Pentameter. This is where five pairs of syllables are alternatively stressed, “and woo her with some spirit when she comes." High status people usually use this form of blank verse. The language that is used by people of low status, for example, Biondello, is very different. It is called Prose, this is set out continuously, in a similar manner to the use of Prose in a novel.
“Why, Petruchio is coming in a new hat and old jerkin; a pair of old breaches thrice turned; a pair of boots that have been candle-cases, one buckled, another laced; an old rusty sword tane out of the town armoury.” That was an extract from Biondello’s speech in Act 3 Scene 2. You can clearly see the use of Prose; it is just one large flowing sentence. At the beginning of the play, Nicholas Sly speaks in Prose because he is a person of low status, however when he is tricked into being a lord he begins to speak in the high status tone of Iambic Pentameter.
In conclusion, Shakespeare presents his views of marriage and relationships very clearly in “The Taming of the Shrew” He shows us that a marriage in Elizabethan times was a thing of great importance, it was something of a necessity. If you were not married you would not be respected, however this did not mean that the person you were marrying had to love you, or you love them. Shakespeare shows us the dramatic difference in relationships compared with modern day love. The relationship between Katherina and Petruchio is a perfect example of this; Katherina is being forced into a marriage she does not want. Her father, Baptista, does this because he is willing to give large sums of money to Petruchio in order for him to marry his daughter, take her away because she is such an embarrassment to the family. It is obvious that Katherina and Petruchio do not love each other at all, in fact Katherina despises Petruchio in the first meeting. Petruchio, it seems, only wants to marry Katherina so that he can have the challenge of taming her, he is willing to give up his own time for this, “experiment.” But, after Katherina is eventually tamed, does she feel real affection or even love for Petruchio or is she just putting it on so she is no longer starved? In her final speech, Katherina explains to an astounded audience that women should be the servants of men and should come when they are called by their husbands and do whatever they wish. This is an amazing transformation in Katherina, but why does she do this? Also why does the seemingly perfect Bianca suddenly begin to rebel just as her sister had done at the beginning of the play? The answer to this sudden role reversal is quite hard to explain, Bianca, being the good lady perhaps wanted a change and saw that what her sister was doing was not so bad after all. She is fed up of serving her man and wants some independence. The most important question is, has Katherina really changed? Her final speech can be interpreted in different ways. Firstly, we can accept that Petruchio has tamed her and that her free women’s spirit is truly dead. Secondly, and more importantly we can look at Katherina’s speech and see that in fact, she is being sarcastic. All the things that she says about women serving men is a lie, once again, the battle of the sexes that has been raging throughout the play comes into play. Katherina is tricking Petruchio into a sense of security and triumph, so that she can think about what she is going to do next, possibly take revenge on Petruchio for that he did to her. So does she love him? No, Katherina does not love Petruchio, she wants to be a free woman away from the orders of the Elizabethan world and she always will be. They may appear at the feast to be a happy couple, but underneath the surface of smiles there is the dark truth, that marriage in Shakespeare’s day was not happy at all but something that was just done.
