How does the Interpretation of Misogyny affect the Dramatic Impact of "The Taming of the Shrew"?
How does the interpretation of misogyny affect the dramatic impact of the play? Before any occurrences of misogyny in The Taming of the Shrew can be explored, it is essential to define the word. The dictionary definition of ‘misogyny’ is, “ingrained prejudice against women.” Some audiences’ interpretations of The Taming of the Shrew as a misogynistic work means their opinion of the play’s comedic value may be altered. Although we may not have achieved gender equality, women in the Elizabethan Era had far fewer rights still, and were objectified and traded as was customary of the time. To Elizabethan society, women were viewed as either one of two polar opposite roles: a wife and mother, or a prostitute. This is especially ironic, considering the ruling monarch was female. This second class treatment is apparent in the Great Chain of Being, an ancient chart Elizabethans believed depicted the order of the universe. Women fell below men in this chain, exemplifying their position in Elizabethan society. It was not just unconventional for a woman to act above her station, but was seen rather more as a disruption of the balance of the universe- demonstrating how truly misogynistic Elizabethan society was. It is evident that Shakespeare’s audiences would have interpreted the Taming of the Shrew differently to audiences of today, because they perceived women very
How does The Taming of the Shrew show comic tension?
How does Shakespeare create comic tension in the Induction of The Taming of the Shrew? ‘Taming of the Shrew’ is the only known play written by Shakespeare to have an Induction. This Induction was written by Shakespeare to introduce the idea of a play within a play to the audience. The Induction to the play is quite a complex structure; at the start of the induction the audience is introduced to a drunken tinker named Christopher Sly, caught in a fight with the Hostess of what is presumed to be a tavern or alehouse. There is an immediate sense of comedy to the opening of the Induction as the audience is shown Sly cussing the Hostess with foul language, “I’ll pheeze you, in faith”. In return the Hostess threatens to put Sly in a ‘pair of stocks’. This is an example of Shakespeare trying to create comic tension as this drama is clearly commenting on the sexist inequality between both genders during this time. Sly perceives himself as quite noble, stating to the Hostess that he “came in with Richard Conquer”. Being drunk this would probably be discredited as he is clearly trying to exert power over the hostess as she is a woman. Shakespeare has created this argument involving Sly to capture the attention of the audience, the language used by Sly and the Hostess, the swearing and the anger, this causes a lot of tension between the characters and
An exploration of the way Shakespeare presents the characters and relationships of Kate and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
An exploration of the way Shakespeare presents the characters and relationships of Kate and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. The relationship between Kate and Petruchio is central to the development of The Taming of the Shrew, as both characters clearly represent and are centrally involved in the main theme of the play, the taming of the "shrew", Kate. The audience is first introduced to Kate by other characters' opinions of her, such rather than from Kate herself. Language such as Gremio's, 'she's too rough for me,' and Hotensio's, 'Unless you were of gentler milder mould,' gives Kate her reputation as a "shrewish" character. When Kate first speaks, she speaks rudely, threatening to hurt Hortensio by, 'combing his noddle with a three legged stool.' The fact that Kate is described as different and nonconformist before she even gets a chance to speak gives the audience preconceptions of her character, perhaps unfairly, and immediately paints her as a shrew. Much is heard about Kate when she is not around to defend herself, which gives the audience the impression that Kate is perhaps being portrayed unfairly. The audience may feel that Kate has a reason for being upset with her father and men in general, as her father appears to prefer Bianca to Kate. 'A pretty peat....' Shows Kate's jealousy towards her sister, as she is the one who gets all her fathers attention.
Taming of the Shrew - The excerpt that is to be analyzed depicts the first overheated encounter between the two explosive characters. In fact, this is the scene with which the taming process leads off.
The analysis of a fragment from "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare INTRODUCTION "The Taming of the Shrew" is a farcical comedy written by William Shakespeare around 1590 and it seemed the most elaborate play of that time. The main plot is rather simple: Petruchio, "a gentleman of Verona", courts Katherina, the well-to-do Baptista Minola's elder daughter, whose sole "feeble" drawback is that she constantly tortures everyone around her with her inborn maliciousness. Initially, Katherina is a rough unwilling participant in the relationship, but the skillful Petruchio manages to temper her with innumerable psychological torments until she becomes an obedient wife. The excerpt that is to be analyzed depicts the first overheated encounter between the two explosive characters. In fact, this is the scene with which the "taming" process leads off. After having settled a certain agreement with Kate's father regarding his future wedding and dowry, the suitor eventually meets his bride and her tempestuous nature. MAJOR THEMES REFLECTED IN THE EXCERPT As it is easy to infer from the entire dialogue, the main theme is the battle of the sexes with the subsidiary struggle for mastery in marriage. Throughout the whole fierce polemics, one can easily observe that each remark is a stroke for gaining superiority over the other. However, beyond the battle of insults, it's
"No one can do it as well as Shakespeare" is a statement, that while containing obvious bias also holds a measure of truth.
Disclaimer: While I have no control to the extent which you use this work, I ask you to RESPECT MY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY and NOT DIRECTLY COPY THIS ESSAY. Feel free to use aspects of it in your work or use it as a basis for any work you may need to do, but once again don't plagiarize my work! No one can do it as well as Shakespeare ... "No one can do it as well as Shakespeare" is a statement, that while containing obvious bias also holds a measure of truth. This truth is found in the plain and simple fact, that to this day there has never been another playwright that has held as much lasting influence as William Shakespeare. This can clearly be seen by the fact that his original ideas and plays are still frequently being rehashed in all forms of current-day media including film, television, fiction novels and modern plays. One such modern reinterpretation of a classic Shakespeare play, The Taming of the Shrew, is the recent teen movie, '10 Things I Hate About You' (1999). While '10 Things I Hate About You' isn't a direct reproduction of 'The Taming of the Shrew' it still keeps some fundamental elements found in the original work but also contains many differences designed to help the production fit in better with a modern, teenage, audience. While the majority of the similarities between the two are noticeable and important, they are still quite general and are found in
Shakespeare presentation of Katherina in Taming of the Shrew
An explanation of Shakespeare's presentation of the taming of Katherina with reference to Shakespeare's use of form, structure and language. Shakespeare presents the taming of Katherina in a wide variety of ways through different aspects of the text, its language, structure and form. Katherina's tamed nature at the closing of the play can be looked at from various points of views and angles, the various views might involve the decision to accept the fact that Katherina has been tamed by the very masculine Petruchio, while others might lean more to the view that she is putting on an act and manipulating him in order to get what she wants, which is a better life. From all the meanings and connotations that can be gathered and assessed from various aspects of the text, I believe that Katherina is in fact putting on an act and hasn't been tamed by Petruchio. Shakespeare presentation of Katherina's taming is done, through the language that is used in the play. The tone of the language enables the reader or audience to decipher various emotions in the character speech which allows them to understand better, the response that particular character is looking for, such as Petruchio's repetitive use of the word "tush" in one sentence, which shows us his emphasis on the fact that he requires remorse from the audience he is scolding. Katherina's language varies with the structure of
Discussion of the use of violence in “The Taming of the Shrew”
Discussion of the use of violence in "The Taming of the Shrew" "The Taming of the Shrew" may not immediately be described as a violent play. However if we look closer we can see that Shakespeare uses violence throughout the play, which can sometimes go unnoticed due to its subtlety. He uses physical, emotional, verbal and psychological forms of violence skilfully depending on the desired effect. Violence is important to the characterisation, plot and humour of the play. The fundamental storyline of the play is violent, enforced by Petruchio's character. Out- Shrewing Katherina is part of Petruchio's taming plan, but the violence that he uses to ensure this is already there in his character, not just formulated for Katherina's taming. We see Petruchio's potential for violence early on in the play when Petruchio "wrings him (Grumio) by the ears" for no other reason than his misunderstanding of the context of the word "knock". This behaviour seems rather extremist, considering the nature of Grumio's fault. From the outset we are presented with the aggressive nature of Petruchio's character. This shows that Shakespeare wanted the audience to see this as a very important part of Petruchio's character. The incident is also very visually humorous due to its slapstick. We see a master and servant relationship, later to be mimicked with Katherina. Petruchio has a need to
The Taming of the Shrew. When Bianca first speaks in the passage, we see that Shakespeare has put in some antithesiss such as content which is the antithesis to discontent and company which is antithesis to myself (1.1.102)
In the piece of writing I will talk about some of the most distinctive language features in the given passage, and also how I think the passage might be performed, including, props, costume and set design. Most of the passage is written in blank verse, this is unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter with approximately five stressed syllables in each line, 'But in the other's silence do I see'(1.1.51). But not all speech is written in iambic pentameter (some of Gremio's lines). I think that iambic pentameter is one of Shakespeare's best creations, and something that really defines him as a playwright, iambic pentameter gives the affect of a steady, constant quality to the writing, iambic pentameter is the natural rhythm of the English language. Another clear feature of language is at the beginning of the passage when Tranio and Lucentio are talking, the ends of their sentences rhyme in rhyming couplets,' toward...froward, see...sobriety' (1.1.51). I think this is affective because it makes the words flow easily with its poetic finish. When Bianca first speaks in the passage, we see that Shakespeare has put in some antithesis's such as 'content' which is the antithesis to 'discontent' and 'company' which is antithesis to 'myself' (1.1.102), an antithesis is a word which directly contrasts with the other word as shown in my examples. Antithetical words give contrasting
The Taming of the Shrew
In The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio's seemingly attempts to get Kate to love him makes readers believe that he is a chauvinistic bully but in the end, his strategy which led many to judge is harsh, consists of a caring therapist. In this essay will contain the experiments used by Petruchio to obtain the love and compassion of Kate, the three tests performed by Kate to see if she is loyal to her husband and the conclusion of the play which allows the reader to believe that Petruchio's actions are clever. Firstly, Petruchio's scheme to bend Kate to his will by pretending to act like her concludes in the love of Kate towards him. During the whole play, Petruchio decides to act like Kate, who is sharp tongued and quick tempered, to "tame" the shrew. For instance, when Petruchio and Kate arrive at Petruchio's country house, he demands dinner, and his servants prepare it as quickly as possible. Nevertheless he argues that the meat is burned and not edible and pushes the whole meal off the table. In the meantime, Kate, evidently tired and starving, begs with him to be more tolerant with the servants. Petruchio answers by saying that he demands the best for his new wife. Petruchio's intention was not only to have Kate respect him but also to aggravate Kate and to keep her wanting. Another example would be when a tailor had arranged well-designed and luxurious clothes for their
Animal Imagery in Taming of the Shrew.
Animal Imagery in Taming of the Shrew Many authors, from Orwell in his famous satirical novel Animal Farm to Shaw in his play Candida, have used animal images, comparisions, similies, and metaphors to convey characters's, or perhaps more accurately, man's internal idea's, aspirations, hopes, goals, and actions. The notable German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, in his essay entitled The Gay Science, wrote that "people are animals - as the mad animal, as the laughing animal, as the weeping animal, and as the unhappy animal" Nietzsche realized that, especially though his actions, man is a lot like the rest of the animal kingdom - we laugh, we cry, we get angry, and we become sad. But, more than that, we sometimes treat each other just as animals in the wild treat their own kind. In the same way, William Shakespeare, in one of his earlier comedies, The Taming of the Shrew, uses animal references, images, similies, and metaphors to provide insight into a characters physci, as well as the complicated balance created in and through the relationship of Petruchio and Katherina. Also, through William Shakespeare's use of animal imagery, we get a picture of Elizabethian leisure activities such as hawking and falconery. The title of the play is doubly metaphorical: "taming" is a word used of wild animals and is here applied to a woman; a "shrew"