Explore Shakespeares presentation of men and women in Taming Of teh Shrew
Explore Shakespeare's presentation of the relationships between men and women in 'The Taming of the Shrew'. William Shakespeare wrote 'The Taming of the Shrew' in 1593. In the play, Shakespeare explores the relationship between men and women. Shakespeare creates two contrasting marriage plotlines that ironically link with one another. The first is between Katherina and Petruchio, the other Bianca and Lucentio. Using characters, language techniques, such as stichomythia and repartee, also setting Shakespeare presents a multitude of male-female relationships in many, very different, ways. At first reading the play, it appears that Petruchio and Katherina's marriage is simply about gaining riches. In contrast to this relationship, Lucentio and Bianca's appears to be based solely upon true love. When deducing meaning from the text, we begin to understand that Petruchio and Katherina's relationship is far more likely to flourish, as they generally appear to have the same views on many subjects, including marriage. Another relationship explored in the play is between Baptista Minola and his two daughters, Katherina and Bianca. The relationships between all the men and women in the play have one main focus, wealth; Hortensio marries a widow only to gain money, Baptista agrees the marriages of his daughters on the terms of money, and Shakespeare presents this to be the only focus
Examine the different ways in which Shakespeare presents issues connected with marriage and male and female relationships in the play The Taming of the Shrew.
Sophie Johnstone 2CO Examine the different ways in which Shakespeare presents issues connected with marriage and male and female relationships in the play The Taming of the Shrew "The Taming of the Shrew" is a complex play, which involves a taming plot and the theme of appropriate behaviour within marriage in Shakespeare's time, and does so through the contrasting relationships of Petruchio and Katherina, and Lucentio and Bianca. Shakespeare highlights how important money is to people when committing themselves to marriage. This is portrayed through Petruchio, "That you shall be my wife; your dowry' greed on;" Shakespeare has made a point here of emphasising to the audience that money is a necessity for marriage. Shakespeare also draws the audience's attention to the character's values, which, is mainly money and social status. Money was so important as social status was a concern and without money you usually had none. He illustrates this again through Petruchio and his desire for Katherina's dowry, "As wealth is burden of my wooing dance". "The Taming of the Shrew", depicts a materialistic middle class and very masculine society and social inferiority is highlighted from the beginning when the Lord toys with Sly's mind, "O, that a mighty man of such descent". Society is highlighted when Katharina is presented worthless until she is tamed, and the conventional
Is Petruchio's intention to dominate or liberate Katherina?
Is Petruchio's intention to dominate or liberate Katherina? Evident by her use of prose, Kate does not conform to the 'acceptable behaviour' that is expected of her and is consequently she is isolated, insulted and made to feel an outcast by the majority of society. Images of hell and demons are often concerned with her character establishing that the male characters are afraid of her outrageous behaviour, "From all such devils, good lord, deliver us". Even her own father refers to her as "a most impatient devilish spirit". I therefore believe it can be established that Kate has an acceptable explanation as to why she acts so outrageously if she has been constantly criticised and offended. Patently Petruchio commits himself to "tame her", using several methods which prove to be patronising and are aimed to shock and intrigue Kate. In this essay I will assess the extent Petruchio's intentions are to dominate and control Kate or whether in actual fact, he aims to liberate her through his domination with the hope that she will begin to enjoy life and be socially accepted. Defining his aims clearly, Petruchio states, "Haply to wive and thrive as best I may", making no disguise of the fact that he wants a rich wife. First meeting Kate, he uses a technique described as "nothing less but psychological rape" as he uses his verbal authority and supremacy to attack her mind. "Yet not
Write a Brief Assessment Giving Your Views on the Purpose of the Induction of 'The Taming of The Shrew'.
Write a Brief Assessment Giving Your Views on the Purpose of the Induction of 'The Taming of The Shrew'. There has been much speculation and debate over the necessity and purpose of Shakespeare's Induction to 'The Taming of the Shrew'. The Induction can be interpreted in various ways and a common view is that it is not essential to the play. Indeed, the play alone would suffice without it; as has occurred in various performances of 'The Taming of The Shrew'. Personally, however, I feel that the purpose of the Induction is to frame the play and introduce themes and issues that develop in the play, to the audience. The Induction could be considered quite light and a painless approach to the otherwise darker aspects of the play. In this way perhaps Shakespeare is trying to get the comedy viewpoint of the play through in the Induction to avoid confusion and overall the play itself being taken too seriously. The Induction also starts with a fairly violent and hostile atmosphere, however, there is an underlying theme of merriment similar to that in the play itself. Again this could be there to emphasise the violence that is present in the play but avoid it becoming too sinister. Even in the first scene we meet the Lord who has been hunting, possibly a subtle echo of Petruchio's fortune hunting later on. We also meet Sly, a tinker who is thrown out of the alehouse by the Hostess
Explore the different nature of disguise and identity in 'The taming of the shrew.'
Explore the different nature of disguise and identity in 'The taming of the shrew.' The theme of disguise and deception to hide true identity is central to both the induction and the main action of the play; nearly every character pretends to be someone they are not. This trickery is portrayed in many ways. Sometimes an actual disguise is required, but with other characters the "disguise" is not an alteration of their physical appearance, but a change of their personality. Some characters appear to change their personality rather than alter their appearance. Most of the play's humour comes from the way in which characters create false realities by disguising themselves as other people, a device first introduced in the induction. Initially this is accomplished by having Christopher Sly believe he is someone he is not and then by having the main play performed for him. By putting The Taming Of The Shrew in a 'play within a play' structure, Shakespeare immediately lets the audience know that the play is not real thus making all events in the play false realities. Almost all characters in the play take on identities other than their own at some point of time during the play. The play contains many different types of disguise; the majority are physical changes in appearance. Tranio as Lucentio, Lucentio as Cambio, and Hortensio as Litio are all examples of this. However some
How does Shakespeare present society's treatment of women in "The Taming of The Shrew"?
How does Shakespeare present society's treatment of women in "The Taming of The Shrew"? Throughout "The Taming of The Shrew" the audience is shown the manner in which women were treated in the 16th Century. This is done through the female characters: Katherine, Bianca, Widow, Bartholomew: yet we must question Shakespeare's intentions. Was the play written in order to instruct inexperienced husbands as to how they could tame an unruly wife; which would display Shakespeare's acceptance of the treatment of the women; or is he mocking the customs of the time by using theatrical comedy to warn men who wish to consider 'taming' a wife, as Petruchio does in the last scene? "Petruchio: ... We three are married, but you two are sped. ..." (Act 5: Scene 2) He is making the point that Katherine may have been tamed. Yet both of the other men's wives have shown themselves to be 'shrews'. I referred above to Katherine having supposedly being 'tamed', yet we have to question why she was deemed that unacceptable to make it necessary to 'tame' her. At the time this play was written there were specific social norms, to which people had to conform, particularly in the way women were supposed to act. Shakespeare displays these in the Induction scenes, through Bartholomew. As part of the deceit, which is inflicted upon Christopher Sly in the Induction scenes, we are introduced to a
The Taming of the Shrew: In Petruchio's Trash
In The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio is one of the main characters and aides in the flow of the plot. He is what some would call the male version of a "gold digger"; someone looking to marry solely for financial gain instead of focusing on what most look for-chemistry (or attraction), morals, overall character, and, most importantly, love. From this piece of information alone, Petruchio's character and beliefs are revealed quite clearly as we are able to infer that he is only looking for one thing. His desire for money is his first priority, whether it comes along with an "angel", or, in this case, a shrew. After learning of Petruchio's mannerism, it should be of no surprise to learn of the lengths he would go to get what he wants. It is easy, in this case, to discover the items that would be found be found in Petruchio's trash. Starting deep down in Petruchio's trash can, one can find an old newspaper ad, specifically a personal ad, for one none other than Petruchio. This personal ad includes the title "Wanted: Rich Woman Ready to Marry". Based on the title, there is no doubt that there weren't many responses to Petruchio's advertisement. This proves the theory that poor Petruchio would go to great lengths to find wealth-although it is a great shame that he should have to go so far as to resort to using a newspaper ad. However, this advertisement was found in a
How do you respond to Shakespeare's presentation of Katherina in the play? You may confine yourself to two scenes of your choice or range more widely if you prefer.
Julia Cloke How do you respond to Shakespeare's presentation of Katherina in the play? You may confine yourself to two scenes of your choice or range more widely if you prefer. Katherina, at the beginning of the play, is shown as having many problems with her family. The inability of Kate's family to understand or deal with her is only a symptom of a greater underlying problem: the world in which Kate lives. Kate is obviously a highly intelligent, witty and spirited woman; however, the domestic Paduan woman's world leaves her no outlet in which to express her gifts. Padua has no place for Kate, and therefore rejects her as vile-tempered and laughable. Gremio dismisses her: "You may go to the devil's dam; your gifts are so great, here's none will hold you." (I.i.105-6). She is notorious throughout the city for her temper, and has been subject to humiliation and ridicule; the sarcasm with which she defends herself only adds to her image. A need for love and acceptance has turned to self-hatred, aggressiveness and defensiveness. Herein lies Kate's biggest problem. She is unable to let anyone in. Contrasting this is the 'perfect' woman, her sister Bianca, who appears to be well mannered and knows her place in society is under her father, or once married, her husband. Having such contradictory characters makes Katherina's harsh tongue seem even more extreme and allows the other
The Taming of the Shrew - Petruchio and Katherina's relationship.
Everyone has an opinion about Petruchio and Katherina's relationship. What is yours? There are many possible interpretations of the relationship between Petruchio and Katherina. A very superficial reading of the play might lead one to conclude for instance that it is an extremely sexist relationship and shows a man like Petruchio taking control of a 'shrew' like woman, in order to gain a dowry, the methods he uses both physically violent and psychologically crushing. Another interpretation might be that the play portrays a man and a woman, both of them hot headed and determined, working through their difficulties with one another, using exaggerated comic actions. A more feasible explanation probably lies somewhere between these two extremes, or as a clever compromise between the two. This essay sets out to debate whether or not the relationship between Petruchio and Katherina has some depth, or whether it is simply a demonstration of the gross sexism displayed towards women in Elizabethan society. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that this play is purely sexist and that the relationship between Katherina and Petruchio has nothing to do with love. For instance, when we first meet Katherina she is treated with contempt even by her father; he tries to marry her off to two older men Gremio or Hortensio. They refuse her and call her a "wench" and "mad", Baptista her
The story of The Taming of the Shrew is one that raises important issues both in the Shakespearean text and in the modern appropriation 10 Things I Hate About You. How does each composer's use of this story reflect the time in which each was composed?
YEAR 11 PRELIMINARY EXTENSION ENGLISH ASSESSMENT TASK MODULE - Texts, Culture and Value TASK - Appropriation of a Key Text from the Past Critical Essay QUESTION - The story of The Taming of the Shrew is one that raises important issues both in the Shakespearean text and in the modern appropriation 10 Things I Hate About You. How does each composer's use of this story reflect the time in which each was composed? Critical Response - The story of The Taming of the Shrew is one that raises important issues both in the classic Shakespearean text and in the modern appropriation 10 Things I Hate About You. Despite the differences in the style of language, medium used and the changed values, the idea behind the two is similar. In both texts, the story is of a wild girl, the 'shrew', who then goes through the process of 'being tamed' by a man who is paid to marry her, or go out with her in the case of the film. The play is written by the great play writer, William Shakespeare, and the film is directed by Gil Junger. How women are viewed as and treated in society has changed over time and this is portrayed in the two different texts, and so is role of men. The nature of the relationship between men and women are also different between Shakespeare's play and Junger's film. It is in the way that Shakespeare and Junger has composed each piece that differs it from each other, thus