Preview

Misogyny In Taming Of The Shrew

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
893 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Misogyny In Taming Of The Shrew
“For I born to tame you, Kate, and bring you from a wild Kate to Kate comfortable as household Kates.” -Petruchio
All that Taming Of The Shrew screams to its viewers, is the misogyny of Elizabethan times and the bitter resentment the church had for women.“It's the story of a ‘shrewish’ woman who is roughly subjected nd forced by her husband, It cannot fail to be controversial, and often disturbing. The Taming of the Shrew has been considered a view of the trials of marriage, a love story or ‘chick flick’ (Females Movie), a historical act on the treatment of women and a sexist portrayal of these times - the balance between misogyny and love changing with every interpretation.”I personally find the production a sexist and purely disturbing one. This story is not about love or marriage, it is about a voiceless woman, forced into marriage by an egotistic man obsessed
…show more content…
I can see that in Taming Of The Shrew, petruchio thawts Kate with his powerful traditional marriage sense of the elizabethan times, whereas in Then Things, a more liberal modern production, Kat actually gets the chance to challenge patrick because women actually have rights within this time period. But the outcomes are still different. She does end up loving Patrick and they do genuinely want to be together, but the same cannot be said for Kate and Petruchio. The two clearly don't like each other. Take it all into consideration, at what point do you see Kate lusting or not trying to escape from Petruchio? Never. The theme of masculinity and femininity has such a strong message in today's society, Ten Things is a fantastic representation of our reality now, but for Kate, we can see the truth in what came before our times. Both productions clearly outline the difference now with femininity and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Meanwhile, as the story progresses, Kate continues to grow as a wife, who is wholly committed to learning about completely satisfying her macho man, and continuing to uncover what secrets he holds onto. Her earnest efforts also leads to her…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare uses various methods to make the “taming” of Kate comical. For example, when Petruchio and Kate first meet in Act 2, Petruchio toys with Kate by doing the complete opposite of what she wants and says. For instance, when Petruchio calls her “Kate”, she replies with “They call me Katherine that do talk of me” (2.1.180) After Kate has stated that she does not wish to be referred to as “Kate”, Petruchio continues to disobey by calling her “Kate” a further 10 times. A modern audience may find this scene amusing as Kate has not been physically hurt, but teased and mocked which is common within modern comedies.…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There are many different types of relationships that women wish for. Some want a man that will daunt on their every need. Other girls wish to "wear the pants" in the relationship and even occasionally women want just to live in the same household and have sex but do not seek any kind of restraining vows. In Katherina's case she wishes to be insubordinate in any type of relationship she is forced into. On the other hand Pertruchio does not wish this in his wife so he puts down his foot to show Katherina who is the dominant and who is the submissive. In Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, he uses diction and imagery to explain Katherina and Petruchio's relationship.…

    • 120 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Petruchio never does anything like what Patrick does. Patrick has to impress her in order to date her petruchio doesn’t have to do anything for Kate, he just has to impress her father for permission which proves to be easy giving him no chance to see the beauty in her. Pertuchio tames Kate so she will do what he says and be more what he wants her to be. Patrick never tames kate if at all only in order for her to love him but either way he over all falls in love with who she really is and always has…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kate and Peruchio have a backwards relationship. Kate is in control of this relationship. I’m not saying that Peruchio doesn’t have a say so in their relationship but Kate iks more of the person who is quick to express what she feels. I think this is how it is in today’s world. Even though it has some negative outcomes with the women being so dominate, it makes men understand that women do not depend on them. Both relationship are alike because everyone plays a role in their situation. They also have someone who stands in control and someone who follows. By this happening it allows for the…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In 'Taming of the Shrew' a bad wife is portrayed as loud, doesn't do immediately as husband bids, is hostile, and uncooperative. One can say that Katherine's actions are understandable due to her being pushed aside by her father and forced into an unwanted marriage with Petruchio, him as the sole beneficiary of the agreement (or disagreement) due to his bet. The concept of marriage as a whole is treated as a joke in the play. The end of the script concludes with Katherine's long speech informing the two other wives about the joke they are told to act.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Taming Of The Shrew Quotes

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the beginning of the play Kate is "consistently in opposition to everything around her"2, meanwhile "Bianca obeys so gently and with such sweet submission that it is obvious why she is Baptista's favorite daughter"2. In the end of the play, the roles switch and Katherina is submissive to every word of Petruchio and Bianca resists the commands of her new husband.…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The female ideas on courtship/dating in this movie is very different from in Shakespeare's writing. For example, in the modern movie it is more common to date and isn't so serious as in the writing of “The Taming of the Shrew” because they ordinarily get married young. Shakespeare made the…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Feminism did not begin in any organized form until 1848 with the Seneca Falls convention, and “women began to realise that in order to transform society they would need their own organisations to do so”(Greenberg). Knowing this, it is obvious that feminism did not exist during Shakespeare’s era, and he was essentially doing something no one had ever had the gall to attempt before. In The Taming of the Shrew, he created a strong willed woman who voiced her opinions and refused to be married off like a object. Most notable in this play is how Shakespeare presents the men; each one in the play is powerful, wealthy, handsome, or a combination of the three, as there is no man that does not have some ability to get what he wants. Yet Shakespeare uses extreme amount of humor, much of it crude due to his being influenced by Marlowe, and intelligent female characters to make the men seem like egotistical idiots. It may have been a social norm to act like an arrogant fool in the Renaissance, but as time goes on and Shakespeare’s plays only become more popular, it becomes more and more obvious that the men and women in the novel are on completely different intelligence levels. Although having only two female characters, The Taming of the Shrew passes the Bechdel Test, which is a social…

    • 1755 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “Shrews” and “Tyrants” are explored in Macbeth and the Taming of the Shrew through generic contextual gender stereotypes. Shakespeare outlines the controversy of gender roles during the Renaissance period; these works have become ever more dubious as ideas of feminism have in recent years overcome most misogynistic concepts. The exploration of the perception of masculinity and women being outsiders in both plays has been interpreted by many directors and actors; they remodel the plays in order to highlight the changes in the views of the audiences by reinforcing or discouraging the gender roles.…

    • 2016 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Taming of the Shrew

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the Shakespearean play The Taming of the Shrew, Katherine is perceived to be a “shrew” because of her uncontrolled hostility and impudent behavior. Some believe at the end of the play Petrucchio tamed Katherine. However, she was not tamed. Katherine was rude to her father because he tried to control her life. Katherine so badly wanted to be in charge of her own decisions and for that reason she would not become tame for any man, even her father. Katherine also shows no sign of trying to make ends meet with Bianca throughout the whole course of the play. Katherine began to obey Petrucchio only because he took her needs away. When Petrucchio treated Katherine poorly, she changed because she had to; she never lost herself or her old ways completely. Katherine is both static and dynamic in the sense that she changed in some ways when the circumstances left her with no choice, but deep down she stayed true to herself.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Petruchio

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Petruchio’s behaviour is well planned and intended to mirror Katherine’s shrewdness because he wants her to change without her knowing what Petruchio’s plan is. He explains that he will tame Katherine as a falconer trains a hawk; through starvation and sleep deprivation. He starts by yelling at the servants and preventing her from eating by insisting that the dishes are not good enough for her (p.184, line 150) “ Tis burnt and so is all meat…” He then offers Kate presents of dresses and jewellery, only to return them saying that they weren’t good enough (p.197 line 66) “… why,’ tis a…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Taming of the Shrew Paper

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Kate proves to be a dominant and strong woman in the beginning of the novel, who does not back down to anybody. Kate’s loud personality allows her words to be strong against men. When Petruchio first meets Kate, he acts as though he is above her, but she does not let him feel superior. She answers his ignorant talk with, “To comb your noddle with a three-legged stool / And paint your face and use you like a fool” (Shakespeare 1.1.65-6). Kate’s independence and will out speaks anyone who tries to confront her. She is not content unless she has her way, and will never give into another’s will if she does not agree. Kate can also talk back to men without being afraid of the consequences. In a fight with Petruchio she states, “If I be waspish, best beware my sting” (Shakespeare 2.1.223). Unlike many women of the time, Kate does not consider the consequences her words could have on her after she speaks. She shows her independence and how she will not let anyone come over her. Further, Kate’s demeanor is something that the men in the play do not normally see. The men are unable to understand her, let alone able to tame her. Garner explains it well with, “We come to understand, perhaps, that Kate does not deserve this kind of denunciation, that the male characters rail so against her because she refuses to…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Katherina Minola

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Katherina Minola agrees to obey Petruchio in the final scene as she claims in her big speech, that once married, women are a property of the husband, like the church is a subject unto Christ, so the wives should be their husbands everything. This is shown in line 155 when Katherina Minola says that “such duty as the subject owes the prince.” She believes in this, as throughout her time with Petruchio, she has not got what she has wanted due to her aggressive behaviour before, and Petruchio giving a tastes of her own medicine by acting like how she was perceived to be by others, made her realise that going at him straight on the way she had done her whole life was not working at all, but by seeming to obey him, she finds a better way to get what she wants. Upon seeing Bianca and the Widows’ behavior, gives her a chance to not only please Petruchio but also show them the journey of ‘taming’ she had went through in order to gain love from her husband and what she wanted. She compares this relationship yet again with one’s husband being the leader of the wife, like Christ being the leader of the church, which is shown in line 147 with “thy husband is thy lord, they life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign; one that loves for thee.” Overall, the main reason why she obeyed her husband in the last scene was to please Petruchio so she could get what she wanted through love form her husband.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Strangers

    • 125508 Words
    • 503 Pages

    can’t let go of Kate because she’s the only woman able to see the man he wants to be.…

    • 125508 Words
    • 503 Pages
    Powerful Essays