Taming Of The Shrew Essay

'..let it not displease thee, good Bianca, for I will love thee ne'er the less, my girl.' ..more.Middle After a long time of waiting Petruchio finally arrives.

But we can -- especially if we use the lenses of gender and queer theory -- see that Shakespeare has written a comedic play that nevertheless allows for heroism to come through.

At least Taming of the shrew is one of the most memorable and prominent Shakespearean comedies.

The last speech offered by Kate is also very telling: she speaks now as an absolutely tamed wife, who believes that her husband is just like a prince to her and that she owes him complete obedience for it: "Such duty as the subject owes the prince / Even such a woman oweth to her husband; / and when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour, / and not obedient to his honest will, / What is she but a foul contending rebel / and graceless traitor to her loving lord?

"(Shakespeare, 89) Thus, women and men had fixed roles in the Elizabethan society: the man was the active and the strong person, who waged wars and made a fortune, while the woman had to be the servant of her husband, her only duty…

Katherina then speaks and we begin to understand why these men aren't too fond of her temper.

Taming Of The Shrew Essay

'..comb your noddle with a three-legg'd stool and paint your face and use you like a fool.' (L.64-65) She says she is going to hit him on the head with a stool and paint his face with blood. It seems first impressions aren't in Kate's favour as Tranio, who has only known Kate a few minutes, comments, 'That wrench is stark mad, or wonderful forward.' (L.69) He is saying she is bad-tempered.

He thus curbs her will by making her dependent on his own temper and desires.

While it can be said that Petruchio's purpose is to tame Kate by turning her own weapons on herself, the way in which he abuses of his power is obviously degrading for the wife.

Thus, in the society of Shakespeare's time, the women were no more than possessions of the men, with no power or freedom of their own.

Petruchio's speech soon after his marriage to Kate is very relevant in this sense.