Preview

Taming Of The Shrew Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
615 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Taming Of The Shrew Research Paper
The Taming of the Shrew
The transformation of the aggressively ill-tempered Katharine into a trophy wife has made Shakespeare’s romantic comedy one of his most controversial works. Modern audiences in particular have found fault with this story due to the social injustices that it contains. Despite the controversy, William Shakespeare’s enduring play, The Taming of the Shrew, makes a statement on the influence that social roles have on individual fulfillment. It demonstrates the different restraints that come out of society’s set standards and expectations. In his tale of witty proportions, Shakespeare comments on society’s effect on personal happiness through the pressure of conformity, through the economic aspects of marriage, and
…show more content…
Age, gender, occupation, lineage, education and of course wealth decide each person’s role and status. For example, Katherine and her sister are upper-class maidens who are in need of suitors, Lucentio has the role of a young wealthy student, and Traino is merely a servant. They are forced to cope with the lives they have been dealt and have little room for fulfillment outside their social bubbles. Kate, however, serves to demonstrate the downfall of neglecting the social norm. As a result she is deemed a bitter shrew and her harsh qualities stem from her frustrations regarding her social position. Therefore, she has no choice but to confront the cruel disapproval of her family and friends and becomes miserable in her alienation. Kate stands as the sole character who refuses to conform and fights against her socially stipulated position.

Different from most romantic comedies, this play is mainly about love beyond the

wedding. It gives an outlook on the lives of married couples which highlights how love can be

socially motivated in a sense. Although emotional desire does hold significance in the play, the economic aspects of marriage are specifically emphasized. Economic factors greatly

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    to accept this undesirable assignment causes her to become a rebel against the abuse, pain…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kate has promyelocytic leukemia. Her sister Anna Fitzgerald, who is born to undergo numerous of surgeries, including blood withdraws, a painful bone marrow and even her kidney, to keep her sister Kate alive. The mother of these two daughters, Sara Fitzgerald describes Kate’s chemotherapy and the pain she endures in detail through her chapters. Sara and Brian's relationship goes to an extent where they begin to treat each other like…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    She was constantly trying to fulfil her feeling of dissatisfaction, trying to find multiple ways to rid herself of the sickening feeling, but nothing she did helped. Her dissatisfaction was the centre of her life.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Her character highlights the important roles of women in the “Wild West” and breaks their dainty image. Pages 27-28 describe her early life where her mother became the sole supporter as she picked up jobs in housekeeping after the death of both her father and his failing ranch. Kate quite literally lives in a pile of dirt, as it is considered an improvement. On page 147, Kate is feeding chickens, horses, and milking cows before her chores are interrupted by an unconscious husband. She’s expected to maintain everything at home while her husband is off stealing cattle, striking, and having multiple run ins with the law. Throughout the majority of the novel, she’s pregnant…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How is it possible for a play written in the Renaissance period to display social, cultural and economic constructs that are still evident and relevant in the 21st century?…

    • 1605 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    They too are abandoned by people in their life. The first one to leave is Charlie Kate’s husband. Margaret, her granddaughter tells the story, “How did my grandmother react when her husband let his supper go cold? … Nobody would note the breadth of her pride. Well, nobody except my mother, who watched and learned. This is what she learned: A man will leave you”(13-14, Gibbons). This was the kickstart of their journey, because as it is the moment where Charlie Kate had to keep her life going even through her husband walked out. Her husband was a support pillar for her, but once he leaves it is taken away.…

    • 1344 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Crow Lake

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To begin with, Kate Morrison is plagued by the guilt of her bother, Matt’s broken dreams. As a consequence, the guilt causes many emotional problems in her life. For instance, the constant mental pressures of guilt causes Kate’s “crisis” during one of her zoology lectures. “Because if things had turned out differently, it would have been Matt standing in front of them” (Lawson, pg. 200). During a lecture, Kate has a flashback about a childhood visit to the ponds with Matt. It is clear that Kate feels guilty for leaving Matt, who was her idol as well as her brother, behind. He taught her not only to see nature but to observe and understand it; and Kate feels that it is injustice that she should be teaching others when Matt taught her “everything” she knows. Furthermore, Katie is always in an emotional battle with her own mind due to the guilt she felt for Matt’s situation. “I had betrayed him, that was how I felt” (Lawson, pg. 201). Even though she knows Matt had caused his own demise, deep inside her mind, she feels that it was her own fault. This feeling causes her to fight with herself. Her situation shows that Kate could never come to terms with what had happened to her family and what had become of the Morrison dream. Finally, Kate’s guilt causes her to lose communication with Matt, which hurts their relationship. “What are you actually researching Kate? I don’t think you’ve ever said” (Lawson, pg. 274). It is plainly obvious that Matt is interested in…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Esperanza Rising Analysis

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages

    variety of contrasting emotions that embattle her life from the moment her world took a onehundred…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    While at Warrington Marina is in a dorm with seven other girls all of who appear happy in life on the outside but through observation she knows that these other girls also have their own problems within their families that they are also trying to deal with.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 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

    Divergent Theme Analysis

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages

    and order of what occurred in the society. This control gives them an important role and…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many lives are ruled by a need to fit in and conform to the ideals of society. William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew centers around the two sisters, Bianca and Katherine and their marriages. Kate, an unpleasant and undesirable woman, unwillingly marries Petruchio who attempts to tame her. Bianca is the ideal woman who is pursued by many men. The play was written in 1590 and set in Italy, when submission and obedience were expected of women while men took powerful positions. Societal expectations motivate men and women.…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare, is a very notorious play that has been rewritten and turned into multiple Hollywood films. One very popular version of the famous play is the movie directed by Mr. Franco Zeffirelli. Although most think that this version is the most accurate representation of the original play, there are still many distinct differences.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hearing that I had to read The Taming of the Shew, I was not enthusiastic at all. I read the play previously in my eighth grade literature class, years ago, and I have not been a Shakespeare fan since then. Also, if I had the power to ban Shakespeare from any educational curriculum, then I probably would. I believe that Shakespeare belongs in a History class or a class just on Shakespeare, for its dated, old, and not quite fit for many modern English learners like myself.…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the end, society’s happiness depends on everyone playing his or her prescribed roles. The play has the idea that a person’s apparel determines their social position. A servant could put on clothes as an upper class tutor but in the end that person is still a servant. It is like this with Tranio who is also Lucentio has to give up his cover in the end to be able to get married with…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays