The Battle Of The Sexes In Taming Of The Shrew<\/p>\n
Shakespeare\u2019s play The Taming of the Shrew raises some controversial issues about the roles of spouses and wives, the place of women in society, the expectations of marriage and more. A main topic throughout the play is Petruchio\u2019s \u201ctaming\u201d of Katherina and her eventual submission. Petruchio can be looked at in one of two ways- as a \u201ccruel, unfeeling bully\u201d or a \u201cman who brings Katherina self-knowledge and contentment\u201d. The way in which Petruchio\u2019s manner is viewed depends on the historical context. In the 16th century, Petruchio\u2019s attitude toward Katherina was accepted and normal. This is because women were not seen as equal to men. In the 21st century, where women are equal to men, Petruchio\u2019s method would not be tolerated. I will be using the historical context of the 21st century to contend that Petruchio was a \u201ccruel, unfeeling bully\u201d, because I believe that the attitude toward women in the 21st century is the correct one of the two.<\/p>\n
From the beginning, Petruchio does not see Kate as an opportunity to be happily married, but a chance to get rich and conquer her. When Hortensio tells Petruchio about Katherina, Petruchio says that it matters not how horrible she is, so long as she has money: \u201cI come to wive it wealthily in Padua \/ If wealthily, then happily in Padua\u201d (Act I; Scene 2; lines 72-73). Later, during his first meeting with Baptista, Petruchio is eager to settle financial matters with him, even before he meets Kate: \u201cWhat dowry shall I have with her to wife\u201d (Act II; Scene 1; lines 116) and
\n\u201cLet specialties be therefore drawn before us, \/ That convenants may be kept on either hand.\u201d (Act II; Scene 1; lines 122-123). Petruchio has no respect for any reasons that Katherina might have for getting married, such as love. He therefore fits the bill of a \u201ccruel, unfeeling bully\u201d by seeing marriage as a business opportunity with no consideration of Katherina\u2019s wishes.<\/p>\n
The way that Petruchio acts toward Katherina is also indicative of his insensitive nature. When he and Katherina first meet, instead of being friendly and cordial, Petruchio is already scheming to tame her by being indirect and annoying: \u201cSay that she rail, why then I\u2019ll tell her plain \/ She sings sweetly as a nightingale.\u201d (Act II; Scene 1; lines 165-166)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Battle Of The Sexes In Taming Of The Shrew Shakespeare\u2019s play The Taming of the Shrew raises some controversial issues about the roles of spouses and wives, the place of women in society, the expectations of marriage and more. A main topic throughout the play is Petruchio\u2019s \u201ctaming\u201d of Katherina and her eventual submission. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-america"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gih.al-emam.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gih.al-emam.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gih.al-emam.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gih.al-emam.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gih.al-emam.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=859"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gih.al-emam.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":860,"href":"https:\/\/gih.al-emam.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859\/revisions\/860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gih.al-emam.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gih.al-emam.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gih.al-emam.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}