Context Taming of the Shrew - 1767 Words

The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, and it shares many essential characteristics with his other romantic comedies, such as Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. These characteristics include light-hearted and slapstick humor, disguises and deception, and a happy ending in which most of the characters come out satisfied. The light-heartedness of these romantic comedies contrasts sharply with the darker humor and deeper characterization of Shakespeare’s later plays, both comic and tragic. The youthfulness of the playwright can be seen in the unusual spirit of the early plays. Like the other romantic comedies, The Taming of the Shrew focuses on courtship and marriage, but, unlike most of them, it†¦show more content†¦The ultimate answer is no, of course. In The Taming of the Shrew, society involves a web of experiences that are always able to uncover one’s true nature, no matter how differently one wishe s to portray oneself. Tranio, disguised as Lucentio, needs only to bump into Vincentio, and his true identity surfaces. As Petruchio implies on his wedding day, a garment is simply a garment, and the person beneath remains the same no matter what disguise is worn. The motif of domestication is shown in the play’s title by the word â€Å"taming.† A great part of the action consists of Petruchio’s attempts to cure Katherine of her antisocial hostility. Katherine is thus frequently referred to as a wild animal that must be domesticated. Petruchio considers himself, and the other men consider him, to be a tamer who must train his wife, and most of the men secretly suspect at first that her wild nature will prove too much for him. After the wedding, Petruchio and Katherine’s relationship becomes increasingly defined by the rhetoric of domestication. Petruchio speaks of training her like a â€Å"falcon† and plans to â€Å"kill a wife with kindness.† Hortensio even conceives of Petruchio’s house as a place where other men may learn how to domesticate women, calling it a â€Å"taming-school.† The several father/child relationships in the play—Baptista/Bianca, Baptista/Katherine, Vincentio/Lucentio—focus on parents dealing with children ofShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, The Taming of1100 Words   |  5 Pages William Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, is an embodiment of the context in which the text was shaped, the Renaissance. The Renaissance period was a time of progression, primarily in the areas of art, science, humanism, religion and self-awareness. The Renaissance focused on taking elements of the past including religion, art and science and adapting them to make them better. Humanists advocated for the freedom of the individualsRead More The Changing Meaning of The Taming of The Shrew Essay873 Words   |  4 PagesThe Changing Meaning of The Taming of The Shrew    Through the ages, it is common for words to change in meaning. As the world around us changes, words often take on new meanings to accommodate the changes in lifestyle and society caused by progress. Thus, it is easy to become confused when reading literature that was written several centuries before, since the very same words may hold varying significance. In The Taming of the Scold, D.E. Underdown offers background information which makesRead MoreThemes in Taming of the Shrew1433 Words   |  6 PagesThe Taming of the Shrew is a comedy written in the early 1590’s by William Shakespeare. This play within a play starts when a powerful lord plays a prank on a poor, drunken man named Christopher Sly. The lord convinces the poor man that he is actually a lord himself and that the troop of actors that have arrived are there to perform a play for him. This play that the troop of actors performs is the story of Petruchio, who wants to marry for money, and Katherina, the shrew. The two actually marryRead MoreTaming of the Shrew/ 10 Things I Hate About You1584 Words   |  7 PagesThe 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 composers use of this story reflect the time in which each was composed The Taming of the Shrew was written in the Elizabethan Era in England at a time when men were considered to be superior to women. The patriarchal society of this time is reflected to a large extent in the text and various implications of traditionalRead MoreTaming Of The Shrew And 10 Thing I Hate About You1063 Words   |  5 Pagesisn’t the only thing that is valuable in this world. Although in many film texts this is not the case. Particularly in â€Å"Taming of the Shrew† and â€Å"10 Thing I Hate About You† because in both of the films, the main male characters Patrick and Petruchio are predominantly motivated by money. However, they ended up falling for Kat and Katharina who have been set up as the archetypal shrews in both films. During the Elizabethan era money was a major factor that influenced society’s view of your personal wealthRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew1132 Words   |  5 PagesIn order for two comparative texts to develop ones understa nding of shared themes and ideas they must over come the boundaries of differing contexts and explore the strong parallels between them. Shakespeare’s play â€Å"The Taming of the Shrew† (1590-1592) was composed during the Elizabethan era in contrast to Gil Junger’s â€Å"10 Things I Hate About You† (1999) set around 1990s America. Although the diverse time periods their correlating plots are indicators of appropriation and pronounce an intertextualRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew Analysis732 Words   |  3 PagesPerforming Marriage with a Difference: Wooing, Wedding, and Bedding in The Taming of the Shrew Amy L. Smith Even before the recent burgeoning of performance theory, The Taming of the Shrew was of great interest to critics interested in role playing , identity, and theatricality. And because Kates taming and her performative speech both take place in a play-within-a-play, Taming fostered a critical interest in the intersection between performanc e and gender long before the phrasegender troubleRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew And 10 Things I Hate About You Directed By Gil Junger1365 Words   |  6 PagesShakespeare’s audience.† – Dorothea Kehler Detecting intertextual relationships between The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare and 10 Things I Hate About You directed by Gil Junger has enriched my understanding of feminism in the American society. The Taming of The Shrew, written in 1593, challenges cultural expectations of women’s rights at that time. 10 Things I Hate About You however, was produced to fit the context of 1990’s America. A period when a great deal of anxiety was focused on adolescentRead MoreTheme Of Taming Of The Shrew1116 Words   |  5 PagesThe Taming of the Shrew: Moment Analysis Particular moments in William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew have a special significance in regard to the overall meaning of the play. One such moment is when Petruchio and Katherine talk about â€Å"how bright and goodly shines the moon,† (Shakespeare 13). At this moment, the insistent Petruchio pressures Katherine to refer to the sun as the moon. After a brief tussle of wits, Petruchio acquiesces and agrees to adopt the line of thought forced on to herRead MoreEssay about Taming of the Shrew: Movie vs. Play807 Words   |  4 Pages William Shakespeares The Taming of the Shrew is an interesting story that demonstrates the patriarchal ideas of how a marriage is suppose to be according to society, what is acceptable of a womans role in a relationship. Its a story that has many things to show for its been remade, and remade, even slightly altered to better relate to the teenage audience. The story is about two sisters Katherine and Bianca. Bianca has a suitor who would like to marry her, Lucentio, but the only