Taming of the Shrew 3
William Shakespeare was one of the greatest poets of all time. What made him that poet? Why hasn't he been forgotten? One answer was the fact that he wrote about ideas and concerns that remain close at heart with people of all cultures and backgrounds. His plays were not confined to local politics, and the ever changing religious practices of people at the time. Shakespeare sought a stronger base for his writings, a base that would not crumble with the tides of change. His plays displayed the elementary ideas of love, marriage, family, values, class distinctions, and relationships between men and women. While his plays may have been affected by the political and religious arenas around him, one can clearly see that Shakespeare chose subjects that would touch the heart, while not bruising a person's pride. The Taming of the Shrew had four main subjects: 1) marriage, 2) money, 3) class distinctions, and 4) love. While marriage and courtship were the main focal points of this play, the other three subjects were made very obvious. Shakespeare chose these elements for his play not solely because they were basic, he chose them because they grasped people's lives in his day. While these subjects reache
I do not sleep; I see, I hear, I speak; In this line Shakespeare pointed out that as long as another person had enough money in their possession, it did not matter how they acted, looked, or how old they were, the most important bond in the marriage was not love, but instead it was money. The key figure deciding who the bride would marry was not the bride. A woman's father chose a husband for them from their class. There was a distinct class division in this marriage decision. Some may have argued that this play was sexist, misogynistic, and patriarchal, Only one of the three descriptions was true. For the time, this play was not sexist. There was no hint as to men hating women, after all, it was a play about marriage. The patriarchy of this play remained unquestioned. Men were obviously the ones that had authority over women. Yet in that case, Queen Elizabeth remained in power over Great Britain. While writing the play Shakespeare was influenced by the world surrounding him. These influences included the world's views of women, men, and various other aspects that existed in that time. Though Shakespeare was writing a play that showed a different side of women, he didn't write about women needing to be saved, if he did think that then he would have written a play specifically on these issues. Women's rights activists shouldn't fret about this play, mainly because Shakespeare not only referred to Kate as a Shrew, but he also referred to Petruchio as being a shrew, while linking Kate (a shrew) to another MAN in the induction that went by the name of Christopher Sly. Due to this information, Shakespeare was referring to an attitude, not a sex. Sirs, I will practice on this drunken man. Upon seeing the changes in Sly, one can conclude that he either began to think he was a different person, or just went along with the situation. In either case, this proves the induction fits perfectly in place with the main play. While characters and events may be different, one of the themes remains the same, that theme is what one should look for in this play. Therefore the next logical question remains, what exactly is the theme?
Some common words found in the essay are:
Schrew Act, Taming Shrew, William Shakespeare, Induction Lord, Queen Elizabeth, Induction II, Kate Sly, Induction Lines, Sly Lord, Signoir Hortensio, christopher sly, main play, taming shrew, christopher sly induction, sly lord, changed actions, sly induction, play sexist, writing play, kate shrew, shakespeare chose, served agree words, lord served agree, house lord served, brought house lord,
Approximate Word count = 2617
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
