I believe that Shakespeare had a very little understanding of women. In this play The Taming of the Shrew the women seem very flat. There is Kate; she is the proverbial "witchy" woman. The butt of jokes men think of while sitting around a campfire discussing their troubles with women, or the woman everyman wants to go out with and "conquer" to prove how really "macho" he is. Then there is Bianca; she portrays everymans fantasy of the prefect woman. Her youth, beauty, and charm desired in his world. And finally, the woman Hortensio marries the Widow. The widow is the "sugar mama" of the group. The lazy male fantasy of having a woman to love and take care of you at the same time.

My first example of the static characters of women as portrayed by Shakespeare is Kate. I believe it is a male fantasy of sorts to be t

My next example would be Bianca. She is quiet, beautiful, and weak. Everything diserable to the men around. Later we find out its somewhat an act but we won't mention this for my papers sake. She appears weak in beginning when she has had her hands tide by Kate and is being beaten by her, ActII page 78, line1 "good sister wrong me not nor yourself to make a bondmaid and a slave of me". This is Bianca showing off how weak she is, being able to be dominated by her husband.

Lastly, there is the widow whom Hortensio marries. She seems to be his caretaker, and not other way around. This is somewhat of another male fantasy, to be taken care of. And yet this also embarrasses Hortensio. He appears weak for following a woman, and not leading as Petruchio, uber-male has. This shows how Shakespeare views women as followers, and if you are lead by one, then you are

Some common words found in the essay are:
Uber-male Petruchio, Shrew Shakespeare, Taming Shrew, Shakespeare Kate, Hortensio Worse, Shrew Paper, male fantasy, taming shrew, shakespeare little understanding, believe shakespeare, little understanding, hortensio marries, shakespeare little, appears weak,
Approximate Word count = 581
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)