The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew was a clear demonstration of the role of women in Elizabethan society. In Elizabethan society women played the role that depicted them as lower than men. They were basically slaves. The most evident example of this is the character of Katherina, who embodies Shakespeare’s way of demonstrating to his audience the improper way to behave. The whole concept of Petruchio’s “taming” of Katherina is the author’s way of displaying how women should behave and what their role should be in a marriage. Ultimately, the treatment of women during the progress of the play reveals to us their position in an Elizabethan community.
When we are first introduced to Katherina, she is known throughout Padua as “Katherine the curst” (line 126, I, I), a “devil” (line 66, I, I) and a “friend of hell” (line 87, I, I).
How could a woman be the recipient of such a terrible reputation throughout the entire town? Katherina is an outspoken and very opinionated woman who speaks her mind whenever she deems it necessary. She is also bad tempered and is known for her eruptive outbursts towards people. All of these traits are apparent to the reader within the first time the audience is acquainted with her. During the Elizabethan era, women under no circumstances would have, or even been encouraged to act this way. The Author’s original audience for the play would certainly have had definite preconceptions about the role of women, which are different from society ‘s conceptions today. In the sixteenth century, people held as their institutions and laws bore out, that in marriage the man was to have supreme control and the role of women was at home. The last thing a man wanted was an unruly, stubborn aggressive wife who would not obey his orders. Men preferred a more manageable and obedient wife, similar to the sister of Katherina, Bianca. This is why men of Padua want to win her hand in marriage, and Katherina is tossed aside as a possible wife.
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The way in which Shakespeare depicted to his audience how a woman should behave was through Petruchio’s taming of Katherina. Petruchio desperately wanted a wife, not to mention the large sum of money that came along with her, showing that he did not care at all about her personality. Hortensio says he knows the perfect girl but warns him of her shrewish corrupt behavior. As Petruchio immediately recognizes, her bad tempered disposition needs to be conveyed through a different channel, and he realizes that this can be accomplished through the act of taming her, and twisting her mind into his own creation. Petruchio begins his plan by telling Katherina how beautiful she is and how many good things that he has heard about her, even though most of the stories about Katherina are awful. He continues by telling her of his plan to marry her, despite her refusal. Once Baptista validates the marriage between Katherina and Petruchio, Petruchio is determined to proceed with his plan to tame his newly found mate. When they return to his home, Petruchio immediately scolds the servants, insisting that she is being served bad food, and denying the starving Katherina any food. He explains his actions by saying:
Thus I have politically begun my reign, And ’tis my hope to end successfully. My falcon now is sharp and passing empty, and till she stoop she must not be full-gorged, For then she never looks upon her lure. Another way I have to man my haggard, To make her come and know her keeper’s call:
That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites
That bate and beat and will not be obedient.
She ate no meat today, nor non she shall eat.
Last night she slept not, nor tonight shall she not.
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(line 176-199, IV, I)
In this speech Petruchio refers to Katherina as a “haggard” which is a wild hawk. Petruchio says he means to tame Katherina as a hunter tames a falcon, by keeping her without food. He announces that tonight he intends to find fault with the making of the bed in order that she will get no sleep, pretending that all he does is “in reverend care of her”(line 192, IV, I).
Petruchio compares his wife to a falcon ; his wife should listen and obey him as a falcon obeys it’s trainer. Later in the play we see that Petruchio’s plan has worked successfully and Katherina is now a tamed wife as a result of Petruchio’s plan. This is proven by Katherina’s words at the end of the play:
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign : one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance ; commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and by land,
To watch the nights in storms the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks, and true obedience-
little payment for so great a dept.
Such little duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such, a woman oweth her husband;
(lines 147-157, V, II)
Katherina then admits her former weakness and is now prepared, if Petruchio so wishes it, to place her hand beneath his foot. This demonstrates the proper way for women to behave during the sixteenth century.
Enfin, Shakespeare unveils the role of women in an Elizabethan community by exposing the manner in which women are treated by men throughout the play – as possessions. The most evident example of this would be the contest between the men over who will be the best suitor for Baptista’s daughter Bianca. Bianca has absolutely no say about who she wants to marry. Rather, the wealthiest man will be the man chosen to marry Bianca. Another prime example of this treatment would be when Petruchio claims he wants to marry Katherina. Despite Katherina’s refusal to marry him, she is forced to do so by her father. The form in which the women are to be married is like an auction. The man with the highest bid wins and the women have no say in the matter. Another illustration of how the role of women in Elizabethan times was apparent at the end of the play, when Petruchio suggests a wager to the other men:
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Let’s each one send unto his wife,
And he whose wife is most obediant,
To come at first when he doth send for her,
Shall win the wager which we will propose.
(lines 135 – 146, Act V, Secene II)
The men that their wives as though they are servents of a lower status than their husbands, who should come whenever they call. Petruchio says “whose wife is most obediant” referring to their wives as though they are pets. Obediance is not a word that should describe a wife, a dog perhaps, but not a wife. The men in this play as in the men of Elizabethan times did exercise control over their wives, as it was natural for men to trat women in these ways.
As you can see, “The Taming of the Shrew” demonstrated the role of women in the sixteenth century. The author’s original Elizabethan audience would have related to the play because this was the way of life in that era. Aggressive, outspoken women, like Katherina, were scorned and dewspised by men, and were not considered what a wife was like. The way in which Petruchio intends to tame Katherina, sometimes calling her a “haggard” and equating her with an animal that has to be tamed was perfectly acceptable in Elizabethan times. Men showed power and control over women and wives, making them a lower class of citizen than men. The role of women in society in the sixteenth century was accurately portrayed in the Taming of the Shrew.
