The Taming of the Shrew written by William Shakespeare is a comedy that satirizes sill or unfair social customs, often through farce. The play engages the audience in a world of humour and sometimes humiliation. The plays enthralling storyline and plot are extremely effective and interesting. The play is set in the 16th century. The action in the 5 act play takes place in various locations in Padua, Italy. Padua is in northern Italy, about 30 miles west of Venice.
As the title of play suggests, the play is based around the taming of a shrew. Baptista, a rich Italian merchant in the city of Padua, has two daughters, Katherina and Bianca. The younger of the two is Bianca, sweet and polite, although manipulative and insincere, who wants to get married. She is being energetically courted by, not one, but two suitors. First, however, a husband must be found for the elder daughter, Katherina, who is anything but docile. Katherina prides herself on having a violent and fiery temper. Everyone is afraid of the volatile and unhappy Katherina; it seems except for a new fellow in town. Petruchio is a vibrant young man, whose sole aim is to find a rich wife. After acquainting themselves, the two main characters (Petruchio and Katherina) get married, after a period of time. Due to Katherina's fiery temper, Petruchio attempts to tame Katherina by overwhelming her throughout a series of carefully thought and calculated plans, with care and consideration. As suggested in the quote, kill her with kindness.
As a romantic comedy, the play focuses principally, on the romantic relationships between man and women as they develop from initial interest into marriage. The Taming of the Shrew does not conclude its examination of love and marriage with the wedding, as it is ongoing.
Another important theme uses would be on the subject of taming. Some women must be tamed, like wild animals. Petruchio uses the same tactics to tame Katherina that he uses to tame hunting birds and other animals.
The Taming of the Shrew emphasises on the economic aspects of marriage. The play tends to explore romantic relationships from a social perspective, addressing the institutions of courtship and marriage rather than the inner passions of lovers. As such, marriage becomes a transaction involving the transfer of money. For example, when Lucentio wins Biancas heart, he is given permission to marry her only after he is able to convince Baptista that he is fabulously rich.
Another theme would be social position or status. Such things as his or her wealth, age, gender, profession and education define a characters social position. I.e. Lucentio occupies the social of a wealthy young student, and Bianca and Katherina the roles of two upper-class young maidens in waiting. Nevertheless, as the play shows, in reality, Katherina wants nothing to do with her social role, and her shrewishness results directly from her frustration concerning her position.
The shrew, Katherina is sharp-tongued, quick tempered, and prone to violence. Nevertheless, her anger and rudeness disguises her deep-seated sense of insecurity and her jealousy toward her sister. She does not resist her suitor Petruchio forever, and she eventually subjugates herself to him, despite her precious repudiation of marriage.
On the other hand, Petruchio is loud, boisterous, eccentric, quick-witted and frequently drunk. He has come to Padua to wive and thrive. He wishes for nothing more than a woman with an enormous dowry, and he finds Katherina to be a perfect fit. Disregarding anyone who warns him of her shrewishness, he eventually succeeds in not only wooing Katherina as well as silencing her tongue and fiery temper.
Puns are commonly sed throughout the Taming of the Shrew. For example, when Grumio and Biondello revel in puns (frequently with mentions to sexual associations) as well as with Tranio. Bianca as well plays on the various meaning s of words as seen in 5.2.40-8.
Shakespeare uses certain language features such as proverbs, adjectives, nouns and verbs, etc. as seen in the conversation between Gremio and Hortensio in Act I Scene I. Shakespeares does this to develop the characters so that the audience has a clearer understanding of the characteristics and personality of the character, which will further get the audiences attention.
Shakespeare frequently uses imagery that compares Katherina to animals. For example, the title is a metaphor comparing Katherina to a shrew. Other metaphors compare her to animals that require considerable training before they are docile enough to serve their master. I.e. hawks, falcons, asses and horses. Shakespeare also sues imagery that compares Katherina to objects, such as flowers and hazel nuts. Both types of imagery appear in a passage in Act III Scene II as well as in Act IV Scene I.
The atmosphere of the play is truly amazing. The descriptive language along with the large amount of imagery used in the play truly brings Shakespeares writing to the optimum. It is a great 16th century play. The Taming of the Shrew is suitable for students of intermediate level preferably attending high school. The Shakespearian language is quite advanced and would be recommended to an audience with background knowledge and familiarities with Shakespeares works and language. Like any of Shakespeares work, it is a delight to review this marvellous play. I give it a confident 10/10.
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