Relationships in Taming Of The Shrew Essay

Marriage and Gender Relationships

In The Taming of the Shrew

William Shakespeare brings up many issues around marriage and gender relationships in The Taming of the Shrew, these are illustrated in the courtship and marriage of Katherine and Petruchio. In the play Katherine was always a headstrong and independent woman, until her father forces her into marriage to a man named Petruchio. An issue that is first brought up is that women are meant to be obedient and serve their husbands. This is a particularly important issue in this play, as Katherine is completely the opposite of the perfect wife however by the end of the play she has mellowed and starts to respect Petruchio. Another theme is the similarity of marriage to a business transaction. The father of the bride, in this case Baptista, pays the husband a sum of money to marry their daughter and the father would choose who his daughter would wed. Finally, the domination of the husband in the relationship, especially prevalent in the play, as Petruchio is trying to gain control over Katherine and show his authority in their marriage.

One of the main issues around marriage in The Taming of the Shrew, is that women were meant to be obedient and cater to her husbands every need. At the beginning of the play Katherine is stubborn and ill tempered. However, after a few instances of trying to assert her authority, her opinions and actions are constantly shut down by Petruchio causing her spirit to be tamed. She then starts to display obedience to her husband. The final confirmation of this is her speech at the end of the play. Some important quotes being: wwhen they are bound to serve, love, and obey," and but love, fair looks, and true obedience... This shows how women are meant to be obedient and also grateful to their husbands because they go out and work all day. All they expect in return is obedience and the wife to look after him.

Another main issue that Shakespeare presents to us in play around marriage and gender roles is the similarity of marriage to a business transaction. In Shakespeares time the father of the bride-to-be paid the husband a reasonable sum of money, known as a dowry. This led to the husband not marrying for love but for what they could gain in wealth. The father chose the husband by how well the he could provide for the wife. A quote from the text that shows Petruchios true intentions is, I come to wive it wealthily in Padua; if wealthily, then happily in Padua. This shows that to men marriage was mostly about the money and not about love for their wives.

A further issue around marriage and relationships in Shakespeares time is that women are inferior to men and they shouldnt speak their minds. At the time when The Taming of the Shrew was written, women couldnt vote or have a career and were forced to stay at home to raise children. There were no feminist protestors or people fighting for equality between genders as anyone who did would be imprisoned of killed. This attitude of women being inferior to men and not speaking their minds is extremely evident in this play. An extreme example of this is when Kate and Petruchio are travelling back to Padua. Petruchio remarks Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the moon! when it is in fact the middle of the day. Kate then replies by saying, The moon? The sun! It is not moonlight now. After a few minutes of arguing, Kate eventually learns that if she wants to get anywhere she must yield Petruchio is saying, regardless of her own opinion.

After reading The Taming of the Shrew, we realise that there are many issues connected with gender relationships and marriage in Shakespeares time. Women should have been dutiful toward their husbands, cater to their every need and should suppress their opinions. Women were inferior and were married off according to the wealth of their suitors, as decided by the wifes father. In conclusion, life was fairly tough for women romantically as they didnt get to choose who they spent their lives with.