Analysis Of Taming Of The Sherw: A Sexist Play

Improved Essays
“Unless you lean to show a friendly smile and speak a gentle word.” Stated by Hortensio to Katharina, in act one scene one. The men in the play showed that they thought and made it where the women should not speak their mind and if they did they would be called a shrew, and the men also appear to think the females should just sit pretty and not show their real emotions. I believe The Taming of the Sherw is a sexist play. The play is sexist due to the parts where they call women shrews, also the people try to change someone because in their mind are not in the right place and the fact that men and women are not equal in the play.
Shrew a bad-tempered or aggressively assertive woman. Even though Katharina was a good description of the definition

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Subsequently, the inequalities between the genders are evident in the master plan Petruchio uses to change Katherine from a “bad girl” to a “good girl” because it depicts the extent to which patriarchal men would go to ensure their dominance over women. According to feminist theory, women who follow patriarchal standards are called “good girls” and they “are put on pedestals and idealized as pure, angelic creatures whose sense of self consists mainly or entirely of their usefulness to their husbands” (Tyson 87). Since Katherine does not follow this definition, Petruchio takes it upon himself to change her. In other words, as Critic Marianne L. Novy states, “The way [Petruchio] talks about society proves him independent of its actual judgments and ready to reverse its expectations…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    William Shakespeare captivates the audience in the comedic play The Taming Of the Shrew by raising awareness of gender inequality and the significance of money during the Elizabethan context. Themes of sexism and money are still relevant in today's society. The Taming of the shrew deeply explores the relationships of men and women creating opportunities for Shakespeare to confront the responder with questioning thoughts of the power of money and the view of sexism in the Elizabethan era. The beliefs of women and men in the Elizabethan times where very patriarchy, regarding the women as the weaker sex.…

    • 111 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the play of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, things always have a twist to them. Deception, which is defined as “the act of tricking someone by telling them something that is not true”, can be seen in the play through the main characters of deception, which are Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the witches. Women characters are portrayed as manipulative and deceiving characters throughout the play. In the very first scene, it begins with the witches saying “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”. In other words, this can be seen as advice from the witches indicating that playing “fair” will not let you achieve your ambitions, but playing “foul” will allow you to get what you want.…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Snow White Gender Analysis

    • 1522 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Since the début of the first Disney princess movie, Snow White, some sexologists have criticized the film for its theme of male dominance present throughout the scenes. Disney’s adaptations of the Brothers Grim stories of folktale such as Cinderella and Snow White, are the perfect depiction of patriarchal ascendency anticipated. The female heroines were being treated as if they were objects by the men protagonists. They were visually designed by men, both in the director perspective and the writing of the plot; women were not part of the writing part. This message existing in Snow White and Cinderella, ended when Beauty and the Beast was introduced to the public.…

    • 1522 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The representation of women in “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue,” “The Miller’s Tale,” and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, shows cultural anxieties, women’s sexuality, and inferior place in society. Each of these women defies society’s expectations of them. They all have sexual desires and have no shame in expressing that, whether it is with their husband or another man. The Wife of Bath is perhaps the most rebellious female character of the three. Medieval society was very different compared to today.…

    • 1277 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Women are supposed to take on a nurturing role. They are expected to care for the children and household. Often when a gender tries to step out of their given box they are criticized for this. These gender roles are commonly referred to today. The Taming of the Shrew speaks of these gender roles that are…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, gender stereotypes are often related to power. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth show characteristics of presenting gender stereotypes of the opposite sex. Maureen Bohan of the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG) defines gender stereotypes as “Preconceived ideas whereby males and females are arbitrarily assigned characteristics and roles determined and limited by their sex. Sex stereotyping can limit the development of the natural talents and abilities” (Bohan). Throughout the play audiences may read Macbeth as taking on the feminine role and Lady Macbeth as taking on the masculine role due to a gender stereotypical reading of these two characters.…

    • 1554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Comparative Essay Today saying that women are property of men would come as a shock in present times, but the gender roles that Petruchio and Torvald had in their time, it would be expected. In both The Taming of the Shrew and A Doll’s House, Petruchio and Torvald do an excellent job of showing the roles they had during their time. Petruchio and Torvald show the role of men during this time by gaining sovereignty, creating their perfect spouse, men’s misogynic attitudes toward women, and the result of the men gaining preeminence. Gender norms is shown throughout both of these literary works.…

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Arthur Miller 's The Crucible is a play loosely based on the American society 's hysteria around communism in the 1950s. The play takes place in 1692, where a group of girls accuse others within the town of Salem Massachusetts of witch craft to keep themselves out of trouble after being caught in the woods casting magic with Tituba, a slave, by Reverend Parris. The ring leader of this group is Abigail Williams, a seventeen year old girl who is the ward of Reverend Parris. The girls slowly but surely gain power in the court. Under Abigail 's influence, they use their newfound power to cause the death of over twenty Salem villagers.…

    • 1637 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Disney's Lion King is one of the most famous and controversial animated movies of all time. The movie contains some very important aspects of 20th century American culture such as capitalism, racism and sexism. The hidden messages of these delicate aspects for the society make the movie very controversial and criticized in different ways. Antelopes eat the grass and lions eat the antelopes. When lions die, they become the grass.…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Men tend to have a higher social position over the women. However the women are required to be the male supporter. The queen did have a higher position but she also required to follow the king’s command. The females in the play had to stick to the basic gender norms. The feminine roles that were placed upon the female characters were that they had to be a nurturing mother figure.…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the Heian period, a patriarchal system exists where women are treated as the inferior species. Women are usually thought as passive beings who lacks the intelligences to master complex language like Chinese or physical talents to be a warrior. Moreover, the main role of women were to write poetry and be a disposal source of entertainment for men. Although these social norms may exists, some women are bold and powerful enough to make men feel inferior, which shows efforts to resists these norms. The women in Tales of Heike, Pillow Book, Bamboo cutter, and Tales of Ise all show attributes of superiority that display resistance to male’s dominance in relationships, aestheticism, and warfare.…

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The Wizard of Oz” is a 1939 classic film featuring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and directing them all would be the great Victor Fleming. Victor Fleming’s classic film is about a young girl, named Dorothy, who lived with her aunt and uncle on their Kansas farm. A wealthy and nasty neighbor, Miss Gulch, are in conflict with Gale family regarding Dorothy’s dog Toto. Miss Gulch accused Toto of chasing her cat once more and biting her leg. After Dorothy had stolen Toto back from Miss Gulch, she went home to tell her aunt and uncle what happened; but they had more concerning things in mind relating to losing the farm.…

    • 1280 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this play one specific action stud out, As stated " Nay, faith, let not me play a woman; I have a beard coming. That’s all one: you shall play it in a mask, and you may speak as small as you will"(pg10). Ergo, this illustrates how women were not allowed to be in plays or in any type of activities, because they were under looked by society and they were viewed as a minority, they were not…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, people today can clearly see how Torvald mistreats his wife Nora. He treats her like a pet and calls her by little nicknames that are not appropriate for someone such as your wife. For example in the opening scene he says to her, “Is it my little squirrel bustling about?”(Ibsen), this is something people today find to be completely sickening but then it was a thing that was common and accepted. During the time it was written people acted in the exact opposite way people today do.…

    • 1503 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays