Gender Roles In Romeo And Juliet And The Taming Of The Shrew

Question #1
Shakespeare’s plays often involve gender roles. Both Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew are plays written about men and women and love, or the lack thereof. In both examples this led to marriage and the genders were clearly separated. While Romeo and Juliet is a sad tragedy about love, The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy written about gender roles. For example, in Shakespeare’s time, women were expected to be seen and not heard. Katherine was the opposite of what a stereotypical woman was supposed to be resembling. Shakespeare made Katherine this way to style his play with a laughable streak. None of the men wanted a woman who would be disobedient and hard to tame. Even Lucientio, Gremio, and Tranio talk about her being …show more content…
For example, Shakespeare makes women objects to men. Women are expected to do as told and not argue at all. Men, on the other hand, are tremendously authoritative, controlling, and all-knowing. Men are clearly the preferred and dominant gender. In modern society, a great deal of those stereotypes are still the same. Women are still seen as objects to men, more than they are equals. Though stereotyping has started happening less extremely, women are still paid less for working and treated with less respect. Men are still often given higher amounts power. They are often the leaders and bosses, rather than the women. However, in modern times it has been shown that women are just as capable as men. They are not as fragile, well-ordered, and dependent on men as they are stereotyped to be. Women are not always afraid to work meticulously and prove their strength. In the past years, it has been shown and proven that women can be smart and are capable of the higher power jobs and positions men are given. Women are not just for bearing children and cooking. Though women do face harsh stereotypes, men do too. For example, in Shakespeare’s play The Taming of The Shrew, the men’s manliness is proven by the ability to control and dominate their wife. Petruchio marries Katherine, he is determined to show her how he has complete power over her and there is nothing she can do to fight it. She is expected to do as he says. By the ending of the play she has been controlled and dominated by Petruchio, or at least in front of other people. Shakespeare recognizes that both men and women face harsh stereotypes. Individuals often understand the labels and feel a need to fit into them in order to satisfy their society. I believe that stereotypes are put in place to put a concrete line between the genders in order to separate