The Reason for Marriage in the 1500s
In The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, marriage is considered to be an institution used for economic gain. Nowhere is this more evident than when Petruchio comes into town looking for a wife. In Act 1 scene 2, Petruchio says: “If thou know one rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife, as wealth is burden of my wooing dance, be she as foul as was Florentius' love”(I.ii.68-70). Petruchio says that he will marry any woman rich enough to be his wife because money is everything he looks for in a woman even if she is extremely ugly. In the 1500s, marriage was just a way to gain wealth and land, and not at all about love.
Another example can be found in Act 2 scene 1 when Baptista is deciding who gets to marry Bianca
In The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, marriage is considered to be an institution used for economic gain. Nowhere is this more evident than when Petruchio comes into town looking for a wife. In Act 1 scene 2, Petruchio says: “If thou know one rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife, as wealth is burden of my wooing dance, be she as foul as was Florentius' love”(I.ii.68-70). Petruchio says that he will marry any woman rich enough to be his wife because money is everything he looks for in a woman even if she is extremely ugly. In the 1500s, marriage was just a way to gain wealth and land, and not at all about love.
Another example can be found in Act 2 scene 1 when Baptista is deciding who gets to marry Bianca