The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

Analyzed by Taroj Khan

The Taming of the Shrew was a comedy play written by William Shakespeare in the 1500s which included quite a few characters, but primarily two characters Kate and Petruchio. Petruchio is a young unemployed man who wants to marry Kate who is the daughter of a working man named Baptista. Kate is an outspoken person and has a sister named Bianca who is the opposite of Kate. Baptista wants his daughters to marry but on the condition that Kate has to get married first. One major theme of the play is that of equality and the play shows the power of men over women where Petruchio is using his power to torture Kate.

The play could be an answer to women’s suffrage since it gives the viewer an idea to cope with the position of women in society. But Shakespeare made the play a comedy for people to enjoy. If one was to look at the play carefully, he could see that Shakespeare shines light on his opinion that women are not equal to men since the title of the play suggests that Kate is the one who is tamed. To think otherwise, the one who is tamed is Petruchio since he could prove his worthiness only after marrying Kate. Petruchio relies on Kate’s wealth to become a man and without Kate in the picture, Petruchio has no stance.

Shakespeare’s play suggests that women must be obedient to men which is the common belief existing even today. Men often use dominance and dependance to overpower women since they both correlate to each other and force women to bear the burden. When…