FREE ESSAY ON TAMING OF THE SHREW

TAMING OF THE SHREW

In Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, the author uses a variety of characters
portraying all different types of mankind to show a general view of life. The reader
directly relates to the conflicts in the plot, and using a mixture of both comedy and
irony, Shakespeare is able to obtain an emotional, not critical, response from the
audience. G. B. Harrison summarized this writing style by Shakespeare by stating, "When
we try to analyze the universality of Shakespeare, we find that he is not particularly
original as a thinker, nor is he the only English writer. Others, in various ways, have
written poetry as memorable. But he is the most universal of all, because he is the
wisest; that is, he can understand and sympathize more than any other men. He can see the
whole picture of humanity and re-create it so that men of every kind, country, creed, and
generation understand. Knowing humanity as no one else ever did, he is nevertheless
neither a mocking nor a weeping philosopher. He views life with zest, and he is so great
that he can refrain from moral judgements."
When Harrison states that Shakespeare is "the most universal of all," he means that the
characters represented in Shakespeare's plays are represented and understood by all
people of society, especially the characters in The Taming of the Shrew. A common feeling
felt by many children in society is negligence or favoritism by their parents. Bianca,
the younger of two daughters of Baptista, is presented as a young, modest girl with an
angelic appearance. Baptista is directly seen as a biased father who shows favoritism
towards his daughter, Bianca. In Scene I of Act I, Baptista portrays this favoritism by
stating, "And so, farewell Katherina, you may stay for I have to commune with Bianca,"
and discarding Katherina as a piece of garbage and showing no concern (Shakespeare
103-104). Many times people will become selfish and resort to deceit to obtain their own
desires. Another character who plays a common man in society is Lucentio, a young man
from Pisa, who will go to all extremes to obtain Bianca's love. Lucentio orders his
servant, Tranio, to act as a suitor in pursuit of Bianca as well to distract the
attention of the other suitors in order to give Lucentio a change to gain Bianca's love.
In Scene I of Act I, Lucentio declares to Tranio, "If thou ask me why, sufficeth my
reasons are both good and weighty" (Shakespeare 250-253). Lucentio plays a game of
trickery and takes on a false identity to benefit his own desire of gaining Bianca's
love. Shakespeare uses other common characters such as Lucentio and Biance in The Taming
of the Shrew so that all people of society can relate to the feeling of the characters in
the play.
Harrison also declares that Shakespeare, "can understand and sympathize more than any
other men." Katherine, the older daughter of Baptista, is viewed as a cold-hearted shrew
lacking emotion and the expected reaction of the reader is disgust. However, Shakespeare
refrains from this stereotype and rather creates a sense of pity for Kate reasoning that
her stubborn behavior was a cause of her father's negligence. Katherine herself displays
this feeling in Scene I of Act II when she proclaims, "Bianca is your treasure, she must
have a husband; talk not to me, I will go sit and weep till I can find occasion for
revenge." Kate also predicts she will become an old witch because of Baptista's
favoritism (Shakespeare 36-40). Shakespeare reverses a similar misconception with the
character of Petruchio, who takes on the task of taming Kate. In his methods of taming
Kate, Petruchio often starves and scolds her and is perceived as a "villain." However, in
Scene I of Act IV, Petruchio states, "this is a way to kill a wife with kindness"
(Shakespeare 206). Petruchio means that he will tame his wife like a falcon, using her
exact drastic behavior, but only for the benefit of her future. Once again, Shakespeare
changes the audience's stereotypical, expected response. Instead, the audience favors all
characters, excluding a single hero in the play.
In the final line of his quote, Harrison declares that Shakespeare "views life with zest,
and he is so great that he can refrain from moral judgements," which is evident in The
Taming of the Shrew. In an ironical and comical combination of both subplots, Shakespeare
joins all the characters together in the final scene and each character finds love, in
their separate ways, suggesting Shakespeare's appreciation for life's intended path. He
does not judge any of the characters, but rather reflects their character shifts based on
their past actions. In Scene V of Act IV, Kate states, "Be it moon, or sun, or what you
please, I vow it shall be so for me" (Shakespeare 17-19). This is the point in the play
where Kate is finally tamed and shows her emotions and respect towards her husband,
Petruchio. Shakespeare neither mocks nor weeps at Kate's outcome, and plainly states that
even though she was once a shrew, her love has been unlocked by that special someone
indicating Shakespeare's zest for life.
William Shakespeare is a classic English writer who is universal, understanding, and has
a keen knowledge of humanity which makes his plays so unique. In The Taming of the Shrew,
Shakespeare is able to connect all these aspects of his writing and manipulate the
reader's attention so that a fondness towards the characters is exerted rather than
criticism and moral judgements.
Bibliography
WORKS CITED
Harrison, G. B. Shakespeare, Major Plays and the Sonnets.
Michigan: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1958.
Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew.
New York: Washington Square Press, Inc., 1963.