Taming of the Shrew Character Profile Essay - 2829 Words

Taming of the Shrew Character Profile  · Romantic comedy Time and place written  · Around 1592, London Date of first publication  · 1623 Tone  · The overall tone of the play is light and comic, though the exploration of larger social questions, such as the proper relation of the sexes in marriage, lends much of the comedy a more serious tone. Settings (Time)  · Unspecific, though presumably sometime during the Italian Renaissance Settings (Place)  · Padua, a city-state in Italy prominent during the Renaissance Major conflict  · Petruccios attempt to tame Katherine; that is, to assert his authority in their marriage and overcome her hotheaded†¦show more content†¦She is sharp-tongued, quick-tempered, and prone to violence, particularly against anyone who tries to marry her. Her hostility toward suitors particularly distresses her father. But her anger and rudeness disguise her deep-seated sense of insecurity and her jealousy toward her sister, Bianca. She does not resist her suitor Petruccio forever, though, and she eventually subjugates herself to him, despite her previous repudiation of marriage. Widely reputed throughout Padua to be a shrew, Katherine is foul-tempered and sharp-tongued at the start of the play. She constantly insults and degrades the men around her, and she is prone to wild displays of anger, during which she may physically attack whomever enrages her. Though most of the plays characters simply believe Katherine to be inherently ill-tempered, it is certainly plausible to think that her unpleasant behavior stems from unhappiness. She may act like a shrew because she is miserable and desperate. There are many possible sources of Katherines unhappiness: she expresses jealousy about her fathers treatment of her sister, but her anxiety may also stem from feelings about her ownShow MoreRelated The Politics of Contemporary Approaches to Shakespeare Essay3166 Words   |  13 Pagesequation for success turned into a recipe for disaster. The feminists in the department had purposed to kill off the classics. Sakren was told to stop teaching the sexist works of Shak espeare or to revise the ending to such plays as The Taming of the Shrew in order to appease women (Alexander). Accompanying these recommendations, Sakren was also asked to reduce the academic rigor of his program. His office was searched and rumors were spread about him. Sakren refused to follow the recommendations