Taming of the Shrew

Freddie W.

Pd.1

Taming of the Shrew Essay

The theme of pursuit of power is very strongly exemplified in William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The roles of the nobility and the lower class, a husband and his wife, and even parent and child roles between Baptista and his daughters are affected by power throughout the text. The roles in these relationships in are influenced by the personal feelings of the characters and the social roles that they feel they should be attempting to fulfill. Many people throughout the text defy their roles, and their foolery is met with consequences. Shakespeare shows the reader shows just how much the pursuit of power was displayed during the setting of the play.

In the induction of the play, there lies a drunken beggar, Christopher Sly, passed out in a pub who is found by a wealthy lord. The Lord begins to think of a plan of pranking as soon as he is revealed to Sly’s drunken body and finds out he is alive. This lord decides that it would intrigue and amuse him if he were to trick the beggar. He felt like he could do it because he is higher in power. The play reads, “Sirs, I will practice on this drunken man. What think you, if he were conveyed to bed, wrapped in sweet clothes, rings put on his fingers, a most delicious banquet by his bed, and brave attendants near him when he wakes. Would not the beggar then forget himself?” 

In act 4, the character Petruchio is married to a shrew of a woman in the character Katharina. She moves in with him immediately after they are married without a reception or anything. This was because Petruchio had the power in this relationship. Shakespeare showed how the man in a relationship had the dominant hand over the female showing the unbalance of power over each other during that time he wrote the play. This type of relationship showed dysfunction, as there were no real conflict between the two, you still noticed how much Katherina was not happy in the relationship. She couldn't really be herself.. She is unable to be herself and in ways she has changed.

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