Реферат: The Taming Of The Shrew An Critique

Many critics have observed and noted that Petruchio and Kate had a need for

each other, being the strong personalities that they are. They thrive off of

the intellectual games they play throughout The Taming of the Shrew. Both have

a witty intelligence that made them attracted to each other. Also, each of them

had something to prove: Petruchio needed to confirm his manhood, while Kate

needed to steer her demeanor toward the ladylike side of things. The whole plot

of the play drives toward these goals. It was Kate’s submission to Petruchio

which makes him a man, finally and indisputably (Kahn 419). Kate earned

bountiful respect from the other men in the closing scene, as she proved to fit

the mold of the conventional woman better than their wives did (Dash 835).

Petruchio did not break Kate’s wit and will, as some might perceive; he simply

used them to his advantage, as is quite noticeable in the wager scene. This

showed how Kate was actually a foil of Petruchio (Nevo 262). The acting done by

Kate and Petruchio lived up to the patriarchal ideals of their time, but yet

the reader is led to believe that in the future, there will still be opposition

in their relationship. Even in the final scene, Kate never showed signs of

being a weak character, but rather the ability to be strong in any way she needs

to be. In a sense, Kate and Petruchio had what one might call a symbiotic

relationship; that is, they both had a strong need for each other, which is

somewhat paradoxical, as both of them were fiercely independent characters.

The customs and standards of marriages during the Elizabethan Age that

Shakespeare wrote The Taming of the Shrew in are represented very accurately

throughout the text of the play. There are hints that the marriage of Petruchio

and Kate may not have exactly met these standards, but for acceptance they

attempted to make it look that way. In fact, neither of them were really

accepted until they did that. The marriages of the time were very male

dominated. This is why Petruchio’s form of violence was accepted; because he

was the master of his property and could do what he wanted with it. Kate was

not the conventional shrew, because most “shrews” were women that were already