Kate and Feminism
Shakespeare was no contemporary of the twentieth century and he had no idea that feminism was going to breathe into existence long after his time and scorn him for his injustices toward the women in his plays. Honestly, I cannot fathom how he worked Kate's speech and the notorious wink into The Taming of the Shrew in the first place, considering my opinion is that Shakespeare was undermining the concept of female roles in British society at the time. Kate is a bold character and she has her whimsies... and she comments more than once that her husband and/or suitor is half crazed; such as the lines from act three,scene two, "I must, forsooth, be forced / to give my hand.../ Unto a mad brained rudesby..." suggest. As for the speech Kate makes at the end of this comedy, I feel t
Where did you study all this goodly speech? PETRUCHIO. She is so disgusted, in fact, by the ordeal that in the end she does her part of being the "tamed," submissive wife in front of the other women, and at the end winks at her husband as if to say, "They'll never forget this, I've shown them my independence once again!" If, indeed, Kate has been tamed, no one will be able to prove it considering no textual evidence works strongly in either way of this predicament. It is extempore, from my mother wit. Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn; For, by this light, whereby I see thy beauty, Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well, Thou must be married to no man but me; For I am he am born to tame you, Kate, And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate Conformable as other household Kates. And therefore, setting all this chat aside, Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented That you shall be my wife your dowry greed on; And will you, nill you, I will marry you. A witty mother! witless else her son. Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed. hat it is exactly a statement of definance. Our heroine is obviously of the joking type, or she would not so quickly have made fun of Petruchio's mother.
Common topics in this essay:
Taming Shrew,
PETRUCHIO Marry,
,
Kate Conformable,
KATHERINA Yes,
thy beauty,
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