Shakespeare-Plays within Plays
Both "Henry IV, Part 1," and "The Taming of The Shrew" use the technique of a 'play within the play' as a means of reflecting upon the nature of the roles people play in society, whether these roles pertain to their royal status or gender. However, while "Henry, IV, Part 1" uses the 'play within a play' conceit as a rhetorical weapon between the characters of Hal and Falstaff, and the 'play within a play' heightens the unspoken tension between the two men, in "Taming of the Shrew," the use of a framing play device is designed to deflate the possible discomfort an audience member might feel at the violence later shown in the play of Pertruchio towards Katherine, the shrew of the title.When Falstaff pretends to be Henry IV at the Boar's Head Tavern, and uses his position to engage in some self-aggrandizement, Hal promptly says "I'll play my father" (2
To which Falstaff says: "Depose me?" which is a pointed reference to the fact that the real Henry IV deposed the former king to gain his throne (2. Hal has already told the audience he intends to become a great king, and leave his tavern friends: "So, when this loose behavior I throw off/And pay the debt I never promised, /By how much better than my word I am. 4) But the audience knows that Hal is already playing a role, not just of his father in the tavern but of a young rogue everywhere. Like the "Henry IV, Part 1" scene "The Taming of the Shrew" set-up takes place in a tavern, a place of misrule where people may be playing the parts of liars and braggarts and where identity is fluid, like the theater: "What think you, if he were convey'd to bed, /Wrapp'd in sweet clothes, rings put upon his fingers, /. "Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world" (2. This is why Hal says, of banishing Falstaff during the tavern play scene: "I do, I will. But Christopher Sly's drunkenness and the lack of seriousness with which transgressions like drunkenness are taken seem to primarily be designed to create a sense of fun about the possibly disturbing proceedings, like wifely domination, and do not contribute to character development and narrative exposition as they do in "Henry IV, Part 1. In response to Hal's one-upmanship Falstaff gains the upper hand again as Falstaff melodramatically and humorously begs Hal, the pretend Henry IV not to banish him.
Common topics in this essay:
Henry IV,
Taming Shrew,
Petruchio Katherine,
Christopher Sly's,
Head Tavern,
Hal Falstaff,
henry iv,
'play play',
Falstaff Depose,
henry iv 1,
iv 1,
taming shrew,
framing device,
rhetorical weapon,
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Acceptance Essays
