Shakespeare, as claimed by many modern critics, was a feminist. But, he is not solely to blame. Although, most of his works are degrading to women, he was only working with what he had, and back then all, what Shakespeare had to work with, was a predominantly male audience. Hence, many of the feministic characteristics found within works. The Taming of the Shrew is a perfect example of feminism in the works of Shakespeare. It brings to light a few main points that can be seen in many of Shakespeare’s plays. One, the way in which women were married, two, marriage before the woman was ready, and three, the role of women once in the marriage.
The Taming of the Shrew can be used as a base, when describing the way in which women were married off in a Shakespearian play. If you look at Kate, the marriage was almost totally arranged before she even met Petruchio. And once she did, she did not have much say in whether they were to be wed or not. For women, it was whatever father says goes. For the father, his job was to make sure that his daughter was
. . .
Although Shakespeare was one of the all-time greatest play writes, many of his plays do have a strong feministic pull to them. Although, their fathers were only trying to look after them, but making sure they were well off, still the women were not allowed to marry for love. He would make sure that her suitor had the necessary funds to make sure that she would live a good life, and in return, the father would “sell-off” his daughter to the best man for the job. Juliet is still but a kid, and yet, he father thinks it best that she is married to a rich gentleman. Also, women were “sold-off” to the man with the most money. Back in Shakespearian times, the women had little or no say. In today’s time, first there is a proposal to the woman who is loved, then comes the marriage. Her husband made her act how he wanted her to. Was she ready for marriage? Who knows, but since her father gave the marriage the ok, she was married. He had her believe anything he said as truth, and even made her make a speech on a woman’s duty to her husband. They were always defeated and made to submit to their husbands.
In Shakespearian plays, the role of women was not the best. Shakespeare, in no way, wanted to support feminine leadership in marriage. This put into the audience’s minds that women are nothing without their husbands and that their husbands are everything.
Approximate Word count =
715
Approximate Pages =
3 (250 words per page double spaced)
Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.
| CREDIT CARD |
ONLINE CHECK |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JOIN BY PHONE
|
|
|