The Taming Of The Shrew
             The Taming Of The Shrew by William Shakespeare is probably one of Shakespeare's earliest comedies. Its plot comes from the popular "war of the sexes" theme in which males and females fight with one another for dominance in a marriage. The play begins with a drunk man named Cristopher Sly being fooled into believing he is a nobleman and watching a play performed for him. This play turns out to be the main part of The Taming Of The Shrew.
             In it, a rich man, Baptista Minola, attempts to get his two daughters married. One is the shrewish Katherine, while the other is the beautiful Bianca. In order to make sure Katherine is married, Baptista declares that he will not allow Bianca to be married until after Katherine is married. This forces all of Bianca's suitors to try and find a husband for Katherine so that they can then in turn try to marry Bianca.
             Some would say that the story has a very sexist attitude, but the fact of the matter is that it is a comedy about an assertive woman dealing with how she is expected to act in the society of the late sixteenth century. Even further, Katherine is learning how she must follow the unwritten rules of her society in order to be accepted into it. Although the play ends with her acceptance to do what is expected by society this acceptance is only in action. Even though, she plays the part of the obedient wife, she still maintains her assertiveness, but now she just keeps it inside.
             Shakespeare introduces the idea of false realities in the beginning of the play when the actors fool Christopher Sly into believing he is someone he isn't and disguising themselves as other characters and performing a play for him. This play-in-play structure even furthers this idea Shakespeare has created of false realities. In the play we see a variety of examples as Petrucio acts (disguises) himself as someone he's not...