Taming of the shrew 3
Taming of the shrew 3The Taming of the Shrew
William Shakespeare was one of the greatest poets of all time. What made him that poet? Why hasn’t he been forgotten? One answer was the fact that he wrote about ideas and concerns that remain close at heart with people of all cultures and backgrounds. His plays were not confined to local politics, and the ever changing religious practices of people at the time. Shakespeare sought a stronger base for his writings, a base that would not crumble with the tides of change. His plays displayed the elementary ideas of love, marriage, family, values, class distinctions, and relationships between men and women. While his plays may have been affected by the political and religious arenas around him, one can clearly see that Shakespeare chose subjects that would touch the heart, while not bruising a person’s pride.
The Taming of the Shrew had four main subjects: 1) marriage, 2) money, 3) class distinctions, and 4) love. While marriage and courtship were the main focal points of this play, the other three subjects were made very obvious. Shakespeare chose these elements for his play not solely because they were basic, he chose them because they grasped people’s lives in his day. While these subjects reached the heart, the thought of change was brought forth from these subjects. The change was not only in actions, but feelings as well. For example, Petruchio made it plain that he did not want to wed Katherine for his love of her, but instead he wanted to wed her for her money,
"Signoir Hortensio, twixt such friends as we
Few words suffice; and therefore, if thou know
One rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife,
As wealth is burden of my wooing dance,
Be she as foul as was Florentius’ love,
As old as sibyl, and as curst and shrewd
As Socrates’ Xanthippe, or a worse,
She moves me not, or not removes, at least,
Affections edge in me, were she as rough
As the swelling adriatic seas.
I come to wed it wealthily in Padua;
If wealthily, then happily in Padua."
(Taming of the Schrew Act 1 scene 2 lines 66-77)
In this line Shakespeare pointed out that as long as another person had enough money in their possession, it did not matter how they acted, looked, or how old they were, the most important bond in the marriage was not love, but instead it was money. The key figure deciding who the bride would marry was not the bride. A woman’s father chose a husband for them from their class. There was a distinct class division in this marriage decision.
"O monstrous beast! How like a swine he lies!
Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image!
Sirs, I will practice on this drunken man.
What think you, if he were conveyed to bed,
Wrapped in sweet clothes, rings...
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