Shakespeare’s Taming of the ShrewAn Introduction

Essential Questions• Is this play sexist, or is it just a product of its time?

•Is this play dealing with universal themes and is it still relevant to today?

“A Really Big Shrew!”Scolds, Shrews and Shakespeare

I. Putting It all In Context

• Literature is not created in isolation

• An author and his/her writing are often unconsciously influenced by or consciously engaging with the ‘surroundings.’

• Surroundings = century, country, culture, social norms and values, war or peace, other famous works, etc.

• Knowing context helps unlock a work’s significance; provides a richer read.

II. Contextualizing Shakespeare’s Shrew (1594)

A. ELIZABETHAN SOCIETY• Patriarchal = system in which men control property,

wield power, and exercise authority both publicly (politic) and privately (domestic)

• Assertive women, marital conflict, and domestic disorder seen as threats to patriarchy

B. WOMEN’ S STATUS• Father or husband had authority• Women had few legal rights• Did not control her own property once married (couverture)• Expected to be chase, silent, obedient• Expected to be submissive• disempowered

II. Contextualizing Shakespeare’s Shrew (1594)

A. SHREWSAccording to literature from Shakespeare’s time, shrews were . . .

• Female• Bossy and boozers• Talk: too much, too loudly, too

angrily for a woman • Weapon: tongue (gossiping,

scolding)• Forced men to do women’s work

(cleaning, caring for children, cooking)

• Beat and humiliated husbands• Unfaithful and/or accused

husbands of being sexually useless

II. Contextualizing Shakespeare’s Shrew (1594)

The REAL Problem?

★ Strove for mastery when they should have been submissive

★ Asserted their independence when should have been dependants

★ Threatened the social hierarchy that puts men above women (see Pamphlet War!)

How To Tame A Shrew. . .The Punishment for Scolds • Taken to court and accused of being a SCOLD

• Painful, frightening, and humiliating consequences

THE SCOLD’S BRIDLE

•Meant to shame

•Held a piece of metal against tongue so she could not speak (or swallow)

The Cucking Stool (to ridicule)• woman was tied to a chair that was lowered repeatedly into the water• public humiliation, and could potentially be very frightenting

THE NEIGHBOURS PARADE

•Meant to shame

•Couple lead around their neighbours to be laughed at

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

•Considered “lower class”•“Dub a dub, kill her with a club / Be thy wife’s master” - from a popular ballad•Not legally prohibited unless disturbed a neighbour’s peace, or if wife is killed•“Rule of thumb” – comes from diameter of stick you could use to beat wife.

REMEMBER OUR ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

•Is Kat a strong Shakespearean female character, or a shrew?•Is this play a reflection of its time, or is it talking about classic conflicts?•Is this play sexist?•Is it still relevant today?