William Shakespeare s The Taming Of The Shrew Essay

Shakespeare wrote his plays without a thought that they would ever not be performed on stage. Many of Shakespeare’s plays have been performed since his death 400 years ago. And with time comes advances, as many of Shakespeare’s play have been adapted from text to film. Some films take Shakespeare’s original plot and twist it to be more modern, while others stick with the classic. In Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film version of The Taming of the Shrew, he recreates Shakespeare’s loved play. Although Zeffirelli stays close to Shakespeare’s original text, he does omit and add lines and scenes that weren’t originally in the play. Zeffirelli also adds body language and stage directions where they aren’t in the play. These directorial decisions change the way the romance looks between Katherina and Petruccio in the text. The relationship between the two characters in Zeffirelli s film is attempted to be seen as more consensual than in the text. Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew begins with an Induction that isn’t in Zeffirelli’s film. The Induction in the film starts with a beggar named Christopher Sly who is very drunk and hasn’t paid his bill. He gets kicked out of the tavern and picked up by a Lord who decides to play a trick on Sly. The trick that the Lord plays on Sly is to have him believe he has been sick for so long that he has become a Lord himself. The Lord decides to treat Sly to a play, which is The Taming of the Shrew. Shakespeare decides to use this as a formShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Taming Of The Shrew889 Words   |  4 PagesIn many accounts, William Shakespeare’s Taming Of The Shrew, is often criticized for its seemingly misogynistic themes; such as the thought of â€Å"taming† a woman, thus making her completely submissive to her husband. While in the opening of the play, Katharine, ill-tempered but seemingly impenetrable, gets pulveri zed by Petruchio’s contradicting her words, and also saying disgusting jokes in an intense verbal arguement. In another example, one of the other main characters, Bianca, was bet on by severalRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Taming Of The Shrew1180 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Shakespeare s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ is a controversial comedy that has more than 1 interpretation. The 2 prominent interpretations is that it a misogynistic play or that it is a love story about a man liberating a woman. This play has been adapted into any movies the 2 that were studied were ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, produced in 1967 and ‘10 Things I Hate About You’, made in 1999. Upon viewing these 2 movies I found that ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ had a great deal of misogyny throughoutRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Taming Of The Shrew1676 Words   |  7 Pagescontinue to do so because they grapple with economic and social issues that people of all ages, from all walks of life, can relate to. Shakespearean plays ideally encompass these viewpoints; they can be tragic, comedic or even romantic. Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare explores the marriage between a shrewd woman, Katherine and a willing suitor, Petruchio. Petruchio challenges himself to try and transform shrewd ways of Katherine to turn her into the ideal and obedient house wife by using variousRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Othello, And Taming Of The Shrew1684 Words   |  7 PagesThroughout the works of Shakespeare there are several relationships that develop in order to help guide the story into its conclusion. For instance, in Othello, and Taming of the Shrew, similar relationships between the male and female lead characters are displayed and emphasized to bring large meaning to each of the texts. It is these relationships between fathers and daughters, as well as husbands and wives that form to progress the plots of each play. Through these bold and sometimes fatal relationshipsRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Taming Of The Shrew And Of Clytemnestra1550 Words   |  7 Pages When William Shakespeare and Aeschylus create purpose, they create it in a direct manner. Executing it with carefully chosen language, Shakespeare and Aeschylus implement multiple layers to construct meaning and multiple interpretations. Without alienating the audience and regardless of it’s controversial theme’s, both text’s were at a time developed when devoted leaders condemned the idea of Eve and praised the Virgin Mary, Neoclassical scholars welcome the idea of feminism, reversed gender rolesRead MoreAnalysis of William Shakespeare ´s The Taming of the Shrew1962 Words   |  8 Pages â€Å"The Taming of the Shrew ‘ is undoubtedly amongst Shakespeare’s most popular and debated comedies .The main subject of contention amongst critics is the apparent misogynistic elements offered in the play.Some ,like Stevie Davies argue that ‘The Taming of The Shrew ‘ celebrates ‘ female subjugation and mistreatment ‘ .Others see it is a parody of ‘female subjugation’ which grotesquely exaggerates Petruchio’s ‘taming’ of shrewish Katherina and portrays their relationship as a ‘game’ .Whether theRead MoreWilliam Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, The Taming of1100 Words   |  5 Pages William Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, is an embodiment of the context in which the text was shaped, the Renaissance. The Renaissance period was a time of progression, primarily in the areas of art, science, humanism, religion and self-awareness. The Renaissance focused on taking elements of the past including religion, art and science and adapting them to make them better. Humanists advocated for the freedom of the individualsRead MoreGender Essentialism : Katherine s Transformation1735 Words   |  7 PagesGender Essentialism: Katherine s Transformation in William Shakespeare s Taming Of The Shrew Feminist and cultural historians have convincingly demonstrated that rebellious women were a concern for englishmen during the late sixteenth centuries (Detmer 273). The idea of â€Å"taming† a women is one that men can find useful, though women can also benefit from. Katherine cynically conforms to expectation, and in doing so displays how The Taming of the Shrew is a critique on gender essentialism. TheRead MoreThemes in Taming of the Shrew1433 Words   |  6 PagesThe Taming of the Shrew is a comedy written in the early 1590’s by William Shakespeare. This play within a play starts when a powerful lord plays a prank on a poor, drunken man named Christopher Sly. The lord convinces the poor man that he is actually a lord himself and that the troop of actors that have arrived are there to perform a play for him. This play that the troop of actors performs is the story of Petruchio, who wants to marry for money, and Katherina, the shrew. The two actually marryRead More The Relationship Between Katherine and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew1186 Words   |  5 PagesThe Relationship Between Katherine and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew   Ã‚   William Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright of all time.   His gift for developing characters is one major aspect that accounts for this lofty acknowledgement.   Shakespeare created various characters from drunks and fools to kings and generals.   The characters are so human and so real that the audience can see aspects of their own personalities represented on stage for better or worse.   Inadvertently