In the play, "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare, the story starts out with a play within a play, when the character of Christopher Sly is passed out drunk on a bed and found by a wealthy aristocrat who wants to play an Elizabethan prank on him by making him think he is rich when he is not. I assume that making a poor man seem rich was an hilarious joke back in the day. Sly goes to see a play with his fake wife he is just introduced to and the play within the play begins.
A man named Lucentio arrives in an Italian city to attend the cities university. He is immediately sidetracked when he sees Bianca, who is a beautiful girl, and falls in love. However, she already has two other suitors and her older sister, Katherine, is yet to be married. That doesn't turn out to be a surprise since Kate is reviled to be a "hard woman", if you know what I mean. Back in the 16th century, it was taboo to marry off your younger daughter before the older one. The three men set off to find a man to marry Kate so they could get at Bianca. At this time Sly is awaken by his fake servant at the play. It appears he has fallen asleep during the play, which brings makes me think that the entire play could actually be a dream that Sly was having. It seems very random to have the characters from the introduction appear again if this is not the case. Then again, it could be some sort of humor I don't get.
The three men find a man named Petruchio who is willing to marry Kate just because she is rich. He is oddly attracted to her despite her insults. In fact, it seems the insults are in fact making him more excited to marry her. This leads me to believe that masochistism was hilarious back in Shakespearean time. This leads to the trading of insults between the two which is quite funny when read aloud. With Kate to be married to Petruchio, this frees up Bianca for the taking. Lucentio is victorious when he declares his love for Bianca in Latin and they are to be married while one of the suitors, Hortensio, decides to marry a widow instead. However, the father of Bianca wants a hefty sum from Lucentio's father. So Lucentio finds a man to play is father, but Bianca decides to elope to avoid payment. This subplot gives the feeling that Shakespeare believed that marriage wasn't only about money, but for love as well. Shakespeare was probably very liberal. Besides that, he inserted tricks and disguises to make the subplot of the three rival suitors more enriching
At the end of the play, the three married men are at the reception when they make a bet to find out which woman was more obedient to their husbands. When the first two men fail to make their wives come to see them, Petruchio has broken his wife through starvation and lack of sleep to be obedient to him. Not only does she come when called, she brings the other two wives with her. Now this can be interpreted to mean that he made his wife become more kind and productive in the eyes of the 16th audience. However, nowadays this would seem to be a little on the extreme and abusive side, but to view one of Shakespeare's plays as a member of a much earlier audience is different, but very rewarding experience.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I wonder if Shakespeare had a problem with his family? Here Kate had to have someone else find her a husband for her sister benefit, while in 'King Lear' the three sisters fought against each other due to their fathers' request for their love. Is a mother ever mentioned in his plays? The change in Kate in the end is similar to Lear's change as he is drvien mad and finds his love in Cordelia the daughter he disowned. Both were caused by hardships and hurtful actions from their families. Although the oppoiste reactions occur in the end, Lear dies and shows the tragic side of maddness, and here it seems as Petruchio is rewarded for abusing his wife so 'well.'
ReplyDeleteI think "Taming of the Shrew" can be considered a satire in the days it was written. In any play or program, the plot is driven by conflict. Some of Shakespeare's plays have the conflict start at home as it does with any real family (remember Shakespeare wrote his plays for the average person). I think that what Shakespeare did was to take an accepted principle of the time and exaggerate it so much that the principle itself seems pointless and out dated. Marrying older daughters first, a father vying for the love of his children, etc. (more proof Shakespeare was extremely liberal for his time)
ReplyDeleteI can think of many dramas that draw all their plot from family issues, one of the more famous ones would be Cinderella who has evil older sisters and mother, and then the story from then on out explains how she gets the better of them as part of her pursuit of happiness and, in a way, revenge. If there is anything that is to be learned, it is that if you want drama that hits close to home, start with the home. And that artists are democrats.