Defence of Women in Shakespeare’s the Taming of the Shrew

 Defence of Women in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare may seem like a defence of wife abuse, but is actually advocates for women. Shakespeare uses humour to gain attention from the public and leads the audience into considering the treatment of women. He defends women in a satirical way, through presenting a farce involving a shrewish wife and an abusive husband.

Women did not receive high social status during the Renaissance. They needed to follow the social expectations in order to be recognized by men and accepted by the general public. Katherina, an intelligent woman who speaks and acts freely, regardless of other people’s  opinion, is addressed as a “shrew” for her outrageous behaviour. She is treated unfairly by men, even by her own father. Gremio expresses his dislike for Katherina, saying that, “any man is so very a fool to be married to hell" (1.1.126). Hortensio claims that no man will marry Katherina. Her father does not defend Katherina but sells her to Petruchio, making an offer that “When the special thing is well obtained./That is, her love, for that is all in all”(2.1.130), like she is a commodity to be traded. It makes us to think about the root causes behind her shrewish behaviour. As a matter of fact, Katherina’s violent actions commonly occur after provocation. When her words get her nowhere, she feels compelled to take physical action to be noticed (Andresdottir 9). Beside the fact of being a shrewish woman, she is also a sympathetic character who has vulnerable and wounded sides.

Katherina becomes more sympathetic when she marries Petruchio, a greedy and arrogant man. Petruchio does not intend to woo Katherine like a lover, but to tame Katherina a obedient wife, so that he can have full control over her dowry. Their marriage contains elements of domestic abuse. Katherina is portrayed as a victim while Petruchio is like a devil. His taming tactics include verbal, physical and psychological abuses. Those tortures make the audience sympathize with Katherina. Petruchio punches the priest and later refuses to attend the family party. His weird and inappropriate behaviors at the wedding humiliate Katherina in public. When Katherina thinks she can still rely on her father and continue to have her status as before, she is dragged through the mud to the country house. There, she is starved, deprived of basic necessities and segregated from her family. As Detmer explains: “Rather than beat Kate into submission, he threatens her in a manner that recalls the Stockholm syndrome, coercing her into internalizing his wishes if she is to eat or sleep or escape isolation: ‘She ate no meat today, nor none shall eat:/ Last night she slept not, nor tonight she shall not’ (4.1.168-69)” (Detmer 285). By the time they return to her father's home, the woman is meek and submissive.