Comparing Taming Of The Shrew And The Merchant Of Venice

Shakespeare is well known for the different types of women he writes about in his plays. Within his work, he tells readers a lot about his views on women and their roles. Their personalities vary, and their character ranges from strong to weak, warm and delightful to cold and scornful. Although Katherine from The Taming of the Shrew and Portia from The Merchant of Venice seem to be polar opposites, they both share a few things in common, and that is that they are both witty, bold, and independent. In The Taming of the Shrew, Katherine Minola is first introduced as the short-tempered sister of Bianca Minola, whom has a line of men waiting to marry her. However, their father, Baptista Minola, will not permit anyone to marry Bianca until her older sister, Katherine is married. Katherine is fiery-spirited, unmannerly, and unladylike, so much so that the male dominated world wants nothing to do with her. Despite the fact that she was brought up surrounded by wealth, men are not willing to cope with her sharp tongue and wild displays of anger. There is a plausible explanation to Katherine’s bad attitude and everyone’s negative perception on her. Her outrageous behavior is a way of dealing with the psychological effects that are stemmed from jealousy of her sister, as
She is saddened over the specifications of her father’s will, which stipulates that she must marry the man who correctly chooses one of three caskets. Despite the real feelings that she has for her suitors, who have come in an attempt to choose the right casket, she is gracious enough to be polite to them. Portia immediately falls in love with Bassanio as he arrives at her estate also in hopes of choosing the correct casket. Once he chooses the correct casket, they instantly make plans to be married. Portia then gives Bassanio a ring as a token of her love, and asks him to never depart from it by