Gender Roles In Taming Of The Shrew

Literature has always paralleled directly with history. When authors choose to write a novel or play, they must always take into consideration the era or time period that it is set in. The setting tends to play a significant part in any piece of literature. For example, in Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare wrote in an era where gender roles were very different compared to what we are used to today. Throughout the play, the women are obligated to get married, mainly by their fathers, in order to have a sense of security for their future, which means that their say in who they marry is often irrelevant. The societal code of that era shows that women were considered weak and intellectually inferior when compared to men. Generally, women's wealth class coincided diametrically with the amount of education they received.
However, Kate is seen as a shrew who is disrespectful and disobedient to almost anyone because she believes herself to be a strong, independent woman who finds no real reason to need a man. Due to the way Kate conducts herself, it has become very difficult for Baptista to find somebody who wants her, making it even more burdensome for Bianca as it was customary during this era for the eldest daughter to be married first, leaving the youngest to become married after her. Luckily for Bianca, Petruchio finds a liking to Kate because of her generational wealth that Baptista has created for them both, despite hearing multiple people tell him about Kate’s shrewishness. He eventually succeeds in winning over Kate’s heart and his goal of “Taming the