Sexism In The Taming Of The Shrew

The comedic play entitled “The Taming of the Shrew” written by William Shakespeare, is an antifeminist story of how a man named Petruchio tames his wife Katherine Minola into submission. There are many aspects of this play that appear to be sexist toward women; parts pertaining to the organization of marriage, the taming of a woman, and the social disapproval of a woman refuting something with a man. Though sexist, when Shakespeare wrote the play, the aspects of the play that are considered unacceptable by our modern societal standards may have been normal or at least more socially acceptable than today. Even if so, men and women are equal. Over the ages, the organization of marriage has become a very important part of many cultures around
In the play, Katherine can’t really speak her mind unless it is supplemental to what a man said, Shakespeare presents a society in which it isn’t proper for a woman to refute what a man says (Shakespeare). Katherine in the play is told by Petruchio that the Sun is the Moon, and Katherine corrects Petruchio saying that the Sun is actually out, and Katherine is taught to agree with Petruchio, whether he is correct or incorrect, her husband only speaks the truth (Shakespeare). Katherine is forced to live by whatever her husband says, because she can’t be correct by herself, she is just an object to be owned by men that rule over her life. Men according to Shakespeare must dictate what is correct in the world, and women could only support them or remain quiet; if women don’t remain quiet and submissive, they may be called a ”shrew” or worse (Shakespeare). Katherine gets a long monolog explaining the job of a woman is to be obedient to her husband and do what he says, but if she wasn’t agreeing with her husband in public, it could be assumed she would be considered insane or something of the sort (Shakespeare). Shakespeare reinforces his message of how it is the responsibility of women to follow men and submit to them by giving Katherine a monolog on the subject (Shakespeare). Shakespeare meant for “The Taming of the Shrew” to show what the ideal
Some who have encountered the play believe that Katherine controls Petruchio, and due to his “taming”, the couple has found a mutual respect with one another. The respect they share supposedly is representative of equality between men and women. However, this view fails to recognize that at the end, Katherine shows the audience what is expected of a woman in her monolog. She compares a husband to a king, and a wife to a subject; no man desires a woman that can’t be dominated, so for the best chance of getting married all women should be ready to be dominated according to Katherine (Shakespeare). Katherine who supposedly was equal to Petruchio actually considers herself a subject to a king, and it’s her job to make the king happy (Shakespeare). In a relationship where one is considered a king, and the other a subject, there isn’t an equal distribution of power among them. Shakespeare shows that women are indeed not equal to men, and women were meant to be dominated by