Shakespeare's Identity In The Taming Of The Shrew

Throughout The Taming of the Shrew how can Shakespeare be found to present the struggle for female identity in a comedic fashion? In the time Shakespeare was active, society was vastly different to today. Not only were class boundaries more distinct, but so too were the differences in gender and their accompanying rights. It is my opinion that Shakespeare can be seen to pre-empt the emerging role women would come to have in society, rather than the establishment of male dominance, I see the play as a satirical social commentary on the treatment of women at the time. Shakespeare's portrayal of numerous characters within the play indicates that his message in writing The Shrew may not be the commonly perceived assertion of a patriarchal society.
Early audiences would have expected to see a reserved and quiet character on stage, yet Katherina is the opposite. Suitors go as far as to call her the devil and a ‘fiend of hell’3 because of her aggressive and abrasive attitude. The only character who does not immediately disparage her is the servant Tranio who says that she is either ‘stark mad or wonderful froward’4. It could be inferred that the suitors speak so negatively of Katherina because they are intimidated by her fierce personality while Tranio, who is not viewing Katherina as a potential wife, is the only one who sees her in an un-biased
The fact that Katherina is referred to as a ‘shrew’ and Petruchio even feels the need to tame her is indicative of Elizabethan society’s view of women as second class citizens. At the couple’s first meeting, Petruchio makes several advances towards Katherina despite her obvious reluctance and discomfort. The dialogue in the scene is filled with innuendo on Petruchio’s part- ‘with my tongue in your tail?’6 The witty discourse between them could be taken as teasing or flirting, however another interpretation is that Petruchio is using such lurid sexual jokes to embarrass and belittle Katherina to try and gain dominance over this unusually audacious woman. Katherina does not seem to reciprocate the ‘flirting’, rather her retorts and jokes aim to be more insulting than flirtatious. She calls him ‘witless’ and a ‘fool’, very bold language for a woman to use towards a man. At one point she even hits Petruchio. The way in which Shakespeare portrays Katherina’s response to her taming is one element of the play that suggests he did not subscribe to this Patriarchal outlook. However, Katherina eventually seems to succcumb to Petruchio's 'taming'. Their relationship can be linked to the suggestion, 'We might say that comedy traces the movement from distress to happiness, from 'bad' to 'good'.'7 Though at first