“Women must be subservient in order to be happy in Shakespearean Comedy” With reference to the presentation of Katherina and Bianca, how far do you agree with this statement.
Subservient means “prepared to obey others unquestioningly” and I believe that both Katherina and Bianca both fit these roles but when and how they fit these roles are different. Subservient women are typical within Shakespearean comedy therefore there are women who are prepared to obey in this comedy, Dr Fores Lopez stated ‘their [men and women in Shakespearean comedies/England] obligations were strictly subdivided. Men were given force and power while women had to content themselves to be obedient and submissive’. This quotation supports the essay title as it suggests that women are subservient. Within this essay, I will highlight both the similarities and differences between the two women using the idea of being subservient and whether this brings them happiness or not.
Within Shakespearean comedy, it is typical for there to be a happy ending within it. In a typical Shakespearean comedy ending there is usually a wedding which leads to happiness of all the characters. In the “Taming of the Shrew” this seems to be true if you consider Bianca and Lucentio’s wedding in Act V, Scene I and Kate’s speech in Act V, Scene II thus showing that it ends with a wedding but whether it is happy for the women is not so clear. This is because we’re not so certain that Kate is completely happy with Petruchio especially how he treats her after their wedding where he starves her and deprives her of sleep. Also, we do not know for sure if Bianca is happy or not because she had planned to “elope” or run away against her father’s wishes to be with the real Lucentio thus showing that Bianca and her father’s relationship isn’t as strong as it seems, this shows that shrewish behaviour doesn’t give you happiness but, shown by Kate, subservience does. This also shows that Bianca’s character has changed since Kate’s wedding as before; we wouldn’t think she would elope against her father’s wishes. However, both women can be seen as being happy as there is a reception for the wedding where
Within Shakespearean comedy, it is typical for there to be a happy ending within it. In a typical Shakespearean comedy ending there is usually a wedding which leads to happiness of all the characters. In the “Taming of the Shrew” this seems to be true if you consider Bianca and Lucentio’s wedding in Act V, Scene I and Kate’s speech in Act V, Scene II thus showing that it ends with a wedding but whether it is happy for the women is not so clear. This is because we’re not so certain that Kate is completely happy with Petruchio especially how he treats her after their wedding where he starves her and deprives her of sleep. Also, we do not know for sure if Bianca is happy or not because she had planned to “elope” or run away against her father’s wishes to be with the real Lucentio thus showing that Bianca and her father’s relationship isn’t as strong as it seems, this shows that shrewish behaviour doesn’t give you happiness but, shown by Kate, subservience does. This also shows that Bianca’s character has changed since Kate’s wedding as before; we wouldn’t think she would elope against her father’s wishes. However, both women can be seen as being happy as there is a reception for the wedding where