2 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2018
    1. Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,

      https://youtu.be/vkCZIn88u94

      “The Tapping of the Shrew” is a compressed retelling of Katherine’s relationship with Petruchio towards the end of the play. We see her transformation from a shrewish woman fighting against her role in society, to a woman who now believes that she owes her husband the same loyalty that a subject owes his king. Katherine is seen with her father, Baptista, trying to find “Someone to Love,” which is when she meets Petruchio, who attempts to court her, but her strong personality makes it quite difficult, until she succumbs to his will, soon being “tamed” and losing the fiery personality that she once had.- Jared H, Valentina S, Kate S, Shay B, Isabel H

    1. She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house, My household stuff, my field, my barn, My horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing;

      Throughout the play, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare chooses to highlight the absurdity of marriage during that time, and the lack of love prevalent in the relationship. Following Katherine and Petruchio’s wedding, Petruchio reiterates Shakespeare’s point and examines Katherine’s status in their relationship. Petruchio consistently uses the possessive pronoun “my”, to objectify Katherine’s position as his property, exaggerating the social convention of women’s inferiority to men at the time. Yet, Petruchio’s actions are indicative of a biblical allegory as the possessive objects he is comparing his new wife to are objects all from the Ten Commandments. While the people of Israel are traveling through the desert, God promises them items such as horses, fields and barns once they reach the holy land. Petruchio’s allusion to the Bible enunciates the possibility that the objectification of women stems from biblical traditions, creating a sense of irony as he says this line at a conventional Catholic marriage. Thus, not only does Petruchio’s comments classify women as mere possessions of their husband, but he also dishonors the Catholic religion pointing out the root of the social problem. At a time when women were auctioned off by their fathers only to become “property” of another man, Shakespeare highlights the lack of real love within marriage and creates a sardonic tone towards marriage plagued by religious traditions and misogynistic husbands seeking merely economic and self-pleasure rather than a true, meaningful relationship.