Thematic Analysis Of The Taming Of The Shrew
In ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, comedy is used in a way to simplify topics that are mentioned in the text and portrays it in a way that engages the audience, makes a point and makes it easy to comprehend and understand. Comedic techniques are often employed to give a lighthearted and easy to understand take on often serious issues. Techniques such as anthropomorphism, satire, sarcasm, irony and slapstick humour are often adopted. Themes I chose to speak about include Gender, Transformation & Disguise and Marriage.
Gender, of course, is one of the central themes in the play and relates closely to power. The play highlights the importance of gender and ideas about gender in 16th century Europe, including the objectification and dehumanisation of women. Although patriarchy is only explicitly shown towards the end of the play, it makes an undermining statement throughout. Many techniques are used to portray and almost mock these ridiculous ideas, including satire, anthropomorphism, sarcasm, and irony. One of the main examples of this is the title. ‘The Taming of the Shrew.” A shrew is often used as a derogatory term, but his use of anthropomorphism is used to highlight that Katherine is a foul-tempered, fiery, and angry woman. Although this may seem like a simple remark at first glance, many male characters share these traits, such as Petruchio, why is he not called a shrew? Because he is a man. Even the name of the play portrays and implies the role of gender in the play.
And whilst it is unknown whether Shakespeare was actually using these comedic techniques, or if he was a misogynist, but this is an example of ways how comedy and comedic techniques are used to simplify the topic of Gender in ‘The Taming of the Shrew’.
Another prominent theme in the play is Transformation & Disguise. Transformation is shown throughout the play. It can involve physical disguise, changes in attitude and behaviour. Love transforms characters completely, namely, Katherine. Marriage also brings about enormous changes in both men and women. This seems to be Shakespeare's point - Identity and meaning are never permanent. In the play, Katherine starts off as rebellious character especially when compared to her sister Bianca but ends up evolving from a stubborn shrew into a trustworthy and respectful person. Throughout the beginning of the play, Shakespeare presents Katherine as a rebellious feminist which results in her being rejected by the society of Padua. An example of people's hostility towards her is in Act I when Gremio declares her as a 'fiend of hell' and states that 'Do you really think there’s a man fool enough to marry into hell — however rich the father is?'. This use of metaphors give the audience an understanding as to the type of wife Katherine would be at this stage of the play. However, later on in the play when she is 'tamed”, It is evident that there was some kind of change in her character with the monologue in Act 5, where she tries to talk some ‘sense’ into the other wives and it gives the reader the impression that she is an entirely changed person. This is yet another example of how comedy and comedic techniques are used to simplify the topic of Transformation in ‘The Taming of the Shrew’.
The final theme is Marriage. Marriage is yet another theme central to the plot of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ and relates closely to Gender and Transformation. The whole plot of The taming of the shrew revolves around the marriages of Baptista's two daughters over the course of the play there is significant tension between different understandings of what marriage is. One view of marriage is that it is simply a union of two people in love. This is what Lucentio and Bianca desire and, as the two develop affection for each other, their relationship seems to portray this idealistic version of marriage. But, throughout the play, marriage is often more a matter of economic transaction than mutual love. Baptista almost appears to be selling off his daughters, instead of just marrying them away. Although he approves at the marriage of Bianca and Lucentio, But it does not give it the green light until he learns of Lucentio’s financial standing. The importance of marriage is even highlighted through Hortensio who abandons his love for Bianca and ends up marrying a wealthy widow, signifying that he values money over a happy marriage.
Another way of understanding marriage is provided by the example of Petruchio and Katherine. In this case, marriage is simply a power structure, a way of enforcing female obedience to a male husband (which relates back to the theme of Gender). In her long, final speech in Act 5, Katherine summarises this idea of marriage, telling Bianca and the widow that 'Your husband is your lord, your life, your keeper,” and “Your head, your sovereign,” (and this again relates to Transformation). These are perfect examples of how comedy and comedic techniques are used to simplify the topic of Marriage in ‘The Taming of the Shrew’.
To conclude, in ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, Comedy is used in a way to simplify topics that are mentioned in the text and portrays it in a way that engages the audience, makes a point and makes it easy to comprehend and understand. Comedic techniques are often employed to give a lighthearted and easy to understand take on often serious issues. Shakespeare utilised many techniques to enrich the plot and add to the play. Whilst not being funny in today’s context, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ is still quite relevant, even though being written some 500 years ago.
