In the Renaissance period it was believed that woman should be silent, obedient

and chaste. Today we believe that times have changed. If you try taking a closer look,

have they really changed too much at all? The play The Taming of the Shrew, by William

Shakespeare, talks about the notion that women should very well be silent, obedient and

chaste. Katherine, the shrew of the play, goes against these beliefs. After marriage she

starts to obey her husband, Petrucio, but her submission is all an act because of Petrucio’s

:|: “Rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry”

Katherine is the shrew of her town. She is getting much older and soon enough

will have to marry. Because of her rebellious attitude, nobody wants to marry her. They

would not want to put up with her. Hortensio proves this when saying,

“…No mates for you, unless you of gentler, milder mold.”

Katherine believes that marriage is like prostitution. Her father, Baptista Minola, does as

every father would when giving away his daughter for marriage. He auctions off his

married with a rich girl. Katherine looked like the best victim. He has very little remorse

The comment in itself is being rebellious. It is going against being silent. Her father is

:|: “It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and angry woman”

then he would have locked her up and she wouldn’t know when she would ever see her

father again. There is foreshadowing and symbolism in the Induction to her obedience

“…To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor. It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads…Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee, and for thy maintenance commits his body to painful labor…But love, fair looks, and true obedience--to little payment for such great a debt…”

Some topics in this essay:
Baptista Minola, William Shakespeare, Christopher Sly, , Petrucio Katherine, lord thy, thy lord thy, silent obedient chaste, katherine shrew, thy lord, silent obedient, tame katherine, “i pray, obedient chaste,