... , that was not as common. The play also depicts the typical males in Tranio, Lucentio, and Baptista, among others. Petruchio and Katherine offer the contrast to the typical roles usually played by people of their gender. It is the changing of the roles that makes the play unique and keeps the audience interested in the play. In the first act of the play ... father's wishes were all signs of a uncontrolled and social phobic individual (McDonald, The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare, 156). The critics have a good basis for their beliefs when Katherine speaks like this to Hortensio, "To com...

• Word Count: 2530
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... , ignoring the constraints of society, the ideology controls the work. I can only assume the male-dominated literary world of the day was threatened by Dickinson's work (which in all likelihood she never intended them to read); editors and publishers obviously recognized the genius in her work, and yet ... ." Rich goes on to say that a woman "knows" more than Shakespeare in terms of female characterization, which is undeniably true. It is somewhat hypocritical, however, to then assume that she, as a female, "knows" what is in the hearts of men as a whole; not just men she knows, but men i...

• Word Count: 2594
• Approx Pages: 10