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Shakespeare


            Through endorsing certain characters utilisation of power and the representations they uphold, it not only conveys to the audience that the type of behaviour is appropriate but also acts to teach the audience how they themselves should behave. In William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, certain characters representations of masculinity endorse a particular way for men to behave. Though through the very title we see that Shakespeare places an obvious importance on how women should behave within society, that shrews should be tamed and women should behave to societies feminine ideals of passiveness, submission and a caring nature, with a message for women to behave according to feminine representation for a happy and peaceful social order. The Dominant reading of the representation of masculinity also presents to men how they should behave. The representation of masculinity upholds that a man must be independent, choosing his own future, he must have certainty in his plans, and he must be without doubt or inhibition. This ideal is present in The Taming of the Shrew as we see the male suitors choosing a suitable wife, and the results of their choices reflecting the proper behaviour. Representations of masculinity also entail a man asserting power and mastery in controlling his surroundings, present in the play through the male characters treatment of their wives and situations they involve themselves with. The behaviour of those males achieving order through their power relations is then endorsed. Masculinity is again apparent in a man being active in his pursuit to achieve his goals, the play is seen to exhibit this ideal when the male character Petruchio tames his wife Katherina for a happy marriage and Hortensio's failed search for a wife resulting from lack of ambition, also Lucentio's marriage ending in disharmony and conflict through his lack of mastery in the marriage.


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