The topic of this paper is the marital relationships and the differences between those relationships in two plays written early in the seventeenth century, William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and John Fletcher’s The Woman’s Prize. In Shrew, Kate is tamed by Petruccio into a tender wife. In contrast, in Prize, Peruccio is tamed by Maria into a wise husband. From this depiction, we can see that marital relationships in both plays are not equal and ideal, either the wife or the husband suffers and is dominant. In Shrew, Kate is depicted as a symbol of feminist oppression. On the other hand, in Prize, Maria is depicted as a heroine of feminism who is against the patriarchal tyranny. Fletcher is not only answering the plot and topic of Shrew, but specifically arguing against Shrew’s pattern of imagery and moral arguments.
The
radical stand on the issue of gender taken by John Fletcher in his play The Woman's Prize or the Tamer Tamed is
discussed by Smith (38) to present a farcical continuation of Shakespeare’s
play in The Taming of the Shrew. In The Woman’s Prize, Maria, revolts
against patriarchal systems, that made women suffer and fear married at that
time. Fletcher may have had sympathy
toward women’s oppression at the time because he grew up in an educated
environment where most of his family members are poets. John Fletcher’s uncles, Giles and Phineas
Fletcher, were poets with respected reputations, and their successes honored their
family’s name. His father was a
president of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, dean of Peterborough, and
eventually bishop of London.
The
purpose of the paper is to analyze the texts by using feminist theory and
cultural studies and to come to some conclusions about depictions of gender and
the marital relationship in two plays written early in the seventeenth century,
William Shakespeare’s The Taming of The Shrew
and John Fletcher’s The Woman’s Prize. The intended audience is English literature and women studies students. My position as the writer is as an informer and analyst. The thesis of the paper is Fletcher is not only answering the plot and topic of Shrew, but specifically arguing against Shrew’s pattern of imagery and moral arguments.
Review of Theory
According
to feminist theory, there are some questions I can ask if I have chosen the
text that I will examine for feminist critique.
I can start by examining the roles women play in works, firstly,
Kate. Kate’s role in Shrew is as a passive, submissive, and
oppressed wife. In showing her objection
to be married to Petruccio, she cannot do anything, but says, “no shame but
mine, I must forsooth be forced to give my hand opposed against my heart”
(3.2.8). In contrast, in Prize, Maria can save herself by locking
herself with her friends, and running away from her husband on their wedding
day because she does not like the way Petruccio has been treating women so
far. She says, “before you enter filling
it away; ‘twill but defile our off rings” (2.1.120).
Moreover,
in protesting against patriarchal tyranny in their marriage, Kate is just
silent and hides herself on the bed rather than stating her protest to her
husband. Maria is declaring her protest
against the patriarchal system, as Daileader explains “unlike Katherine –
isolated in life as in her protest against male domination – Maria gathers
troupe of female companions who stock up her room with food and wine”
(18).
Another
woman, Bianca’s, role in the Prize is
as a leader of rebellion, as Jaques explains to Petruccio about the revolt:
“Colonel Bianca. She commands the works”
(1.3.65). Here, a woman, Bianca has an important role in her group who
can manage her group and convince her group about the goals of their small organization;
woman’s rebellion protest against the patriarchal system in marriage. In Fletcher’s time, and particularly in
Shakespeare’s time, there are almost no women who can lead a group because men
are more powerful at the time. Livia’s
role in Prize is as a woman who can
state her opinion and is brave enough, even through deceit, to protest against
her father who forces her to marry an old and wealthy man. She claims, “father,
I shall deceive you, and this night for all your private plotting, I’ll no
wedlock” (2.1.3).
From
the stereotypes of women, In Shrew,
Bianca is stereotyped as a woman who is soft and nice, and women like Bianca
must have a great love as Tranio describes about Bianca: “Mistress Bianca,
bless you with such grace… I have ta’en you napping, gentle love”
(4.2.44). We can see that a woman who is
beautiful is associated with soft and tender love, but what about women who are
not beautiful? Does it mean that she
does not have a gentle love? Of course not, every woman who has heart will have
a tender love; it is a sense of being a human being.
In Prize, I assumed that women are stereotyped as whores if they do
not obey their parents or their husbands. When Livia does not want to marry to
Moroso, an old and wealthy man, as she mentions him as “for some strange
monster at apothecaries” (2.5.129), her father tells her that “I hear you,
whore” (2.5.130). From this dialogue, it
seems that when women reject men’s wills, they will be called a “whore” to
indicate their disobedience.
Another
questions raise by Dobie (120) in analyzing feminist perspective is whether or
not a narrator is a character in the narrative.
How does the male or female point of view affect the reader’s
perceptions? In Shrew, a male who suits bianca, Hortensio, believes that, “I will
be married to a wealthy widow” (4.2.57).
Hortensio’s statement demonstrates that he will marry a woman based on
wealth, not love. This argument will
affect a reader’s perception that at the time marriage is held based on wealth,
and it show that not only women are willing to marry for wealth but men also
are.
A
female point of view in Shrew also
affects the reader’s perception as Kate accuses Petruccio of being “beggar that
come unto my father’s door upon entreaty have a present alms” (4.3.5). A reader will be more understanding of
Petruccio’s reason of marrying a woman for
wealth and money. Because he is
the richest in his village, he wants to marry a woman who is also rich. Therefore, in Shrew, a male and female point of view affects the reader’s
perceptions in the same ways that claim that the goal of marriage at
Shakespeare’s time is for dowry or for money.
In
Prize, Petruccio states, “never poor
man was shamed so; that keeps a stud of whores was used so basely”
(3.3.4). Petruccio’s statement affects
the reader’s perception about how men will be shamed if they keep women who do
not want to obey to them. It seems that
Petruccio argues that men will lose their power if their women do not respect
them anymore. That’s why he calls women
whores if they do not follow him as a husband.
Here,
a woman’s point of view in Prize also
affects the reader’s perceptions as Maria raises some questions to Petruccio:
“tell me of due obedience! What’s a husband? What are we married for? To carry
sumpters? Are we not one piece with you, and as worthy our own intentions as
you yours?” (3.3.99). These questions influence a reader’s perceptions since
they make a reader think what the answers of those questions are. The answers will relate to their experiences
too, especially about the functions of being a husband and the goals of
marriage.
An
important part of feminist critique is to examine the way the male characters
talk and treat the female characters. In
Shrew, the way Petruccio talks and
treats Kate is with disrespect and as if she is his property. For example, when he pushes Kate to leave her
home on their wedding day, he tells her father that “I will be master of what
is mine own. She is my goods, my horse,
my ox, my ass” (3.2.220). From
Petruccio’s statements, we can see that Kate, woman is associated with animals,
horse, ox, and even his ass. But in Prize, the way Petruccio talks and
treats Maria is better and with more respect.
For example, “hark you, good Maria: have you got a catechizer here?”
(2.5.79), Petruccio tries to seduce Maria to listen to him, to open the door,
and he asks her whether she has got a catechizer, “a teacher of catechism or
Church doctrine” (Desleader, 100), in her rebel room.
We
may continue by contrasting the way female characters act toward the male
characters. In Shrew, Kate just
accepts whatever Petruccio says and commands her as she whispers, “patience, I
pray you, twas a fault unwilling” (4.1.135).
Petruccio has so much power that Kate is not brave enough to protest
against him, but just stays silent and prays for him to be a good husband. On the other hand, in Prize, Maria can advise and even protest against Petruccio’s bad
behavior. She suggests to him, “heard you
that, sir, there’s the conditions for you; pray, peruse ‘em” (2.5.119). Maria gives some requirements to Petruccio,
to change his bad behavior, if he wants to sleep with her. Unlike in the Shrew, Maria, as a woman, has the ability to bargain in reaction
toward a man’s attitudes and has the power to control a man.
Then,
another important aspect of feminist analysis is to analyze the character who
is the most socially and politically powerful. In Shrew, a man, Petruccio, is the richest man in his village with
many servants and slaves. Even though he
is already the richest man in his village, he wants to marry Kate because he
wants her huge dowry from her father. In
contrast in Prize, a woman, Maria, is
the most socially and politically powerful character since she is able to
gather a troupe with other women to protest against the patriarchal system in
their family and their society. Maria
can give speeches and convince the women in her society that they have the rights
to be treated well.
In
Shrew the attitudes toward women are
low, marginal, without respect. Women
are even linked to animals, such as horses, ox, ass, and some other bad
names. Women here are treated like property
and men control everything because it is they who fuel the domestic economy. On
the other hand, in Prize, women are
higher, equal, and respected. Women in
the Prize realize their needs and
believe it is not acceptable that men treat them like property. Maria and Bianca are listened to by their
society when they give a speech about men and marriage in their chamber, and
many people listen from the street.
In
examining the assumptions toward woman found in this plays, in Shrew, we find that women are assumed to
suffer, be submissive, and to be afraid to get married because they will suffer
finally. Women have no right to choose,
to decide about their own lives, even no rights to enjoy their sexual needs
because their jobs are only to fulfill their husband’s desire without
considering themselves. On the contrary,
in Prize, women are assumed to be
smart, witty, able to be in control, and decide their own needs. They can state their own opinions, and can
criticize men and their society. They even realize that their sexual needs are
as important as men’s. As we can
demonstrate this with some lines that discuss women’s sexual needs at the time.
Eventually,
in examining the measurement of sexuality view as the norm against other sexual
identities, In Shrew, the societal
norm of gender roles is patriarchal, and women are expected to follow all their
husband’s order and must respect them because they are the ones who have money,
and give them food and clothes. Because women
are so dependent to men, they must say yes to their entire husband’s wants and
orders even though they may be against their own will, even including if they
do not want to have sex. Thus, because
these gender roles in Shrew are
assumed to be the norm they are stable and static, and Kate’s behaviors is
deviant, and therefore Petruccio is correct to punish them. In contrast, in Prize, the larger societal gender norm are still patriarchal, but
Fletcher assumes his female character may successfully challenge these
norms. Therefore, the gender roles are
dynamic and changing.
Shakespeare’s
Shrew vs. Fletcher’s Prize
In
Shrew, Shakespeare depicts his
primary female character, Kate, as a Shrewish
and tamed woman, but in Prize,
Fletcher depicts his heroine, Maria, as a combat commander who tamed a man,
Petruccio: “to tame Petruccio” (2.1.108).
The way Shakepeare depicts his heroine indicates the attitude that women
have bad characters, and are Shrewish,
out of control, and needing to be tamed, just like a wild animal. In fact, in contrast to more popular
stereotype of women as soft and tender,
Shakepeare demonstrates to us a woman who is rude, violent, and out of control,
especially to her sister, Bianca. Kate
speaks to Bianca: “If that be jest, then the rest was so” (2.1.22) when she
strikes her.
Unlike
in Shrew, in Prize women are depicted as a powerful woman who can lead and order
men. Jacques reports to Petruccio,
“Colonel Bianca, she commands the works.. I am but poor man” (66). Maria, is depicted as an intelligent and
educated woman, who can teach other women to be aware of their basic needs and
who can change her husband and her society. Maria states, “think what a maim
you give the noble cause we now stand up for” (2.1.80) when she discusses with
other women about their rebellion. We
will not find these kind of sentences in Shrew,
which lower men in front of
women. In Shrew, men are always higher than women, but in Prize, we can find some dialogues that
show men can also be lower than women. So there is some evidence that Fletcher
wants to write the Prize with a
purpose to balance the view of men and women.
Moreover,
In Prize, Maria is depicted as a
woman who is strong and able to control and decide for herself. Rather than in Shrew, where Kate is weak and not able to decide for herself, and
Petruccio controls her completely. When,
Petruccio forces her to open the door, Maria claims, “you cannot, sir. I am
better fortified” (105). But in Shrew, when Petruccio forces Kate to
leave their wedding ball, she cannot do anything because Petruccio forces her
to go to his town, he holds her on his shoulder on his horse; nobody can
prevent Petruccio’s will.
In
addition, Maria and Livia is also aware that her sexual need is as important as
a man’s. Maria claim, “when I kiss him,
till I have my will” (1.2.120). From
this line, we understand that Maria tries to remind herself and her society
that women have the right to enjoy their sexuality and are not just available
for men.
Fletcher
challenges Shakespeare through the way he depicts his heroine, Maria, as a
leader of revolt to protest the power of masculine tyranny in marriage and
society. For example, Maria declares:
“Maids that are made of fears and modest blushes, view me, and love example!”
(75). Fletcher wants to encourage young
women not to be afraid and shy to claim their rights, which they deserve. Or, they can rebel just like Maria did.
Fletcher
also criticizes the image of the women as animals in Shrew. The use of the word tame
is related to horses, to be tamed and ridden by men. Fletcher is restoring a balance by depicting
men as an animal to be tamed, as well.
Livia states, “tis as easy with a sieve to scoop the ocean, as to tame
Petruccio” (108). Here, a man,
Petruccio, is tamed by women, Maria and her friends, to change his controlling
behaviors toward women. As in Shrew, Petuccio is noted for his taming
of women.
Fletcher
argues against Shakespeare by contrasting Maria’s dance with Petruccio’s wooing
dance in Shrew (1267). Maria claims, “I have a new dance for him,
and a mad one” (145). Here, Maria’s
rebellion is an answer to and revenge for Kate’s earlier suffering in Shrew .
She wants to show to Petruccio that the way he treated Kate will not
succeed with her, instead, she will teach him a new lesson, a new dance, how to
treat a wife nicely and well.
In
marital relationships, Fletcher criticized men’s masculine tyranny in
marriage. Livia states, “I hate an
imperious husband, and in time might be so wrought upon” (180), and Bianca
replies, “to make him cuckold” (181). In
Prize, Fletcher wants to create a
sense of balance that women can also be imperious wives by making their
husbands cuckold.
Eventually,
the marital relationship in Shrew and
in Prize is reversed. Maria argues, “he is a monster. Here must his
head be” (105). Daileader explains that
“Maria might indicate that she will be Petruccio’s head” (55) where in Shrew the husband is the head of the
married couple, the wife the body. Here,
Fltecher is swinging the pendulum to the other extreme that a wife becomes the
leader of the family.
In
sexual relationships, Fletcher’s critique is that women are always under men’s
control and passive. Maria mentions, “to
take her down… as many wives as horses under him” (162). In Prize,
women are aware of their sexual needs and desires. Maria claims, “when I kiss him, till I have
my will” (29). Livia also states, “no
man shall make use of me” (36).
Fletcher’s women realize that their bodies are not to fulfill men’s
desires, but for themselves. They want
to enjoy their sexual needs based on their will, not men’s.
The
most important Fletcher’s counter In Prize
is that women are aware that the reason they marry is for love, as Livia
questions: “why, can his money kiss me?” (51).
Livia can say no and protest to her father that she does not want to
marry Moroso because he is an old and wealthy man, and she prefers to marry her
sweetheart, Roland, whom she loves. But
not in Shrew, where Kate cannot say
no to her father when Pettruccio wants to marry her, in fact, Pettruccio forces
her to marry him, and even locks her in her room until the wedding day.
Analysis
This research paper examined two
plays written early in the seventeenth century, William Shakespeare’s The Taming of The Shrew and John
Fletcher’s The Woman’s Prize, and
consider their depiction of female characters who support and undermine the
masculine paradigm. The plays also tell
about the relationship between a husband and a wife in a family. As Crocker states: “Fletcher’s play—like
Shakespeare’s—focuses on the reformation of the unreasonable partner in
marriage” (409). In The Taming of the Shrew, the wife, Katherine, is dominated
by the husband, Petruccio, while, on the other hand in The Woman’s Prize, the husband, Petruccio (the same character), is
dominated by the wife, Maria: “Fletcher’s play—like Shakespeare’s—concentrates
on the power of the female body to disrupt or gratify patriarchal fantasies of
dominance” (409).
Fletcher’s
play demonstrates an anti-patriarchal theme, where his heroine, Maria, is
depicted as a vocal woman who can gather a troupe of other women and lock
themselves in a chamber upstairs with food and wine. Daileader explains how, in protesting against
a patriarchal system, Maria succeeded in leading a rebellion against her
tyrannous husband, Petruccio (10). Fletcher is showing his character having a
more extensive and aware identity than the Shakespeare’s Kate in The Taming of the Shrew.
This
paper also argues that careful attention to the woman’s role in The Woman's Prize and The Taming
of the Shrew demonstrates
unrecognized insights into the complex gender and marital relationships of the
plays. The Taming of The Shrew makes Kate unpleasant, which allows her
husband, Petruccio, to punish her, so the audience can feel that she deserves
to be treated improperly.
According
to Dolan, marriage was represented in the early modern period as a struggle for
dominance in which violence was the fundamental arbiter (165). Especially in Shrew, one is dominated and one dominates. Petruccio controls everything about Kate’s
life, and Kate has no right to decide. The marriage here, is described as a
violent relationship between a wife and husband. Kate and Petruccio are
depicted as combating sexes where there is almost no more proper communication
except violence and physical domination of a husband who controls everything
about his wife including food, clothes, and money.
Conversely,
in Prize, Fletcher’s play attempts to
subvert Shakespeare’s depiction of marriage by criticizing the masculine
paradigm which creates domestic rules for women. Fletcher describes a wife who
controls the husband and behaves counter to the masculine tyranny that other
woman of her era experience. In The Woman’s Prize, the marital
relationship is egalitarian, which allows Maria as a wife to make her own
decisions. In The Taming of the Shrew,
Kate is under her husband’s control.
Fletcher’s Petruccio is in
contrast to the Petruccio of The Taming
of The Shrew wherein he controls everything. But the Petruccio of The Woman’s Prize does not have the power he had in his first
marriage since his second wife, Maria, made a bargain with him to provide her
the power and authority to have the same rights as his to control the family.
Fletcher
was willing to assert an anti-patriarchal theme because he did not like how
English men from higher society treated women at the time. For example, there were some girls who were
not virgin anymore on their first wedding night because wealthy men had taken
their virginity first (Dolan, 32).
Fletcher wanted to criticize his own society. He wrote The
Prize, depicting the setting in London, whereas Shakespeare chose Padua as
setting in the Shrew. The reason Fletcher moved the setting is
because he wanted to move from the village, which was a traditional view, to
the city of London, which was a modern view.
He tried to make an autocracy realize that the old view of treating
women as their property was not effective anymore. Women have rights to be treated well
(Stretton, 22). Thus, he created his heroine,
Maria, as a leader to conduct a revolt against a patriarchal system that was
very powerful at the time.
Another
reason Fletcher supports an anti-patriarchal system is his protest against the
misogyny of his the society and in the Shrew
at the time. Modern audience and readers
had debated, and controversy was developed as to misogyny in early modern
English. Especially in the Shrew, we can see some misogynistic
examples that depict Kate as a Shrew
no men are willing to marry because of her wild and sarcastic verbosity. In spite of this, Petruccio succeeded to tame
her. The act of taming can linked to the
taming of an animal. According to Daileder, “the misogynist rhetoric … likens
women to animals, particularly horses, to be tamed and (sexually) ‘ridden’ by
men” (16). Therefore, women are
associated with animal that can be feed and clothed to whatever men’s
will. To counter Shakespeare’s animals,
Fletcher also depicts men as an animal as Livia calls Moroso as a “monster” and
his skin likes “chickens” (1.4.72).
Moreover,
Maria is depicted as clever and witty woman in speech. She gives a speech when Petruccio tricks her
to be pretended as died in order to make her come out of the rebellion
chamber. She states simply, “these are
the wants I weep for, not his person.
But the memory of this man, had he lived. But two years longer, had begot more
follies. Than wealthy autumn flies. But let him rest – he was a fool, and
farewell he! – not pitied” (172). She
emphasizes to the audience that she is crying not because of his body but
because of his life and bad behavior in treating women poorly. Here, Maria has a legacy to speak because
society at the time accepts what she told and gives her support against the
patriarchal tyranny. Especially, country
wives support her by stating, “we have taken arms in rscue of this lady, most
just and noble” (2.5.103).
Maria’s
speech to the society makes Petruccio realize that the way of his life and his
manner are not effective anymore because women are also aware of their
rights. They do not want and do not like
to be treated as animals or as a property.
That is why they have done a rebellion against men tyranny so far. And the audience realizes that women in
London are different from the women in Padua. Shrew was published twenty years before Prize was published.
By
contrasting the two plays, the Shrew
and the Prize, we can understand that
in the Shrew, the misogyny is a
central theme of the play, but in the Prize,
the theme is anti-patriarchal. Even
though they have similar theme which is the battle of the sexes between a wife
and husband, the plot is described in different ways and purposes. In the Shrew,
woman, Kate is passive and is silent and hidden to protest the male supremacy
in marriage. But in the Prize, woman, Maria is active and gathers other women in
rebellion to protest the male supremacy in marriage. Therefore, The Shrew is rich with traditional perspective, which is a
pro-patriarchal system, whereas The Prize
is rich with more modern perspective, which is an anti-patriarchal.
Results
A. The
elements the two plays incorporate.
In
reference to the first element, imagery, both plays incorporate the image the
taming of a wild animal. In Shrew,
the image of the tamed animal is directed toward a woman, Kate, where Kate is
tamed and then, after her taming is associated with another animal such as a
horse, an ox, and an ass, as Petruccio declares that “she is my house….my
horse, my ox, and my ass, my anything” (3.2.49). Kate is also described as Petruccio’s
property when he claims that “she is my goods, my chattles… my house, my field,
my barn” (3.2.220). But in Prize, the image of the tamed animal is directed
at a man, Petruccio, where Petruccio is tamed and also then associated with
other animals such as horses and beasts as Kate calls him “tame Petruccio”
(2.1.108). Not only Petruccio, but also
Moroso is related to animals in Prize
when Livia mentions him as a “monster” and “ha, chicken!” (1.4.72) when her
father asking her to marry Moroso.
The
second image to be considered is “dance” which is contrasted in the two plays.
In Shrew, Petruccio proudly states,
“as wealth is burden of my wooing dance” (1.2.67) when he is taming Kate. But in Prize,
it is Maria who proudly states, “I have a new dance for him, and a mad one”
(1.2.145). So, the image of dance is also incorporated in both plays.
The
third image in common between the plays is food. In Shrew,
it is hard for Kate to eat because Petruccio controls the food, especially when
she is starving after a long journey from her house to Petruccio’s house. Petruccio does not allow her to eat directly
even though the food is already served by his servants. In contrast, in Prize, women control and keep the food; they even take a lot of
food and drink to their room of rebellion.
Maria tells her friends: “let’s drink then, and laugh it” (2.5.51) to
celebrate during their small party in their chamber upstairs.
Similarly,
the fourth common image is that of clothes.
In Shrew, Kate is so sad
because she could wear dresses that Petruccio shows her through his
tailors. But, he tore all the dresses to
show his power over Kate. Petruccio
says, “braved in mine own house with a skein of thread! (4.3.109), and he
speaks to his tailor, “I tell thee, I, that thou hast marred her gown”
(4.3.113). He does not care how
expensive the clothes are. He is
passionate that Kate realizes that his power is more important than
clothes. But in Prize, Maria can choose any clothes that she likes. She can even wear
trousers to show that she can control and decide for herself. She tells her companions: “the woman shall
wear the breeches” (2.5.50) to show that they are equal to men.
Fletcher
alludes to Shrew in having the
character Maria takes revenge on behalf of Kate. Maria warns Petruccio that her
rebellion is also for his former wife, Kate, as she says, “nay, never look so
big, she shall, believe me, and I am she” (1.3.269). Maria does not want to suffer as Kate had
earlier. Kate’s suffering in Shrew can be seen from her statement:
“the more my wrong, the more his spite appears.
What, did he marry me to famish me?” (4.3.2). From Kate’s words, we can imply that that she
is afraid of making mistakes before Petruccio because he will get angry at
her. When he gets angry, he may hoard
his food and not allow Kate to eat.
B. The approaches
to the problems of marriage.
The
approaches to the problem of marriage in Shrew
are different from Prize. In Shrew,
there are some problems in Kate and Petruccio’s marriage. Firstly, Kate does not want to move to
petruccio’s town on the their wedding day, but Petruccio just forces her to
leave without asking her opinion first.
He picks her up and carries her on his shoulder like a material good,
and puts her on his horse to carry her away to his town. When Kate rejects him to leave, he says, “thy
shall go forward, Kate, at thy command!” (3.2.213). Secondly, every time Kate
wants to eat, Petuccio does not allow her to touch the food. He says, “I tell thee, Kate, ‘twas burnt and
dried away, and I expressly am forbid to touch it” (4.1.150). He resorts to throwing it on the floor, so
that Kate is not able to eat it. In
displaying of his most power, he turns the dinner table over to tame Kate, and
to show that he has power over her. Kate
just replies, “I pray you, husband, be not so disquiet, the meat was well, if
you were so contented” (4.1.155).
Petruccio
wants to teach Kate to be more soft and tender, and not be Shrewish anymore through unwise ways and even through violent
ways. For example, Petruccio orders some
tailors to exhibit their masterpieces and excellent clothes. The main reason she wants this clothe is for
her sister’s wedding party. After Kate
shows her interest and chooses which clothes she likes, Petruccio cuts the
dresses with his sword in a show of power. Kate is shock by his actions and
becomes more tamed after seeing all Petruccion did to the pretty clothes that
she really wants. Petruccio is so
arrogant and tyrannous in teaching Kate how to be more tamed and soft like what
society expect from the women. At least
he wants to make Kate as graceful as her sister, Bianca, but his approaches are
forces and violence.
On the other hand, In Prize, the marital problem between
Maria, Petruccio’s second wife, and Petruccio is Maria does not like the way
Petruccio treats women, or his first wife so far. She wants to change Petruccio’s behavior to
be more tamed and soft in treating and talking to his wife. The approaches that Maria uses is through a
rebellion by locking herself and her companions in her room upstairs with food
and wines until Petruccio wants to sign a petition she made. In short, the approaches in the two plays are
different because in Shrew, the
society at the time is influenced by patriarchal tyranny where men have power
and control everything women do and have since they are the only ones fueling
the domestic economy, and women are weak and do not have rights and respects.
In Prize, the society is more modern
and takes place in London. And the
society is more aware that patriarchal tyranny does not work anymore.
Conclusion
This
paper tries to discover how the rules of behavior of a wife and a husband are
depicted in Shakespeare’s The Taming of
the Shrew and in John Fletcher’s The
Woman’s Prize. There is some
normative rules of a husband and a wife in each play. For example, the rules of a husband in Shrew are to control and to manage his
wife almost in violently, but in Prize,
the rules of a husband are in contrast: to be controlled and managed by a
wife. This paper analyzes what are the
differences in the gender roles and marital relationships depicted in the two
plays. All of these issues can be
scrutinized by using feminist theory and historical analysis of marriage in the
early modern English history.
Fletcher’s
play counters specific images and ideas in Shrew
about marriage and gender roles by transferring some images and ideas from the
woman, Kate in Shrew to the man, Pettruccio
in Prize. In Prize,
the image of the tamed animal is also transferred to Petruccio as it is used to
depict Kate in Shrew. Fletcher counters Shakespeare’s images of
dance, food, and clothes in Shrew and
contrasts them in Prize. Fletcher also challenges some of
Shakespeare’s ideas about marriage, for example, Fletcher argues that a man bad
behavior toward his wife is not effective anymore because women have rights to
be treated well.
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