8Themes

Taming of the Shrew - Themes

One of the important themes of this play is that "things are not always as they seem", to use a popular saying. For example, the Lord makes Sly appear to be a Lord because he thinks that that is funny. We, the audience know the reality - Christopher Sly is some poor guy that some rich and powerful person (and his servants) is being cruel to. Should we pity him? There are arguments both ways. Yes, we should pity him because he is the powerless and helpless play thing of the Lord. On the other hand, who does not want to wear nice clothes, eat nice food and be treated like a Lord? In a way, for his funny game the Lord has kind of reduced himself to the status of a servant and does not seem to realise this. Also, for example, Katherina appears to be a horrible person, who is just plain bad, but Shakespeare provides plenty of indications that in reality she is not a bad person. Is what she is doing really bad at all? There are arguments both ways. Yes, she is bad. Hitting her father and her sister and others is definitely not something she should be doing. On the other hand, Katherina is an independent and assertive woman. Independent and assertive women are independent and assertive women who do independent and assertive things. At the end of the play, Katherina looks like the submissive and dutiful wife but there are indications that she is still in reality independent and assertive. She makes the other women do what she thinks they should be doing. She has the most lines. Moreover, in a way, she lays down a contract that the men have to obey.
 * __Appearence vs Reality__**

A very obvious theme of this play is the control and ownership of women by men. Katherina does not let the men tell her what to do and so she is blamed for it, called names and treated badly. The men are in charge and the women have to be obedient and do what the men want them to do. As Petruchio says: "she is my house,/My household-stuff, my field, my barn," and so on (Act 3, Scene 2, lines 219-220). For the men, women are just a form of property. The men like Bianca because she looks like their idea of a woman (beautiful and not very smart) and does what they think a woman should (try to attract to a man).
 * __The control of women by men__**

This is another very obvious theme in the play. The main male characters are all wealthy. Lucentio is from a wealthy family. Petruchio's father has just died and left him everything. Money is no problem for Hortensio or Gremio. Baptista is very wealthy. He can easily afford to pay for both of his daughters to get married (dowry). The men stand to make money by getting married and Baptista will make money if Petruchio or Lucentio die. Moreover, note how Lucentio, Petruchio and Baptista in a sense sell Katherina and Bianca to the highest bidder. The quote above from Petruchio also suggests that in a sense he has bought Katherina and that she is just something else that he owns. At the end of the play, the banquet serves as an occasion for the men to show off their wives. In a sense, they can show off how good an investment or purchase they have made.
 * __Wealth and obtaining things that show off someone's wealth__**

This is a popular theme in Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare presents a lonely, isolated figure that nobody loves and everybody wrongs. This person finds a reason for revenge and tries to get revenge on others. In //Taming of the Shrew//, Katherina is the lonely and isolated person who wants revenge and she does it because she can and because others are doing it. Nevertheless, as with some of Shakespeare's other plays the dice is stacked against her (she cannot win) although, arguably she does in the end. While it is acceptable for the men to get revenge on her eg. what Petruchio does to her, it is not acceptable for her to get revenge on the men and others. This seems very unfair and highlights the cruelty and unfairness of powerful people.
 * __Revenge__**