The Taming of the Shrew Essay

This Study Guide consists of approximately 158 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Taming of the Shrew.

The Taming of the Shrew Essay

This Study Guide consists of approximately 158 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Taming of the Shrew.
This section contains 3,338 words
(approx. 9 pages at 400 words per page)
Buy The Taming of the Shrew Study Guide

Critics have long noted the play's emphasis on role-playing; in 1839, for instance, Hermann Ulrici asserted that both the Induction and the main action of The Shrew dramatize the principle that people should accept the roles in life "which nature has assigned" them. More recently, Charles Brooks (1960) suggested that Katherina learns to play the role of the obedient wife not only as a way to ensure domestic harmony but also as a means by which she and Petruchio can amuse themselves at the expense of others. Richard Henze, in a 1970 article excerpted below, interpreted The Shrew as "a dramatic exploration of the nature of role playing in comedy and in life." Under Petruchio's expert direction, the critic argued, Katherina learns to playa variety of parts so proficiently that her role in her marriage becomes indistinguishable from her role in life. Two years later, Ralph Berry proposed that while...

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This section contains 3,338 words
(approx. 9 pages at 400 words per page)
Buy The Taming of the Shrew Study Guide
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