Feminism Going Extinct

A theme of “Taming of the Shrew” is displayed through many ways throughout the play. The theme of the story could be, Feminism can’t be undermined through love and wealth but through redundancy in irritation and demand in obedience. In the book, while Petruchio and Kate are on their journey back to Padua, Petruchio used the method of irritation to tame Kate. For example, on the way, Petruchio admired how the moon was shining so brightly but Kate corrected Petruchio that it was really the sun, which was true, but through recalcitrant actions, Petruchio refused to continue the journey until Kate admitted it was the moon, through anger and irritation, Kate finally ignites into saying that it was the moon. This is a symbol of Kate admitting herself to Petruchio’s power and feminism is undermined from that moment on. Also another event in the book that shows feminism is undermined is when the three couples were having a celebration feast and Lucentio, Petruchio, and Hortensio were confident in having their wives to obey them. After dealing in a lot of money, each on called for their wife but as a result only Kate obeyed every command from Petruchio and Kate made a speech about how wives should obey their husbands and be a subordinate which clarifies the main theme in “Taming of the Shrew”. A text that could relate to the theme of the Taming of the Shrew could be The Tiger’s Bride. In the Tiger’s Bride, the father didn’t value his daughter like Petruchio didn’t value his wife Kate, as a result feminism was undermined in both texts through demand of obedience because of how the beast claimed that the daughter was to be a subordinate of him and started irritating her through unusual physical actions. This is how The Tiger’s Bride and the Taming of the Shrew are related in themes.

-Ji Lim