Who is the shrew? Daayoung Lee 12th Grade

Hunting birds like hawks are not meant to be tamed. They are just starved enough to make them listen and come back to their master for food. Women during the time of Shakespeare had to be silent, obedient, and pleasant to their husband- it was their role as a woman. Women who spoke up or stood up for themselves would be considered an outcast, “wild”, or a “shrew” that needed to be tamed. In The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Katherine rejects society’s expectations of her as a woman through her “shrewish”, outspoken behavior. Petruchio agrees to marry Katherine despite her shrewish behavior for the dowry that will follow. Regarding himself as the ultimate shrew-tamer, he plans on “taming” Katherine. All the characters in the play have the potential to be considered a shrew because they are all cunning with their disguises and masks. However, when considering the title, The Taming of the Shrew,Katherine and Petruchio are the only shrews that are in a taming relationship.

Katherine takes the title role as the shrew of the play. When she is first introduced in the play, she is yelling in public, cursing at Bianca’s (her sister) suitors, “to comb your noddle with a three-legged stool and paint your face and use you...