Queen Elizabeth Essay

The Taming of the Shrew, written by William Shakespeare between 1589 and 1594, is a sentimentalist comedy set in the Italian city of Padua. Since the ladder was written, the hearings idea of comedy has changed quite dramatically. In the fifteen hundreds, an audition would have enjoyed obvious, visual aspects of comedy such as we would see in a modern-day pantomime, whereas an audience watching the play today would besides enjoy less obvious aspects such as sarcasm, irony and prohibitionist humour. Shakespeare, although aware of Queen Elizabeths position as a strong and independent wo firearm, also had to fulfil the expectations of the time.This is why the feminist of the play comes aside Tamed at the end. Women were expected to be obedient to men, whether husband, father or elder, in the same way as commoners were subservient to the King and aristocracy, a model of society often referred to as the Great Chain of Being. This power structure supported belief in the Divine Right of Kings and, similarly, in mans superiority to woman. The fact that the play is set in Italy however strengthens the link with the Italian customs of Commedia dellArte, one of the major influences on modern pantomime.The subject of The Taming of the Shrew who shall have sovereignty in sum is also part of a long and well established tradition in English literature offering many opportunities for comedy, for example Chaucers Wife of Baths Tale and Noahs wife in the Medieval Mystery Plays. The play is primarily about love and celebrate between husband and wife, though there are many early(a) underlying themes the relationship between master and servant, violence, and oppression, sexual compatibility, marriage and its secular assets, family, and the relationship between appearance and reality.As the title suggests, the play follows the struggles of Petruchio and Katherina in courtship and marriage Petruchio takes on the challenge of marrying the famed Shrew, cognize in Padua for her scolding tongue and uninviting attitude, and by the end of the play manages to tame her. It sheds light on the belief of the time that women should be exclusively obedient toward their masters, and that Kate realizes she will get nowhere resisting men and relents to Petruchios authority.