Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew: Sexist or Subversive?

Interpreted as either feminist or sexist by critics around the world, The Taming Of The Shrew is one of William Shakespeare’s most controversial plays. Set in Italy, this comedy revolves around a man named Petruchio and his attempts to tame the disobedient Katherina. But should this battle of the sexes be viewed as demeaning to women, or has Shakespeare succeeded in creating a subversive social commentary? Read on and decide for yourself!

When deciding on whether The Taming Of The Shrew is a feminist masterpiece or yet another sexist play written during patriarchal times, we must consider the socio-historical context.  Given the generally sexist attitudes of the time and the fact that the plot is centered on the “taming” of a disobedient woman, it is all too easy to conclude that Shakespeare was simply reflecting the misogynistic attitudes of his day and age. On the other hand, one could make the case that the subject matter of the play is clearly ironic and that Shakespeare is in fact questioning and undermining patriarchy.

A Play Within a Play

So, should The Taming of the Shrew be discounted as yet another sexist artwork or a subversive masterpiece? If we are making the case that Shakespeare was by no means serious about the idea of taming a woman, we can find the first point of evidence right in the first scene. As Shakespeare makes clear right from the start, The Taming Of The Shrew is in fact a play within a play. It all starts with a nobleman tricking a drunken man into thinking he is a nobleman too. The play that follows is an entertainment piece performed for the benefit of the fool.

What Is the Play About?

The Taming of the Shrew is set in Italy and it revolves around a father and his two eligible daughters. While the elder daughter Katherina is well-known for having a sharp tongue, her younger and better-behaved sister Bianca has attracted the interest of several men. As we quickly find out, there is a problem. The father of the two women will only let Bianca marry once Katherina has also found a husband.

When a young student named Lucentio arrives in the city of Padua, he immediately falls in love with Bianca. But he is by far not the only man hoping to get into Bianca’s good graces. Hortensio is also trying to win Bianca’s hand in marriage. As it turns out, Lucentio and Bianca’s other suitors are in luck. When an eccentric nobleman called Petruchio arrives in town, he declares that he will marry and tame the strong-willed Katherina. To everyone’s surprise, Petruchio not only convinces Katherina to marry him but also succeeds in making her compliant.

However, the means he uses to achieve this have been subject to much feminist critique. Among other things, he accomplishes his goals by refusing to let her sleep or eat until she becomes friendlier. In the meantime, both Lucentio and Hortensio have disguised themselves as tutors in the hopes of gaining Bianca’s affection. After some twists and turns, Lucentio wins the heart of Bianca, and Hortensio ends up marrying a rich widow instead. The play ends with a triple wedding. You can decide for yourself whether the ending is truly a happy one.

By the end of the play, Petruchio has “broken down” Katherina to the extent that she agrees to everything he says, no matter how ridiculous or wrong it is. In the final scene, the other two men cannot believe that Petruchio has truly managed to turn Katherina into an obedient wife. As a means of testing Petruchio’s claimed success, the three recently married men decide to make a wager: the wife who arrives the fastest when called is deemed the most obedient. To everybody’s surprise, Katherina is the only woman out of the three to arrive in the room. The play ends with her calling the two other women into the room, and chastising them for not obeying their husbands. It seems that Petruchio has successfully tamed his shrew. Or has he…?

Ironic Subversion or Propagation of Patriarchal Values?

While many readers of the play may find themselves shocked over its apparent misogyny, some feminists have argued that Shakespeare was in fact subverting common beliefs about the roles of women. After all, the play portrays Katherina as strong-willed and quick-witted. Shakespeare even has her voice several feminist opinions, which is why the play can be interpreted as critiquing patriarchy. It is also important to remember that The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy and a play within a play. Given these factors, it is very likely that Shakespeare was making fun of the sexist attitudes represented in his play.

We also should not forget that during Shakespeare’s time, there were no female actors. This means that all the female roles would have been traditionally played by men, giving this battle of the sexes yet another subversive undertone. So, one could say that Shakespeare wasn’t actually promoting the submission of women or seeking to portray them as inferior. Quite to the contrary, maybe he was using the power of art to question such ideas.

The Taming Of The Shrew was written during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, but we can’t let the fact that England was ruled by a woman fool us. In the days of Shakespeare, most women could look forward to little more than a life spent in subservience to their husbands. It was commonly believed that a quiet woman was a good woman, while women who spoke out against their male counterparts or refused to adhere to social expectations were subjected to severe punishments. Among other things, women who committed adultery would be punished by death, while men convicted of the same crime would receive a whipping.

Shakespeare also lived during a time when the persecution and killing of so-called witches was commonplace. Looking back, many historians have come to see the witch trials as yet another way of persecuting any woman who did fit into the socially acceptable roles assigned to her gender. In this sense, Shakespeare’s play reflected many of the views held by his contemporaries. Whether one sees the play as celebrating or subverting misogynistic ideas therefore depends on one’s interpretation.

The Portrayal of Women in Shakespeare’s Work

William Shakespeare was a master of his craft, and all his characters are full of light and shadow. And while some of his female characters are fairly submissive, his plays also feature a fair share of incredibly strong women. Lady Macbeth is probably one of Shakespeare’s most empowered female characters. In Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, this power-hungry woman is the one who pushes her husband to kill the king and assume the throne for himself. But she is by far not the only one.

If you read the script of Romeo and Juliet, you will quickly discover that the young Juliet is a girl who knows exactly what she wants. Among other things, she tells her lover Romeo that he should not swear his love by the inconstant moon, and takes charge of the situation in various other ways. Katherina is yet another prime example of an empowered woman who has no problem standing up to the men around her. And while the “submissiveness” she demonstrates in the end may be interpreted as Petruchio having successfully subjugated her, the nature of her subordination is so over-the-top that it borders on irony.

The Taming of the Shrew has served as the basis for several successful films, a ballet, several operas, and a musical. These include the Hollywood-comedy 10 Things I Hate About You, the world-famous musical Kiss Me Kate, and operas composed by Vittorio Giannini, Hermann Goetz, Ruperto Chapi, and others. The Hollywood comedy 10 Things I Hate About You transports Shakespeare’s story into a modern-day high school. Starring Heath Ledger as Petruchio (renamed as Patrick) and Julia Stiles as Katherina (shortened to Kate), the story of the script revolves around a father who will only let his younger sister go to prom if her older sister goes as well.

This causes a boy interested in her younger sister Bianca to pay the bad boy Patrick to get Kate to go to prom with her. Using his charm, Patrick manages to soften Kate’s heart. However, once Kate finds out about the fact that he was paid to do so, she becomes heartbroken. As it turns out, Kate is not the only one who has caught feelings. At the end of the movie, Patrick surprises her with an electric guitar that he has bought with the money earned from his wager and the two make up.

The Taming of the Shrew is also the basis of the famous Broadway musical Kiss Me Kate. Based on the real-life drama between the actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, this musical centers on the rehearsals of a production of The Taming of the Shrew and the conflicts that go on both onstage and offstage. Kiss Me Kate was composed by Cole Porter and it premiered in 1948. It continues to be one of the most-performed musicals in the world. The show even won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1949. The success of the musical is yet another proof that Shakespeare’s questioning around female submission is as relevant today as it was during his day.

The Taming of the Shrew has also inspired at least six composers to write an opera based on it, proving that its controversial subject matter continues to inspire artists of different countries and genres. One of the most famous versions was composed by the American composer Vittorio Giannini. It took him around 12 years to compose the opera, which is why it premiered in 1953. But it seems that taking his time was a good idea. The resulting opera is considered to be Giannini’s most successful work. Another highly regarded version was composed by the German Hermann Goetz, which premiered in 1874.

There is also a Russian opera written by the composer Vissarion Shebalin which was first performed in 1957. In addition, several composers have used The Taming of the Shrew as a loose inspiration for creating entirely new works. These include the one-act opera Christopher Sly, created by the American composer Dominick Argento, and the Italian opera Sly, or The Legend of the Sleeper Awoken, composed by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, both of which are based on the prologue of Shakespeare’s play. There is also a Spanish Zarzuela (a type of mix between a musical and an opera) titled Las Bravías (The Pigeons) and Shakespeare’s timeless battle of the sexes even inspired the choreographer John Cranko to create a dance version using the music of Domenico Scarlatti.

Given that we live in the time of #metoo movement and identity politics, it is hardly surprising that a growing number of artists are using The Taming of the Shrew to raise questions about gender. In 2019, theater director Justin Audibert surprised audiences by choosing to add yet another gender-bending layer to Shakespeare’s controversial work by casting Petruchio as a woman and Katharina as a man. The resulting production at the RSC is yet another example of the many ways in which Shakespeare’s plays can be subverted and adapted. It remains to be seen in what ways future generations of artists, critics, and scholars will (re)interpret Shakespeare´s explosive battle of the sexes. However, The Taming of The Shrew will likely continue to cause controversy well into the future.