Satire and Gender in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew

Comedy, Satire, and Social Commentary

Comedy is a vehicle for satire, and satire is a means by which to convey social commentary. In The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare uses the medium of comedy to transmit potent yet socially subversive ideas related to gender roles and norms. Cloaked in apparent allegiance to patriarchy, The Taming of the Shrew instead describes the ridiculousness of gender inequity. Shakespeare's commitment to farce and satire is evident in the diction and characterization used throughout the play. The play is constructed to evoke the gentlest nudge of discomfort in the audience, which in Shakespeare's time would not have questioned with any sincerity the fundamental values of patriarchy and the social subjugation of women.

Yet given that the shrew was a trope recognizable to Elizabethan audiences, women and men had already grown uncomfortable with their prescribed roles. In order to evoke laughter, the euphemism of the shrew — referring to a rebellious or incorrigible female — would have been commonplace. Women were continually striving to stretch their boundaries, and could only do so from within the confines of the domestic sphere. The shrew is by definition a woman who persistently annoys or nags, like the rodent the word connotes. In this case, the shrew nags in order to assert her dominance. The fact that Shakespeare has his shrew ultimately capitulate into patriarchal submission proves that the play is a satire. After all, Shakespeare relies on the frame narrative to suggest the topsy-turvy nature of the world of Katherine and Petruchio. Plays like The Taming of the Shrew provided a cathartic release, respite from conformity, as well as insight into the means by which to challenge patriarchy.

Katherine's Intelligence and the Meaning of 'Shrew'

There is no coincidence in Shakespeare's choice of the word shrew as a euphemism for the nagging wife. A shrew is similar to the word "shrewd," meaning cunning and connoting intelligence. In fact, Tranio, Lucentio's servant, remarks that Katherine is "curst and shrewd," and that she will "not be annoy'd with suitors" (Act I, scene i). The fact of Katherine's shrewdness — and not just her shrew-ness — is a prevalent theme of The Taming of the Shrew. Katherine is annoyed with suitors because they appear to her as bumbling idiots. She is depicted immediately as being far more intelligent than Bianca, her sister who has beauty but perhaps not brains. As early as Act I, scene i, Bianca is depicted as being in need of an education, whereas Katherine most certainly is not. Katherine's rejection of the men is related to her rejection of their rank stupidity and her knowledge that she is far superior to them in intelligence.

Later, Katherine's superiority is subtly alluded to when Hortensio discusses Katherine with Petruchio: "Petruchio, shall I then come roundly to thee / And wish thee to a shrewd ill-favour'd wife? / Thou'ldst thank me but a little for my counsel" (Act I, scene ii). Hortensio is surely intimidated by Katherine because of her intelligence, her shrewdness, and her cunning. These are qualities that threaten patriarchy and the presumed intellectual, social, and political superiority of men.

Education as Power and Symbol

Education is a primary means by which females gain access to social, cultural, and financial capital. This was as true in Shakespeare's society as it ever has been, and the theme of education is indeed significant in The Taming of the Shrew. As Hutcheon points out, "The Taming of the Shrew is a text deeply invested in the idea of education — scenes of pedagogy fill the play, from Katherine's attack on the music teacher to Bianca and Lucentio's love lessons to Petruchio's taming of Katherine." Education functions both as a symbol and as a process. As a symbol, education represents power and, particularly, self-empowerment. Katherine is immediately established as a self-sufficient woman with a strong education, and is therefore contrasted sharply with her more attractive and docile younger sister Bianca. As a process, education serves as the means by which to achieve knowledge, power, and enlightenment.

Education is not restricted to book learning, although book learning is as important in The Taming of the Shrew as it is in The Tempest. In this play, book learning is presented as essentially gender-neutral — a universal human constant. As Hutcheon observes, "A system originally developed for the education of boys works equally well to educate women." Education beyond book learning entails the transformation of values and the realization that some social structures prove inefficient.

Lucentio ironically never comes to recognize the fallacies of chauvinism, precisely because he serves as the farcical symbol of the patriarchal system. His character never transcends patriarchy, thereby proving that Katherine's education is far more comprehensive than his. Lucentio may command book learning and classical education, but Katherine has more deeply mastered an understanding of how patriarchy functions as a social system. Furthermore, through Lucentio more than any other character, the audience perceives the fallacies of the system and welcomes radical change.

Beck goes so far as to suggest that Lucentio is actually privy to the transformative nature of feminist liberation and actively participates in feminist discourse himself. For example, Petruchio tells Katherine to remove her cap, which is a core symbol in the play. In Act IV, scene iii, the cap represents the symbolic hats that people wear as they assume their gendered identities. Beck states that Petruchio's telling Katherine to remove her cap "may…be a sign that he thereby liberates her from subordination to him." Even if Petruchio is unaware of his subconscious motives of liberating Katherine, the act is symbolic on multiple levels, including the connection between the cap and gown and the motif of education. Katherine clings to the cap as a symbol of her power in their relationship: "Love me or love me not, I like the cap; / And it I will have." Her statement does not take into account Petruchio's feelings, because Katherine does not care about how he feels about the cap. She cares only about restoring order and balance to the power structures of society. It does appear as if Petruchio might also feel that the hat — a "bauble" in his eyes — trivializes her power, which is why he asks Katherine to toss it.

Katherine is perpetually aware of how Petruchio, and all men, intend to make her docile and subservient, and it remains her perpetual struggle to resist. When she states, "you mean to make a puppet of me," Shakespeare has Katherine take the lead, and two men echo her sentiments — first the tailor and then Petruchio. The men are thoroughly perplexed by a woman who has the strength and courage to stand up for herself and assert her needs, wants, and desires. That a woman's opinions, needs, and desires should be subordinate to men's is the core political problem of the play. Katherine is labeled a "shrew" only because she acts more like a man than a woman, and in so doing subverts gender roles and norms. By the close of the play, Katherine has so fully owned her designation as the shrew that the term ceases to be an insult, even when it is bandied about as such. Interestingly, Petruchio has likewise come to realize the fault in perceiving strong women as problematic. When Baptista states, "Now, in good sadness, son Petruchio, / I think thou hast the veriest shrew of all," Petruchio responds, "Well, I say no" (Act V, scene ii). Herein begins a wager between the men based on the perceived obedience of the women. Katherine is clever enough to subvert the wager itself by feigning obedience.

Conclusion: Taming the Shrew Is Impossible

In The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare sheds light on the core farce of patriarchy. The play is clearly a satire, bordering on an exemplar of absurdist literature. Social change is strongly recommended, even if it is not expected of an audience too entrenched in outmoded values to embrace it. Katherine's perceived submission to Petruchio at the close of the play serves two valuable functions. The first is to highlight the ability for love, friendship, and respect to flourish within a heterosexual construct — and even within the social convention of marriage — without bowing to the dictates of patriarchy and the hierarchies patriarchy demands. Marriage does not entail dominance and submission, but rather equality.

Throughout The Taming of the Shrew, Katherine and not Petruchio remains the dominant figure, showing that it is not men who dominate women. Yet herein lies the second potent purpose of Katherine's offering her hand in marriage. Taming a shrew is technically impossible, and it cannot be done. Her character has remained far too stubborn and willful to have suddenly changed; the final speech signifies only the sound and fury of frustrated females. Katherine's apparent capitulation is, in the end, the ultimate act of performance — one that reveals, rather than conceals, the absurdity of the patriarchal order she refuses to obey.

Works Cited

Beck, Ervin. "Shakespeare's THE TAMING OF THE SHREW 5.2.125-26." Explicator 57.1 (1998): 8. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

Bertucci, Christopher. "Rethinking Binaries By Recovering Bianca In 10 Things I Hate About You And Zeffirelli's The Taming Of The Shrew." Literature Film Quarterly 42.2 (2014): 414–426. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

Hutcheon, Elizabeth. "From Shrew to Subject: Petruchio's Humanist Education of Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew." Comparative Drama 45.4 (Winter 2011): 315–337.

Sirluck, Katherine A. "Patriarchy, Pedagogy, And The Divided Self In 'The Taming Of The Shrew.'" University Of Toronto Quarterly 60.4 (1991): 417–434. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.