Category: Taming of the Shrew

The works of William Shakespeare, most specifically his plays, are cornerstones of western literature. Pieces that were merely intended for public entertainment are now considered timeless, and are still being researched, adapted, and enjoyed hundreds of years later. One of the reasons for this is the strong thematic nature of his stories. The Taming of the Shrew is a play that on the surface seems like an example of “wife-taming” literature typical of the time, but if we look closer, it is clear that the concept of identity is a major focus within the work. This fixation on identity can be interpreted as a meta-textual statement on theater as a whole. In this essay, I will explore the ways in which The Taming of the Shrew is about theater.

From the very beginning of the play, all of the way in the first scene of act one, we are presented with this theme of identity, and more specifically, the changing of identity. We are introduced to the drunkard tinker, Christopher Sly, sleeping in a ditch after being kicked out of a local tavern. Returning from a hunt, an unnamed nobleman finds the unconscious Sly and has an idea to play a prank on the vagabond, or perhaps more accurately, conduct something similar to a social experiment:

What thinks you, if he were conveyed to bed, Wrapped in sweet clothes, rings put upon his fingers, a most delicious banquet by his bed, And brave attendants near him when he wakes, Would not the beggar then forget himself? (citation)

The lord and his men proceed to kidnap Sly and gaslight him into thinking he is noble, groveling at his feet and surrounding him with decadence. While Sly is originally resistant to the proposition of his prestige, the lord and his servants are able to convince him that he has just recovered from a long bout of insanity, living through delusions of poverty. Once Sly begins to come around, he is presented with a wife (notably one of the lord’s servants dressed in drag) and is given “doctor’s orders” to watch a comedy put on by traveling players. Sly is supposedly advised to watch the play, what we know as The Taming of the Shrew, to regulate the excessive melancholy which has been attributed as the root of his madness.

On its own, this induction seems to be mostly innocuous, if a bit cruel, but the context of not just the play, but the Shakespearean theater itself makes this scene extremely interesting. The Taming of the Shrew was produced and performed in Elizabethan England, a monarchical society with a fairly rigid class system. Aristocrats lived in luxury while common people toiled in fields or foyers, with an artisanal middle class settling somewhere in between. The vast disparity between these lifestyles naturally separated the various peoples of the time, with one of, if not the only exception being, theater. Even with that being said, Shakespeare’s plays would be performed in one of two settings. The first of which would be a private theater being almost exclusively attended by people of wealth, with specialized plays written for this setting, characterized by more elaborate wordplay and topical humor. The more interesting of the two, and the one in which The Taming of the Shrew was performed, was the public theater. The prime example of a public theater at the time being none other than Shakespeare’s very own Globe theater.

The theater itself was broken into multiple sections corresponding to the price of admission and, for the most part, the social standing of guests. The cheapest accommodations were on the ground around the stage, with prices increasing with rising elevation of seats. Just about everyone other than the queen (who would get private performances in her castle) would come and watch plays at the globe, regardless of class. The universal viewership of Shakespeare’s work sheds new light on the induction. In an act of boredom, an elite member of society decides to grab some random beggar out of a ditch and pretend to be in his service. In doing this, the lord and his servants function as a director and a group of players acting for the entertainment of two patrons, a nobleman stepping down from his pedestal, and a lowly peasant basking in wealth and prosperity, if only for a little while. This situation, by no coincidence, is a nearly one-to-one parallel to the demographics of the consumers of Shakespeare’s plays and their perspectives, respectively. What makes this allegory even more interesting in the portrayal of Sly once he begins to believe that he is a noble. Until that moment, all of Sly’s lines were in prose, typical of common characters, but as soon as he is presented with his false bride, he begins to speak in blank verse, something usually reserved for aristocratic characters in Shakespeare’s plays. This subtle change has interesting implications.

The deliberate difference in the speaking patterns of commoners and nobles in Shakespearean literature could only be assumed to symbolize some kind of fundamental difference between these two classes, whether it be education or perhaps divine favor, so the notion that someone who merely thinks that they are a noble would suddenly start speaking differently is eye-opening. This could be saying that the perceived differences between people of different classes may not be anything inherent, but instead a product of the environment. The theater is a place where societal roles are transformed from immutable facets of character to something infinitely more flexible, even to the point of frivolity. In the world created on the stage, function follows form. The actors physically on the stage would have been all male and middle class themselves, but with nothing more than a fancy outfit (often donated from real aristocrats) they could live and act as royalty, rugged rags could make them peasants, and dresses could even make them women.

This dynamic of reversal is ever present in the play within the play as well. When Lucentio comes up with his plan to woo Bianca, who Baptista was withholding from potential suitors, he swaps clothes with his servant, Tranio. With Tranio impersonating Lucentio, and Lucentio taking on a fake persona as Cambio, a Latin tutor, the servant, and master have changed places, just like in the induction. The two are able to play the roles quite convincingly, Tranio was able to negotiate Bianca’s jointure and maintain all of Lucentio’s affairs without being caught (other than by Lucentio’s father, who knew them both already). Lucentio was able to successfully woo Bianca, and when it became clear that she had feelings for Cambio, Litio, Bianca’s other tutor, revealed himself to Tranio (thinking he was Lucentio, a fellow suitor) as being Hortensio. In this scene, Hortensio swears off his affection for Bianca, being appalled by the fact that she could fall for a common man like Cambio, while Hortensio himself was trying to accomplish the same thing, also posing as a common tutor. His reasoning here can only seem to imply that Bianca would be able to identify his nobility through his disguise (while he himself could not identify Lucentio’s). This insinuation that some level of individuality persists under the societal roles imposed on members of Elizabethan society complicates my interpretation of the play, but it is just as interesting and well supported.

The character that embodies this idea the most is Katherine’s husband, Petruchio. In (act scene), Petruchio shows up for his wedding dressed in mismatched rags, looking like a madman. Baptista tries to convince Petruchio to change, threatening to call off the wedding if he does not.

Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is often criticized for its seemingly misogynistic themes: namely, the idea of breaking a woman’s spirit and making her subservient to her husband. This is apparent through the “taming” of the play’s lead female character, Katherine Minola. Katherine, better known as Kate, is hard-headed, stubborn, and prone to speaking her mind. In the patriarchal society of Shakespeare’s day, which valued weak and submissive woman, her behavior does not go over well with her male counterparts. Thus, throughout the play, her groom, Petruccio, uses starvation, humiliation, and sleep deprivation to “break” her and turn her into what was then viewed as a proper bride — the total antithesis of the character to which the audience is first introduced. That destruction of a strong and powerful woman into one suited for the Stepford Wives is controversial: should the play be viewed in a tongue-in-cheek manner, one criticizing the society in which it takes place, or should it be taken literally and blasted as a work of anti-woman propaganda? Though it seems unusual for Shakespeare’s work, The Taming of the Shrew is ultimately riddled with misogyny and suggests the necessity of a subservient bride and the stifling of a woman’s voice.

Simultaneously, the men notice Bianca’s silence and seeming meekness, and judge her as quickly as they did Kate: while Kate is far too ardent to be a suitable bride, Bianca is ideal, with “mild behavior and sobriety.” Kate scoffs at the idea, referring to Bianca as a “pretty peat,” a spoiled little pet, and making apparent her contempt for Bianca and for the men’s general desire for a docile woman.

Further evidencing Kate’s fierceness is a scene of dialogue between Kate and Petruccio, the man who will eventually tame her. The two seem to have somewhat of a battle of wits, each verbally sniping at the other. It is clear that Kate is intelligent and can hold her own in a verbal sparring match with any man. When Petruccio attempts civility, greeting her with, “Good morrow, Kate, for that’s your name, I hear,” Kate snaps in return, “Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing: They call me Katherine that do talk of me.” Petruccio continues to attempt to win her over with compliments and sweet talk:

Petruccio: You lie, in faith, for you are call’d plain Kate, / And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst; / But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom, / Kate of Kate-Hall, my super-dainty Kate, / For dainties are all Kates, and therefore, Kate, / Take this of me, Kate my consolation— / Hearing thy mildness prais’d in every town, / They virtues spoke of, and they beauty sounded, / Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs, / Myself am mov’d to woo thee for my wife.

And while many women would have swooned over being called pretty and dainty, the more hard-hearted Kate is not at all moved. “Mov’d! in good time! Let him that mov’d / you hither remove you hence. I knew you at the first / You were a movable.” The two continue to verbally spar, and with each flattery Petruccio utters, Kate responds with an insult.

Petruccio’s use of the phrase “women are made to bear” demonstrates the play’s idea of women: while Kate means that asses are made to bear workloads, Petruccio insinuates that women are made to bear children, thus supporting the play’s continual suggestion of a woman’s place as a meek, servile being, good for little other than raising children and following the misogynistic overtones of the work as a whole.

Comparing Kate’s fire in this scene with her speech in the play’s final scene leads the audience to recognize Kate as a broken woman. Her spirit is totally gone, and she seems to support all of the things about patriarchy that she once despised; she is now subservient to Petruccio and condemns women who act insubordinately to their husbands. To Kate, the husband is the wife’s king, keeper, governor, lord, sovereign, and head — a far cry from the woman who initially spurned all such notions.

Petruccio: Katherine, I charge thee tell these headstrong women / What duty they do owe their lords and husbands.

Kate: Fie, fie, unknit that threat’ning unkind brow, / And dart not scornful glances from those eyes, to wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor. / …. Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee… / I am asham’d that women are so simple / To offer war where they should kneel for peace, / Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway, / When they are bound to serve, love and obey. / Why are our bodies, soft, and weak, and smooth, / Unapt to toil and trouble in the world… / But now I see our lances are but straws, / Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare…”

So then, how can one account for this final scene, in which Kate delivers this passionate speech about the meekness of women and responds to Petruccio’s beck and call with absolutely no resistance? It is evident that he has destroyed her with his actions toward her during their “courtship.” He humiliates Katherine by purposely dressing distastefully and riding a diseased animal at their wedding, and then by dramatically leaving their wedding dinner with Katherine in tow. He also publicly announces what Kate means to him:

I will be the master of what is mine own. / She is my goods, my chattels, she is my house, / My household stuff, my field, my barn, / My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything…

This kind of public humiliation can be seen as part of Kate’s ultimate collapse as a person. One can only bear so much degradation before it affects his or her persona, weakening the will, and Kate is a clear demonstration of this. Moreover, whisking Kate away from dinner and refusing to allow her to eat is also evidence of the starvation she endured at the hands of Petruccio. Petruccio also savagely beats his servants in front of Kate, assuring that he would never lay a hand on her but nonetheless instilling in her the knowledge that he has the potential to be a violent man. He proclaims that he will tame her by depriving her of her needs, disguising it as love and kindness.

Thus I have politely begun my reign, / And ’tis my hope to end successfully. / My falcon now is sharp and passing empty, / For then she never looks upon her lure. / Another way I have to man my haggard, / To make her come, / And know her keeper’s call, / That is, to watch her… / She eat no meat to-day, nor none shall eat; / Last night she slept not, nor to-night she shall not; / As with the meat, some undeserved fault / I’ll find about the making of the bed… / … This is a way to kill a wife with kindness.”

Thus, through this series of starvation, sleep deprivation, and humiliation, Kate becomes the docile shell of herself that she appears to be at the play’s close. As a whole, the work is anti-woman and shows the cruel and abusive destruction of a human. In the end, Kate’s “taming” is little more than the ruin of her spirit, and the work seems to praise brutality and malice toward women. A stark contrast to the feminist movement, it is no surprise that the work and its popularity are unnerving to many.

In The Taming of the Shrew Shakespeare highlights and examines issues regarding gender relationships and inequality in the Elizabethan era. The subject of gender serves as a central idea of the work and interpretation can vary from reader to reader. Shakespeare uses Baptista’s two daughters Katherina and Bianca and their suitors within the play to examine the concept of Gender relationships and the issues within said relationships.

In The Taming of the Shrew, The Minola sisters are written with a sibling rivalry and hostility towards each other due to their starkly different personalities and the effect that this has on their interactions with members of the opposite sex, the opposition between the two maintains through to the end of the play, although in a manner that shifts from their initial introduction. Of the sisters, Bianca is the one favored by both their father, Baptista and the suitors, she is seen on the outside as the perfect Elizabethan woman, she is obedient, quiet, phlegmatic and chaste whilst her sister, Katherina, has a reputation for her aggressive and ‘shrewish’, her scolding tongue scares off any potential suitors “To cart her rather. She’s too rough for me”, Gremio, the character who utters this remark about Kate is referring to carting, which was a method of torture meant for prostitutes, who were seen as low-class and repulsive, revealing how the men of Padua think of Katherina. The allusion to prostitutes comes up once more during this scene when Kate utters the line, “ I pray you, sir, is it your will To make a stale of me amongst these mates?”, a ‘stale’ is the lowest possible class of prostitute and is said in reference to her father trying to marry her off so that he can have his favored daughter, Bianca, made available for marriage. Shakespeare writes the Animus between the girls as well as Biana’s character itself to highlight in both realistic terms and parody the idea of an ideal woman that existed in his time and manages to persist into the modern era.

The Central relationship in “Taming” is the relationship between the characters of Petruchio and Katherina when they meet in the play Shakespeare writes them as evenly matched, they possess similar personalities, wit, and temperament, “By this reck’ning he is more shrew than she”. The two prosper from the mind games that they are constantly involved in throughout the play. The unconventional relationship the two share works for Shakespeare to highlight the hypocrisy of Elizabethan attitudes. The relationship between the two satirizes the ‘shrew’ stories that were very popular at the time, Shakespeare writes this to highlight the gender inequality present, whilst in most shrew stories the male characters are soft-spoken, Petruchio, as previously stated, has a similar personality to his ‘shrew’ which allows the audience to see how the Elizabethan period blindly accepted male behaviors whilst chastised the behavior of female that was deemed to be undesirable. Throughout the play, Petruchio tries to mold Katherina into more of a submissive wife, one that would have been deemed as acceptable by Elizabethan society, however, due to the comic nature of the play the earnestness of endeavor is put into question, on the surface level the audience reads the process as Petruchio degrading his wife, not allowing her to eat or sustain herself, “My tongue will tell the anger of my heart or else my heart, concealing it, will break, And, rather than it shall, I will be free even to the uttermost, as I please, in words”. However, the further the audience looks into the play the clearer the transformation motif becomes, whilst Katherina becomes more subdued so as to conform to social norms and through her taming, although we are encouraged to doubt the validity of the change. Katherina delivers that last speech of the play, she lectures to a group of men about how women should appreciate their men, going as far as to call men, “thy lord, thy king, thy governor.” The whole speech brims with irony as the Katherina has been for the entire play, been the voice for strong, outspoken women, he comedic nature of the play makes it the purpose of the speech remain rather ambiguous, “I see a woman may be made a fool If she had not a spirit to resist.” Allowing for different readings but Shakespeare still writes Katherina’s last speech to highlight issues regarding gender relationships and inequality.

Shakespeare contrasts the central relationship between Kate and Petruchio with that of her sister, Bianca, and her significant other, Lucentio. The story of Lucentio and his bride is written by Shakespeare in stark contrast to what is written between Kate and Petruchio, the audience watches as the contest and turbulence of their relationship is brought into comparison with that of Lucentio and Bianca, who seems to have a perfect relationship, theirs is a marriage of true love rather than convenience. The young lovers share an unrealistic love that is clearly rooted more in fiction than in reality, they are more akin to other Shakespearean relationships such as Romeo and Juliet or Ferdinand in the Tempest. The relationship between Bianca and Lucentio is colored by the concept of courtly love, Tranio is written as what appears to be the perfect lover, from the moment he sets his eyes on Bianca he knows he is in love with her, “Tranio, I burn, I pine, I perish, Tranio, If I achieve not this young modest girl. Counsel me, Tranio, for I know thou canst. Assist me, Tranio, for I know thou wilt.”, while this quotation shows how much Lucentio has fallen for Bianca it is not devoid of criticism as Lucentio talks about Bianca almost as if she was an object, although not to the extent that Petruchio does regarding Katherina following their marriage. Although Bianca and Lucentio are shown to love each other, their relationship works to highlight the concept of Bride-Price and marriage as an economic exchange, Bianca’s father, Baptista, approves of Lucentio marrying Bianca, not because of love but rather because Lucentio offers him the best price, Shakespeare writes this interaction to highlight the inequality experienced by women and the lack of power that they experienced in regards to the institution of marriage. However, the motif of change calls into question Bianca’s role within the story up until the last scene, whilst Katherina becomes a more socially acceptable woman, Bianca, in contrast, reveals her more ‘shrewish’ behaviors, Bianca proves herself woman as independent as her sister, this realization is the only real change that Lucentio experiences throughout the play. Shakespeare wrote him as a relatively flat character with no motive other than having Bianca. This is not unusual in plays, but Shakespeare writes this as a satire of gender inequality and the effect that it has on relationships.

In сonclusion, Shakespeare’s Taming of The Shrew uses its characters and motifs to highlight and dissect gender relationships and inequality in Elizabethan England. Shakespeare’s characters of Katherina and Bianca and their spouses Petruchio and Lucentio, respectively, were used to examine stereotypes and expectations regarding gender, marriage, and sibling relationships. The effect of gendered relationships and inequality in Taming creates an uneasiness in the audience and highlights gender issues in Elizabethan society.

In Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the Shrew, a number of individuals assume different identities through an array of varying illusions. Deception is a prominent thematic concern within the play, as a multitude of characters adopt disguises, only to reveal their true personalities. Bianca conceals her genuine temperament through her misleading behaviour, while both Hortensio and Lucentio don physical guises of schoolmasters’ clothing; for his part, the merchant who pretends to be Vincentio is disguised under duress. Although these characters are not always central to the play and are more minor in this sense, they are made more important through Shakespeare’s employment of deceit and misconceptions, as a psychological disguise is much more convincing than a physical disguise.

Bianca tries to hide her true disposition by conducting herself in a much sweeter manner that doesn’t parallel with her actual behaviour, which many individuals begin to realise through the flaws in her demeanour. Her father sympathises with her as a “poor girl, she weeps,” reinforcing her alleged “fair and virtuous” nature. This suggests to readers that she is the epitome of innocence and beauty, that she didn’t deserve to be victimised or terrorised by her sister Katherina. “Weeps” indicates a much deeper sorrow, demonstrating that her father’s view of her is reverent, clouded by favouritism. Her actions appear to go unpunished, unlike Katherina’s, one who doesn’t conceal her true personality from anyone. Shakespeare frequently hints at Bianca’s growing assertiveness throughout the play as her character gradually develops. Bianca expresses that “I learn my lessons as I please myself,” subtly suggesting a starkly different view of the youngest daughter. Shakespeare portrays to the readership that she is privileged and in possession of a personality, inconsistent with the fabricated innocence that she enforces on the surface. She blatantly reveals her true self near the end as “the more fool you for laying on my duty.” In demonstrating a strong woman’s opinion, the author illustrated an attitude which was uncommon and disagreeable during that era. The readers are positioned to feel as though Bianca has undergone a transformation, as they notice her façade has finally disappeared to reveal a domineering, self-assured woman. However, Bianca managed to obscure herself for quite an extensive period of time, whilst her suitors having assumed physical disguises, found it increasingly difficult to mask their honest selves.

Both Lucentio and Hortensio, concealed by schoolmasters’ outfits in order to win Bianca’s love cannot maintain the deception, and consequently their individualised characters are revealed. Lucentio, awe-struck by Bianca, transforms himself into “Cambio,” a teacher, and is to “undertake the teaching of a maid.” Tranio states that Bianca is not as virtuous as she may seem, but Lucentio is blinded, his true personality already shown through the stark contrast between him and his servant Tranio. He tries to show Bianca that he is a marriageable prospect by confiding in her that he is “disguised thus to get your love.” He promptly exposes his true identity, not hidden for very long. Lucentio’s naivety and foolishness becomes apparent when Bianca has cost him “a hundred pounds since supper-time.” His annoyance is not the result of losing a sum of money, but rather Bianca’s unrestrained show of disrespect towards him. He uses the money as an excuse to berate her wilfulness, the cause of his publicised embarrassment. Through this, the readers see that he is still young and impulsive, not ready for marriage. The two schoolmasters are unable to collaborate effectively together as fellow teachers, their disguises already tarnished from the beginning. Hortensio falsely presumed Bianca would let herself be wooed by a schoolteacher, and began to see that his masquerade would not work; that instead his true self would have been more favourable. He also displays a different side to the audience as he uncovers major aspects of himself, that it is “kindness in women, not their beauteous looks, shall win my love.” He displays unexpectedly virtuous behaviour, yet the readership are also shown that Hortensio gives up easily; he is readily led astray from his goal and does not possess a great deal of determination. Shakespeare argues that disguises may conceal an individual, but that personality will eventually be revealed. Lucentio’s disguise is also made more unstable as he implicates more individuals in his plan.

The Pedant who comes to Padua disguised under duress as Lucentio’s father, is ultimately seen for who he really is. With the fear of being murdered, he feels indebted to Tranio as Tranio explains he does “you courtesy,” making it sound as though he is performing such a good deed, when in fact he is taking advantage of the merchant. There is a selfish hidden agenda, the author illuminating that a good disguise often needs multiple individuals involved, yet can also become risky and dangerous. As a result the merchant takes on the role quite seriously, as “he is mine and only son.” Tranio is conniving and cunning, convincing him that he comes “to Padua careless of your life?” This is a volatile plan, based on the assumption and hope that the Pedant has not heard contradictory news. Shakespeare implores the reader to see through his ideology that people cannot be trusted based on appearance, as many have ulterior motives. The writer uses the specific example of the Pedant as he knowingly exercises the deception of “Signor Baptista” who “may remember me near twenty years ago.” Here, he is not speaking fondly of a friend, but rather he is sceptical that his façade will not work against an individual who he has met and is now willingly misleading. The fact that he knows Baptista reinforces this view as he would have trusted this candid merchant. It is implied that beneath the respectable veneer of a Pedant, he may be not be the honest merchant that he portrays himself to be.

Irrefutably, the characters’ facades were exposed; it simply proved too difficult to uphold these artificialities over such a period of time. The characters in The Taming of the Shrew all hid themselves through disguises under which they increasingly revealed more about themselves, demonstrating that individuals’ personalities will eventually be discovered. Bianca displayed her true disposition, which severely contrasted with the beliefs about her innocence and beauty, whilst the physical disguises which Lucentio and Hortensio adopted were much less effective. The two schoolmasters discovered more about themselves and showed such new insights to the reader, while the merchant disguised under duress depicted his focus on selfpreservation. All of the characters’ qualities were made apparent to the readers as Shakespeare implicitly exhibited his own attitudes.

Outline

The famous play “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare includes some major themes and this paper is the detailed description of the eight themes in this play.

“The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare is a comedy play in which he has included many themes. Different themes are transformation, art and culture, gender, marriage, education, society and class, family, language and communication.

Transformation

Transformation is one of the most significant and all-encompassing themes depicted in the comedy play “The Taming of the Shrew”. The transformation literally includes the changes seen physically, emotionally, behaviorally or in terms of attitude. The whole play shows that there are a number of changes happening and ending up with much difference from the initial situation and circumstances. The people using the veil of disguise are present in the play, which holds an important place resulting in the twist of the story of the play.

The induction of the play itself represents a disguise plot. The woman says that Sly was a Lord and she was his wife in the scene of induction. The suitors for Bianca disguised themselves in order to win her heart and make her fall in love with them. This disguise leads to further disguises plotted in the play throughout. The main topic of the play “The Taming of the Shrew” is the taming of the character in the play named Katherine. The behavioral and character change of Katherine is the real summary of the story with a sub plot of her sister’s marriage which was the reason for the transformation of Katherine’s life. Katherine was a notorious girl, with whom no man was ready to have a marriage relationship; but her marriage with Petruchio transforms her. The sigh produced by Katherine as she saw the sun shows how much change has come to her through the taming made by Petruchio. She says: “Come on, i’ God’s name; once more toward our father’s. Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the moon!” (Shakespeare, 104). She was ready to accept even wrong information from her husband without any regret.

To be clear about the play, the transformation of one or the other is schemed out throughout the comedy. Many of the alterations in the characters of the play even excited the characters themselves. The overall concept of the comedy “The Taming of the Shrew” is based on the theme of transformation occurring in many modes. Shakespeare has schemed out another play with the disguise and change as key tools for the approach towards the concluding scene of the play.

Art and Culture

The comedy “The Taming of the Shrew” is a complicated contemplation on the mechanisms of the theatres and presentation. The play deals with the backgrounds of both country and city. The setup of the play was thus arranged accordingly to meet the requirements. This necessitates a wider range of art in the play along with the variety of cultures portrayed. Shakespeare succeeded in plotting out the social and cultural aspects prevailed in all times related to the male-female positions and attitudes. “Penny Gay has argued that the taming narrative of The Shrew has extra nuances in a culture ‘tamed’ or subjugated by colonizers, where the colonized are feminized by their defeat and political impotence, and ‘the categories of women and indigenous people’ can be ‘conveniently conflated’” (Shakespeare, 45).

The culture existing at the time when the play was written and performed really influenced it to a great extent. The characters of Lords and Ladies represent that colonialism prevailed during the period. The effect of it was seen even in the relationship factors of the play throughout and of course the title has the word ‘tame’ as well.

Language and Communication

When the discussion deals with a play, the language and communication is of great importance to mention. The mode of speech will be at times in equality with the actions and deeds while at many a time they lead the activities. The communicating languages of the different characters are the defining factors of their behavior, manners and attitudes. Various emotions of the play can be made effective only with the help of a strong language and communication base. The audience is made to live with and as the characters through the successful communication of the characters with them. “Even more specifically, it would be possible to relate the many proverbial ways in which the “wor(l)d” “slides” in the Taming of the Shrew” (McDonald, 406).

The affiliation of the language and communication with the control and influence is irrefutable. The metaphorical usages increase the beauty of the play as well as convey the current mood, emotions and attitudes of the characters in the play. The success of a play lies in conveying what really the play represents and wills to convey. The author Shakespeare succeeded in that through his figurative language used in the comedy “The Taming of the Shrew”. It was established through the work that words have the highest influence in all ways than the deeds. The words of Katherine before and after marriage are having an entirely different attitude and temper. Also, the comics plotted out through the play have linguistically strong communication backgrounds.

Through the tricks of language and communication, Shakespeare succeeded in presenting the comedy “The Taming of the Shrew”. The culture and art along with the prevailing social grounds are depicted with a very strong language. On the basis of language and successful communication among the characters and the audience, the play is sturdy.

Gender

Gender is a vast theme in this play. It is an important theme because the theme gender tells about power. This play narrates the thoughts regarding gender in the 16^th century. It also explains the way in which the relationships between the two genders are shown. The play also deals with the testing and unbreakability of hierarchy in the relationships between men and women. The treatment of the roles of gender is discussed; that means the behavior of males and females that is socially established is discussed. The play tries to establish the traditional outlook that men are superior to women and the women should obey the men. The women should accept the dominance of men over them. The play tries to weaken the chauvinist assumptions of the position of women in the society.

“Until well into the nineteenth century, audiences and critics alike seem to have accepted at face value what appears to be the play’s central assumption about gender roles: that male dominance and female submission constitute the right and natural relationship between the sexes” (The Taming of the Shrew, para.1).

The treatment of Katherine by her husband Petruchio shows the dominance of men. In the 16^th century the women who were rebellious were a source of worry for men. Katherine was initially rebellious and self assertive. Her behavior was not liked by everyone. But after getting married to Petruchio her behavior got a drastic change. He never beats her to show superiority. But he uses several other methods to establish his authority. Petruchio became successful in making his wife loyal and obedient to him. But Petruchio is not considered as cruel man. His treatment of Katherine expresses the wish of men to bring women under their control. It also shows the treatment of women as objects in the 16^th century. The acts of Petruchio can be justified because all his behaviors were to change the rebellious character of Katherine and to bring back her to a normal character. Petruchio’s character was a support to Katherine for her reformation. Katherine is considered by Petruchio as his property. He marries her only for money. He was offered a large dowry and also the men who wanted to marry Bianca offered him money. Also he wished to judge her physically. All these show the treatment of Katherine as an object by Petruchio. Also Katherine is called as a commodity by Tranio who is the servant of Lucentio. The man’s awareness of women is also discussed in the play. In the play the lord’s ideas about women is told. He believes that women should be polite, modest, faithful and obedient. He also thinks that women are very emotional.

Marriage

The play explains about marriage and also makes fun of the fights occurring in the marital relations. The comic play encourages wedding and good relations between the couples in the 16^th century. It also condemns the wedding arrangements in which all the decisions are taken by men; and women do not have any contribution. “In the context of contemporary discussions of domestic relations, it supports the ideal of marriage based on mutual love within the framework of mutual authority” (Shakespeare and Heilman,175).

The play also explains how the men and women fight for their place after marriage. It tells that marriage is a financial business for men and they consider females as just an object for the transaction. This is shown in the relationship between Katherine and Petruchio. Petruchio always tries to have a superior position over his wife Katherine. Marriage is a solution to the love for a person to any other person. To fulfill their love, people do many things which they think will lead them to the marriage with the person they love. In this play the three characters Lucentio, Hortensio and Gremio wish to marry Bianca. The obstacle for them was her elder sister because Bianca can marry only after her sister’s marriage is over. So, the three appoint a person named Petruchio to marry her. The play, as usual, does not end in a marriage but it brings out the comparison between the life before and after the marriage. Shakespeare compares the lives of the two couples Katherine and Petruchio and Bianca and Lucentio.

Family

In “The Taming of the Shrew”, much importance is given to the family relationship, that is, relationship between husband and wife, relationship between father and daughters as well as father and sons. The main character Katherine is very bold, stubborn, hot-tempered girl and every one dislikes her character; so no one wishes to marry her as she never obeys others. The three guys Lucentio, Gremio and Hortensio loved Katherine’s younger sister Bianca who is a very beautiful and calm girl. Three of them wished to marry Bianca but her father Baptista Minola said she will not marry till her elder sister’s marriage and Bianca also takes the same decision that she won’t marry until Katherine’s marriage.

“Until the elder sister first be wed;
The younger then is free and not before” (Shakespeare, 52).

Here they are giving more importance to the family; even the character of Katherine is very awful. Petruchio, the husband of Katherine married her as she is very rich, even she insulted him when he proposed to marry her he told that whether she concurs or not he will marry her. After their marriage, “Petruchio continues the process of “taming” Katherine by keeping her from eating or sleeping for several days—he pretends that he loves her so much he cannot allow her to eat his inferior food or to sleep in his poorly made bed” (Shakespeare, para.4).

Petruchio tamped his wife into an obedient and loyal wife as in his imagination and Katherine speaks that every wife should obey their husband; then only they can lead a happy married life. Even the character and culture of this husband and wife are totally different. Katherine compromised to live according to her husband’s wish for the welfare of her family.

Society and class

“The Taming of the Shrew” emphasizes the differences among the social classes that are the divergence between the people of upper class and lower class. And there is great discrimination between men and women in a society. There is no power or right for the women and they have to live under the control of men and they do not get the same opportunity of men in any field. This play is primarily based on the disquiet of married life. During this period the people married for money. While Petruchio tampered Katherine, he gave very cruel treatments in order to make her a wife in his likable character and she obeyed all his orders and lived according to his wish. The women who are bold and of irritating temperament are considered as shrew by the society will. Before marriage, Katherine was classified as a shrew. In this era the lords have all the authority and all others have to obey them mainly the people of lower class have to follow the orders of the lords.

Education

“The Taming of the Shrew” gives importance to education and the author says one will get more knowledge from his experience in real life than by studying from the school. In this play, as the theme is mainly about the penalty and cruelty, one can understand about the behavior of the people in a society which will be a good social lesson for them.

Works Cited

McDonald, Russ. Shakespeare: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory, 1945-2000. Wiley-Blackwell. 2004. 406.

Shakespeare, William and Heilman, Robert Bechtold. The Taming of the Shrew. 2^nd ed. Signet Classic. 1998. 175.

Shakespeare, William and Schafer, Elizabeth. The Taming of the Shrew. Cambridge University Press. 2002. 45.

Shakespeare, William. Taming of the Shrew: Act 4: Scene 5. Forgotten Books. 104.

Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew. Kay Dreams. 1969. 52.

Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew: Plot Overview. Spark Notes. 2009. Web.

The Taming of the Shrew: Gender Roles in Taming of the Shrew. Enotes.com. 2009. Web.

Introduction

The Taming of the Shrew is a comic play by Shakespeare with an excellent and appealing lively plot and which presents attention-catching instances of romance and courting among distinct couples. It is the expectation in this paper to direct the play to produce a glaring spectator trill. In doing this, the time, the props and set, costumes, sound, video projections and lightening effects will be incorporated, accordingly.

Directorate Notes

The play was written in a time which has greatly varied from the present. As such, the character s’ value are strikingly different from what is present obtainable in the sense that they helplessly conflict what is considered to be right in our days. This is noted in the behavior of Petruchio to Katherine, which is typically Renaissance. But though values in the play lag ones presently upheld by society, there is still much to benefit from the play- which is appreciably pleasant like a modern comedy. Several cynicisms expressed in the play are likely to apt our so-called modern society. Thus any form of criticism that the play lacks distinctive morality may be baseless.

Directing the play

In directly the play and getting it on stage, a number of items are relevant both for the director and the actors. These include the following:

• A copy of the script for the director;
• Actor’s script copy(s);
• A copy of Sound and lighting cues;
• Diagram of the stage;
• Props;
• Costumes;
• Make-up; and
• Commitment to the Art.

Planning

Planning is actually the first thing considered for the play. Costs are taken of needed items, consideration of actors who would suite particular roles best is done, the kind of instruments and music to be used is determine. In the case of this play, drums and gung will be used for match emotional expressions of actors. And then, very importantly, the place for rehearsals is upheld.

Getting Started

A dark stage is used to achieve proper light effect definition. The dark stage will be most achieved by acting the play at night. It is necessary to kickoff with rolling the drums in order to attract the attention of the audience. For a romantic and comic play like the one in consideration, the effect of light should be done to make the stage appear as natural as possible. This will give the spectators a sense of time and season when the event acted occurred as well as prepare the ‘ground’ for an absorbent emotional act. Producing good climatic effect and the likes are functional of the director’s guide. Again, it is relevant to consider cons and pros of the scene of performance.

Screen casting

Screen casting is very significant in directing the play. At this stage, the quasi-audition is determined to tell who gets a part to play. This is very necessary for generation of actor statistics such as information about contact, previous acting experience and the likes.

Rehearsal

DanBaba (19) sates that rehashing for a play should take at least an hour off stage for a minute on stage. The argument emphasizes that this is feasible for actors to become cast acquitted. The rehearsal for the play in discussion would involve not just the stage actors, but also the drummers, props crew, technical crew, and the likes.

Blocking

Blocking and emphasizing memorizing the scripts is achieved at this point.

Conclusion

For a romantic play to be enjoyed, it may be acted emotionally. This is achieved by an effective directory. Without sound directing, effective sound production, meaningful lighting, and good act characteristics, the message of a play may be vague. This paper discusses procedures in directing The Taming of the Shrew.

Reference list

DanBaba, Rafui. History of Stage Act. Lagos: Ugeni, 2009. Print.

Introduction

The Taming of the Shrew is a comical romantic Shakespearean play which has an exceptional appealing liveliness expressed through its plot. It is a play which presents emotional romantic instances as well as courting among certain couples. In this paper, a story entitled Marriage in Hell is invented based on the Shakespearean play. The invented story is directed in a fashion that will project a glaring spectatorship. Effort is be made to create original scenes in directing the play through a conscious definition of time, props and set, costumes, sound, projection of images or video and an effective lightening effect.

Background of the Play

In Marriage in Hell, two young fresh university students, Tani-a 24 year old young man and Lamber- an eighteen year old lady meet in a school basketball pitch sitting side by side and watch a school match. After a bored day in class, Tani returns to room in the hostels, but the room is noisy as his roommates are chanting about a movie they watched last summer. Tani decides to dress up, put on a white T-shirt on jeans, and with a hat to protect himself from the sun, he head to a park which is close to his class. Sitting in the park, he can see some students playing basketball nearby. He is attracted at once. Sure, the ball will lighten his day, he thinks. So, he goes to the pitch and takes a seat all by himself. Now as his is getting engrossed watching the ball, a yong lady works and sits beside him. Suddenly, there is a wind and it blows off Tani’s hat into the arms of young lady. She grabs the hat, turns Tani with a smiling face and then she wears the hat on. Lamber, an extrovert, is quick to tell Tani her name. But at once, Tani is attracted by the beauty of Lamber; her appealing smile! At the same time, Tani, who is very shy in nature, for the first time in his life, begins to admire a girl. The admiration is sudden and strong. He is falling in love with Lamber, but can’t express his emotions openly. Lamber puts the hat on and soon, she is on her feet and is showing herself around, in a fashionable way. Soon, she is noticed around as she shows herself off. But Tani needs the hat back, it’s not his. It’s his dad’s, and apart, the sun is getting intense on him. Filled with fresh emotions of love and fear mixed together, he doesn’t know how to approach Lamber for the hat, now. Soon, things turn worse as the girl is joined by friends. The friends urge Lamber, and she ignores Tani and gets going, still wearing on the hat. Tani, too, is on his feets now follows her around like a snow-bug, only at a distance. Once, he stops, looking at the girl in the distance, he begins to imagine holding her to himself and kissing her deeply. Now, he is standing by a tree and staring at Lamber. Now his arms are around the tree. Now, his though is blank and his eyes are closed. He begins to imaging the tree for Lamber, as his eyes are shut. His lips begin to get closer and closer to the back of the tree. Soon, his lips are on the tree! Then he realizes he is caught up in a fallacy. He has just wedded a tree! He has just had a marriage in hell! Turning, Lamber is gone! Now, Tani looses himself from the tree and starts running in search of Lamber. In the way, he stops at every lady he sees and asks her if she is Lamber. It is not so much for the hat that he searches for the girl in a comic fashion now, but is search of a love found in the middle of boredom. Now, as he turns to look toward the tree where stood, there the girl is all by herself and watching him gracefully!

Planning for the Stage act

This indicates the actual first considerable thing for the play. Costs are taken of needed items, consideration of actors who would suite particular roles best is done, the kind of instruments and music to be used is determined. In the case of this play, basketball will be used for match attraction of actors. And then, very importantly, the place for rehearsals is upheld. At this stage, also, the costume, for the students is considered. The most likely costume to be used will be one that will agree with students’ evening choices; such as jeans and T-shirts.

Getting the Play Started

A stage is made to reflect a university environment with excited youth ambling or sitting at some places and discussing in groups. And then, there is a basket ball pitch where a number of students are playing. The need for this scene is to re-culture the spectators. The play will be shown in the evening in order to reflect a time when Tani, after a dull day in his lecture, has taken some time for relaxation. It is necessary to kickoff with the sound of a bouncing ball and chanting students in order to attract the attention of the audience. For a romantic and comic play like the one in consideration, Tordoff (28) suggests that the effect of light should be done to make the stage appear as natural as possible. But in this case, natural sun light will be preferred to minimize cost and then make the play as real as possible. This will give the spectators a sense of time and season when the event acted occurred as well as prepare the ‘ground’ for an absorbent emotional act. Producing good climatic effect and the likes are functional of the director’s guide. Again, it is relevant to consider cons and pros of the scene of performance. Other things to consider for the play are: Screen Casting; Rehearsal; and Blocking.

Conclusion

This paper presents an arrangement for directing a story entitled Marriage in Hell which is based on the Taming of the Shrew. Effective sound production, lighting, and good act characteristics, are maximally utilized for the benefit of good imaging.

Works Cited

Tordoff Bill. A Thirty Minute Taming of the Shrew. London: University Press, 2009. Print.

The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy involving the character Kate Minola. She is a woman with a strong will. She is seen as a shrew because she is unwilling to conform to society’s assumed norms of the lady of ladyhood. Also, she refuses to submit to Petruchio, who believes that he is born to tame her. There is, therefore, a question of whether Kate was finally tamed or not. One becomes tamed when she is eventually forced to be submissive and obey the set standards. Additionally, one becomes tamed when they have to unquestionably follow the master for a reward or avoidance of punishment.

I am convinced that Kate is not tamed following the unfolding of events. Kate is liberated as she is acting just as Petruchio demands because she has specific objectives to achieve by her conduct. She wants to break her stigma. In a competition of potential suitors and the respect of their father, Kate grew up being on the losing end. Baptista fails to defend Kate when she receives insults in the streets. Baptista cherishes Bianca, on the other hand. She refers to Kate as too rough or “fiend of hell” (II.i.26). Accordingly, the beginning of Act Two witnesses Kate’s jealousy of Bianca. Baptista automatically blames Kate for the fault, which leads to the rise of the conflict. The frustration of lacking a suitor when her sister has several suitors is cited for her anger. Thus Kate purposely takes less consideration on the environment in which she hails.

I am convinced that Petruchio is not successful in taming Kate. Kate learns the privileges that come with better behavior. Petruchio’s willingness to match Kate’s ferocity breaks her anger induced by the lonely state. Petruchio’s compliment is something that Kate has never experienced before and which she has been longing to have. This attention she never received even from her father. Kate had an obligation to conform to the advances made by her husband. Petruchio manages to liberate Kate that whatever people say about her is not significant. As long as she is happy, she should not care about other people’s perceptions of her. He shows up in the wedding dress like a fool putting on worn, mismatched clothes and riding on a diseased horse “But our soft conditions and our hearts should well agree with our external parts” (V.ii.169)

The situation reveals that Kate is not tamed but has learned to adapt approach life in different ways. Possibly Petruchio wanted to show her that acting tamed in listening to his directions can help her get a path for approaching her self-proclaimed approaches in life. Kate is denied a cap for she is not gentle but finally gets one when “she becomes gentle” (IV.iii.189). The abusive techniques used by her husband do not necessarily turn her submissive but rather liberate her from loneliness and the toxicity obtained from the past experiences; thus, Kate is not tamed.

In conclusion, the interaction of Kate and Petruchio is far from portraying a taming relationship. Kate is in a learning environment and realizes that she can achieve materialistic goals like acquiring the father’s respect and achievements in happiness and peace. All the personal attributes that Kate receives prove that Kate is more liberated than tamed at the end. Kate is finally able to regain her true self without extinguishing her inner standards and goals.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. The taming of the shrew. Yale University Press, 2008.

The play The Taming of the Shrew was written at a time of renewed interest in marriage, in the way relations between the sexes were being redrawn by the consequences of the Reformation and by the socio-economic conditions of contemporary England. The Taming of the Shrew remains one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies of a woman tamed by a man. Shakespeare creates bright characters of Petruchio and Katherina to unveil various modes of love, wooing, and marriage.

Petruchio is a complex character depicted as a boastful and ignorant personality. Alongside the play impulse to self-creation, to the development of the indivi­dual self as an autonomous being, came this new imperative: one’s life partner was to be regarded not as a fellow combatant in an ancient and endless war between the sexes but as a friend and companion. Through the character of Petruchio, Shakespeare unveils that cruelty is good for the victim.

The cruelty is important because it is the only thing that helps to conquer Katherina. Structurally paralleling man’s dual nature of little boy and adult dominant male, this revival presented two distinct images, separated by an intermission. Moreover, Petruchio’s habitual language underlines his authority and power over women. Thus, Petruchio never states that his only motive is financial, nor does he refer to Katherina as one of his possessions—goods, chattels, household stuff. Shakespeare underlines that there is noting deceptive in the terms of Petruchio’s proposal of marriage:

For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,

And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate

Conformable as other household Kates (Shakespeare 2000).

The first half, ending with Petruchio’s and Kate’s abrupt departure from the wedding feast, is depicted in a fairly conventional comic manner, with the playful, game-playing little boy idea receiving visual reinforcement by Petruchio’s arrival for his wedding riding a broomstick toy horse with a stuffed head. In the second half, playfulness gives way to brutality in a concerted application to destroy Kate’s individuality through her total subjugation, physically and mentally, to Petruchio.

Deprived of food and sleep for days, this becomes a physically weak and ill Kate, vacant-eyed and in rags. Thus, there anything deceptive in the terms of Petruchio’s proposal of marriage: Lucentio’s practice is designed to deceive Baptista and gain admittance for himself to Bianca. Hortensio’s practice, to the same end, briefly involves Petruchio also as a deceiver:

Now shall my friend Petruchio do me grace,

That so I may, by this device, at least

Have leave and leisure to make love to her

And unsuspected court her by herself (Shakespeare 2000)

From the very beginning, Katherina is portrayed as a cold and unsympathetic young woman. Thus, it is possible to say that Katherina gains the upper hand but realizes that she must seem submissive; she then delivers her final speech with an ironic touch, such as a wink to the audience, sharing her secret that all is not as it seems. In the world of comedy, the excessive concern of Hortensio, Gremio, and Baptista to see that Petruchio is not deceived about Kate.

Kate is allowed to mistake the nature of Petruchio. If her awareness of his quality lags briefly behind ours at first, yet she perceives clearly what he is in their very first encounter when he returns insult for insult, roar for the roar, and threatens blow for blow. Katherina is depicted as a bad-tempered young girl who insults a lot of young men in Padua. For instance, she responds to Petruchio: “Go foole, and whom thou keep’st command.

Petruchio answers: “Did euer Dian so become a Groue / As Kate this chamber with her princely gate:” (Shakespeare 2000). Despite her savagery in action and in words, for instance, Katherina has two moments of powerfully silent eloquence, when she is in sequence stunned into a silent rage by her father and then shocked into silence by the extraordinary behavior of Petruchio. A consequence of these experi­ences is that everything is thrown open to question and that for the audience every category is infected with uncertainty.

So the contrast between brutal violence and romantic love is first made ambiguous in the contrasting final speeches of Bianca and Katherina and then thrown open to the audience for further thought. Katherina is depicted as a sulky and loutish girl who becomes a real bully and family scold to spite her pretty younger sister.

The irony of the situation is underlined by the fact that everything apparently solid about social norms – in which the most successful survivors are shown to be those with the firmest grasp on the mundanely real is seen to be transient and illusory. Shakespeare makes the point wittily by exposing the depen­dence of native patrician life on alien influences; one might say that even the imagery is imported. It is possible to say that Petruchio and Kate are a good match because they share similar personal characteristics and values which help them to survive and find their love. Thus, there is no need to justify Petruchio’s cruel actions, but it is important to underline that Kate needs discipline and self-knowledge which comes from her encounter with Petruchio.

The Kate-Petruchlo relationship contains untraditional elements. Starting from a point of mutual attraction, their conflicts are more love-play than antagonistic wrestling matches. While such a point of attack undercut Shakespeare’s intention, it receives dramatic reinforcement from an unconventional Petruchio. In The Taming of the Shrew, the center of attention is more often on the deceiver than the deceived, thus since Kate and Petruchio are both deceivers and deceived, attention is directed to them more.

More clearly “contaminated” than either of these is a passage occurring earlier in the scene in the folio version when Petruchio denies Katherina the cap she fancies. Kate protests, “He haue no bigger, this doth fit the time,/And Gentlewomen weare such caps as these.”

Petruchio retorts, “When you are gentle, you shall haue one too,/And not till then” (Shakespeare 2000). In The Shrew, as in an emerging set of late-Renaissance cultural norms by which it is the lady’s behavior rather than her birth that determine her status and reputation, Katherina has to be “gentle” and kind. Petruchio and Katherina are a goof match because, in Elizabethan England, marriage was economic rather than romantic, that a wife was a piece of property. Katherina’s fury is a product of neglect while Petruchio’s violence, however extreme, is at least attentive.

In sum, in this play, Shakespeare creates two bright and similar characters of Petruchio and Katherina. Both of them are ignorant and selfish, ‘violent’ and impolite. Thus, the personal examples of each other allow them to change and marry. Katherina illustrates best how the spirited reflection of manners and myth provided aspects of the allegory with a precise focus and depth.

Works Cited Page

Shakespeare, W. The Taming of the Shrew. 2000. Web.

Costumes are an important part of making the plays detailed and clear in terms of the symbolism and help distinguish different characters. Moreover, deciding on the costumes and them changing over different scenes is one of the ways to emphasize the characters’ roles and their changing while the story develops. They allow the director of a play to further extend certain messages behind specific aspects of the script. This is one of the main languages through which meanings and symbols can be delivered to a viewer.

Completing the project was possible due to researching the play, the analysis of related literature about it, and past plays based on the script. In the play The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, many characters can differ in their social status and profession (Shakespeare, 1993). Describing these aspects of them is primarily possible by the costumes chosen for them. For example, the merchant Baptista is a wealthy man, which should be expressed in his costume – it must be chosen accordingly. Getting a proper understanding of who the characters of the play are was necessary to make a decision regarding what the actors should wear. Researching how costumes were chosen previously allowed to follow certain patterns adopted by experienced directors.

In conclusion, the feelings regarding the outcomes of the project are mostly positive, as the conducted work seems to fit the play well. The costumes chosen for the characters are well-detailed and represent them and their roles clearly, emphasizing how they differ from each other. This would allow the viewers of a play to better recognize characters and their statuses throughout the play. It is significant, as the main goal of choosing costumes for a play primarily emphasizes the characters’ traits. Therefore, it is safe to state that the outcomes are sufficient in terms of the objectives set by the project.

Reference

Shakespeare, W. (1993). The Taming of the Shrew. Wordsworth Editions.