Abstract
Many in today’s theater audiences feel uncomfortable with The Taming of the Shrew because of its representation of a cruel man subduing an unruly woman. Although this can be understood as Shakespeare’s phallocentric culture reflected in his writing, I argue that the Bard represents an even more viscous and intractable problem than gender discrimination: humankind’s proclivity for cruelty and violence. In this essay, I show how Shakespeare represents this dangerous tendency evenly on both sides of the gender divide and that whatever amusement we may derive from the farce reflects this same tendency within ourselves.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berek, Peter. (1988). “Text, Gender, and Genre in The Taming of the Shrew.” In Maurice Chaney (Ed.), “Bad” Shakespeare: Revaluations of Shakespeare’s Canon. London: Associated University Press.
Bloom, Harold. (1988). “Editor’ Note.” In William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew: Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House.
Boose, Linda. (1991). “Scolding Brides and Bridling Scolds.” Shakespeare Quarterly, 42: 178–213.
Deer, Harriet. (1991). “Untyping Stereotypes: The Taming of the Shrew.” In The Aching Hearth: Family Violence in Life and Literature. New York: Insight Books.
Detmer, Emily. (1997). “Civilizing Subordination: Domestic Violence and The Taming of the Shrew.” Shakespeare Quarterly, 48: 273–294.
Fineman, Joel. (1980). “Fratricide and Cuckoldry: Shakespeare’s Doubles.” In Representing Shakespeare: New Psychoanalytic Essays. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Freud, Sigmund. [1933] 1955. “Why War?” Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, 22: 197–205. London: Hogarth Press.
—. [1930] 1955. “Civilization and Its Discontents.” Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, 21: 59–145. London: Hogarth Press.
Garber, Marjorie. (1974). “Dream and Structure: The Taming of the Shrew.” In Dream in Shakespeare: From Metaphor to MetaMorphosis. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Garner, Shirley. (1979). “The Taming of the Shrew: Inside or Outside the Joke.” In Maurice Charney (Ed.), “Bad” Shakespeare: Revaluations of Shakespeare’s Canon. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Heilman, Robert. (1966). The “Taming Untamed, Or, The Return of the Shrew”. Modern Language Quarterly, 27: 197–161.
Hodgson, Barbara. (1992). “Katherina Bound, Or Play(K)ating the Strictures of Everyday Life.” Publication of the Modern Language Association, 107: 538–553.
Kahn, Coppelia. (1981). “‘Coming of Age: Marriage and Manhood’ in Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew.” In Man’s Estate: Masculine Identity in Shakespeare. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Novy, Marianne. (1979). “Patriarchy and Play in The Taming of the Shrew.” English Literary Renaissance, 9(2): 45–67.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krims, M.B. Uncovering hate in The Taming of the Shrew . Sex Cult 6, 49–64 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-002-1003-1
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-002-1003-1