The Taming Of The Shrew And Ella Wheeler Wilcoxs Woman

For females, living in a misogynistic, women disfavoring society often comes with consequences– in many cases, the restrictions of women’s roles. Hence, the topic of female stereotypes has been addressed for centuries, from Shakespeare’s era to present day. William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew and Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s poem â€Å"Woman† exhibit their opinions regarding a woman’s role in society and the manner in which she responds. Shakespeare and Wilcox both reject the idea that female stereotypes, set by a misogynistic society, pressures and encourages women into conforming. While Shakespeare believes that women must put on the facade of giving up their volition in order to gain respect, Wilcox proposes that women need to be†¦show more content†¦The audience realizes that Kate is merely agreeing with Petruchio in order to gain respect when she voices her opinions, as seen in her lengthy speech at the end of the play, where Kate finds herself lecturing two brides on how to be an obedient wife during her younger sister’s wedding dinner. She lectures that â€Å"[the] duty as the subject owes the prince,/ Even such a woman oweth to her husband† (Shakespeare V. II. 178-179). Kate compares the relationship of a woman and her husband to a servant and a prince, hinting at the stereotype of a wife being submissive. By using the word â€Å"duty† Kate indicates that women are required to serve their husbands and have no choice but to do so, and by using the word â€Å"prince† she emphasizes the dominance of husbands. While saying that the relationship between a wife and her husband is similar to the relationship between a servant and his master, she hides the underlying message that these relationships can never be compared because wives are not servants. The relationship between a servant and the prince has no love or attraction that is found in a marriage– thus d owngrading a wife to a servant is extreme and sarcastic to Kate. It seems as though she is complimenting the power of husbands, or males, yet the insincere tone conveys that really she is challenging the extent to which a husband can overpower his wife in their relationship. The men do not interrupt or disagree with her because