Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Enotes Response Journal

After reading this, I didn’t really have an understanding of what the point was in her criticism. I did not think that her claim of feminism in The Taming of the Shrew was not truly clear because of what she said. It seemed more like she was stating other criticisms by others who felt a certain way about the way that the females are portrayed in The Taming of the Shrew. I thought that her idea of a "feminist ideology" was very much her or any reader's own opinion as well any aspects of The Taming of the Shrew being misogynistic. I think that my opinion may be very different from most people but I feel that in this play it just to show that even the most unbearable people can be "tamed" if you kill them with kindness. I think that despite everything that Pertruchio does to Katherine, there is no indication of sexism in the play. In addition to that, all of the other attention that goes towards Bianca is almost polar opposite to Katherine’s situation. In today’s society there is so much feminism that if we read old comical literature involving females, we immediately assume sexism or misogynistic views. In addition, I also thought that what Katherine A. Sirluck says that The Taming of the Shrew is a satire of Elizabethan patriarchal order, which was in flux during Shakespeare's time, makes a very good point because Elizabeth seemed to be a very uptight, as well as controlling individual (or so she is portrayed.) Barbara Hodgdon states that the play attempts to circumscribe women's "place" has a big impact on late-twentieth century feminist readers. If a majority of the readers are feminist, why wouldn't some view as sexist or misogynistic?!?! I think the one critic that I agreed with the most was Dale G. Priest, who said that Katherine benefits from her transformation from a selfish and angry shrew to a loving wife. This does not sidetrack from my thoughts that certain aspects of the play could be viewed as misogynistic, but I don't see the base of the play strictly revolving around sexism.

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