The Taming of The Shrew Themes

'The Taming of The Shrew' Themes Lets examine the two major themes that drive Shakespeares  The Taming of The Shrew. Theme: Marriage The play is ultimately about finding a suitable partner for marriage. The motivations for marriage in the play vary enormously, however. Petruccio is only really interested in marriage for economic gain. Bianca, on the other hand, is in it for love. Lucentio has gone to great lengths to win Bianca’s favour and to get to know her better before committing to marriage. He disguises himself as her Latin teacher in order to spend more time with her and to gain her affections. However, Lucentio is only permitted to marry Bianca because he has managed to convince her father that he is incredibly rich. Had Hortensio offered Baptista more money he would have married Bianca despite her being in love with Lucentio. Hortensio settles for marriage to the widow after his marriage to Bianca is refused. He would rather be married to someone than have no one. It is usual in Shakespearian comedies that they end in marriage. The Taming of the Shrew does not end with a marriage but observes several as the play goes on. Moreover, the play considers the impact that a marriage has on family members, friends and servants and on how a relationship and bond is formed thereafter. There is a form of elopement where Bianca and Lucentio go off and marry in secret, a formal marriage between Petruccio and Katherine where the social and economic contract is key, and the marriage between Hortensio and the widow which is less about wild love and passion but more about companionship and convenience. Theme: Social Mobility and Class The play is concerned with social mobility which is ameliorated through marriage in Petruccio’s case, or through disguise and impersonation.  Tranio pretends to be Lucentio and has all the trappings of his master while his master becomes a servant of sorts in becoming a Latin teacher for Baptista’s daughters. The Local Lord at the beginning of the play wonders whether a common Tinker can be convinced he is a lord in the right circumstances and whether he can convince others of his nobility. Here, through Sly and Tranio Shakespeare explores whether social class is to do with all the trappings or something more fundamental. In conclusion, one could argue that being of high status is only of any use if people consider you are of that status. Vincentio is reduced to a ‘faded old man’ in Petruccio’s eyes when he is encountered on the way to Baptista’s house, Katherine acknowledges him as a woman (who could get any lower on the social strata?). In fact, Vincentio is super powerful and rich, his social status is what convinces Baptista that his son is worthy of his daughter’s hand in marriage. Social status and class are therefore very important but transient and open to corruption. Katherine is angry because she does not conform to what is expected of her by her position in society. She tries to fight against the expectations of her family, friends and social status, her marriage ultimately forces her to accept her role as wife and she finds happiness in finally conforming to her role. In the end, the play dictates that each character must conform to his position in society. Tranio is restored to his servant status, Lucentio back to his position as a rich heir. Katherine is finally disciplined to conform to her position. In an additional passage to the play even Christopher Sly is returned to his position outside the alehouse having been stripped of his finery: Go take him easily up and put him in his own apparel again and lay him in the place where we did find him just underneath the alehouse side below.(Additional Passages Line 2-4) Shakespeare suggests it is possible to cheat class and social boundaries but that the truth will win out and one must conform to ones position in society if we are to live a happy life.

Summary of Jean-Paul Sartres Contributions to Philosophy Essays

Summary of Jean-Paul Sartre's Contributions to Philosophy Essays Summary of Jean-Paul Sartre's Contributions to Philosophy Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) was a philosopher among other vocations (including novelist, playwright, and literary critic) and was also at the forefront of 20th century French philosophy and Marxism but is mainly considered an existentialist and is a key figure in that area of philosophy. At the outset Sartre?s philosophy was influenced by Edmund Husserl, the phenomenological movement and the idea that consciousness is about objects rather than creating within it an inner representation of the object, but he expands on these ideas and gives his own spin as his body of works grows. In 1938 Sartre published one of his earliest and most well-known works is La Naus?e (Nausea) which depicts a frustrated historian (Antoine Roquentin) who feels nausea as a result of his struggle to define himself despite the distractions of inanimate objects and situations which he believes detract from that goal, end he even fears whether his existence is a figment of the imagination. This novel is often considered a manifesto of existentialism and is sometimes seen as one of the canonical works of the movement. It brings up questions of existence, objects in relation to consciousness, freedom, and the meaning of life. Shortly after publishing this work Sartre also wrote an essay called The Transcendence of the Ego in which he expanded on the idea that objects exist independently from our consciousness of them and added the idea that a person?s ego is itself an object of consciousness to be discovered. His main existentialist work however is called Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology and was published in 1943. Its writing was spurred but Sartre?s reflections as a result of reading Martin Heidegger?s Being and Time, an ontological work from a phenomenologist perspective, which prompted Sartre?s subtitle for his work. He analyzes and criticizes the works of other philosophers and uses these to summarize his theory of being, consciousness and phenomena. One of Sartre?s most original contributions to metaphysics is found in this work and is his concept of ?nothingness? and the idea that it is essential to being. He also talks about ?being? in two sense using Hegel?s terminology (pour-soi/for-itself, and en-soi/in-itself) and talks about the in-itself existing independently and transcending the for-itself.