Dreams, Duty, and Defiance: The Taming Of The Shrew
Welcome to my first action project of Spring Term. :) In my class DRAMA, we read the famous play "Taming Of The Shrew" by Shakespeare. This play is about a woman named Katherine, who during Elizabethan Era was considered a shrew. Kate was considered a shrew because she was very assertive, stubborn, honest, and sometimes rude. After Act 1 Scene 1 of the play we analyzed what being a shrew meant then, and what it means modern day. My teacher asked us, "When you hear that word, who's the first person that comes to mind?" Some students said Donald Trump, others named 3rd wave feminists, and I said Kanye West (who is changing his named to Christian Genius Billionaire). I believe Kanye is shrew because he has a different approach to how he identifies as human, as a black man, and as an artist. And he's very outspoken about what he thinks, he also loves arguing about politics which makes him problematic.
I resonate with Kate as a woman, because I consider myself a shrew sometimes too. Being problematic is a lifestyle, and especially during her time it was so uncommon to frown upon love and marriage.
While reading this play, we started to see how Kate slowly lost herself to a man in control. This play challenged gender roles, and societal norms. During 1590 a shrew was considered a threat to society which is why Shakespeare wrote this play, but he also wanted to highlight what happened to people like Kate when they don't conform. Left out, last to marry, and lonely.
For this project, our job was to write and act out a sonnet using the characters from Taming Of The Shrew. My sonnet consists of Kate (me) talking about her life choices to her father, Baptista. In this era, women were to be passed off like a baton from their father to a potential husband, but in this sonnet she challenges that norm with a sense of urgency.
Father, thee hath raised me with such stout hands.
Thy was my keeper and guide to the east,
The soul provider of such peaceful land.
But thou time for coddling thee, has ceased.
It is not my duty to be thou daughter,
But to fit a persona of my own.
Not as a pig waiting to be slaughtered,
Nor as a keepsake on another’s throne.
“If I be waspish, best beware my sting.”
I will not apologize for my jarring song.
Like a siren, i’ll lure you with my ring,
And you shall stay mew’d up in my fog for long
My dreams heed the guidelines of defiance,
I am not a jade or stock for reliance
I resonate with Kate as a woman, because I consider myself a shrew sometimes too. Being problematic is a lifestyle, and especially during her time it was so uncommon to frown upon love and marriage.
While reading this play, we started to see how Kate slowly lost herself to a man in control. This play challenged gender roles, and societal norms. During 1590 a shrew was considered a threat to society which is why Shakespeare wrote this play, but he also wanted to highlight what happened to people like Kate when they don't conform. Left out, last to marry, and lonely.
For this project, our job was to write and act out a sonnet using the characters from Taming Of The Shrew. My sonnet consists of Kate (me) talking about her life choices to her father, Baptista. In this era, women were to be passed off like a baton from their father to a potential husband, but in this sonnet she challenges that norm with a sense of urgency.
Father, thee hath raised me with such stout hands.
Thy was my keeper and guide to the east,
The soul provider of such peaceful land.
But thou time for coddling thee, has ceased.
It is not my duty to be thou daughter,
But to fit a persona of my own.
Not as a pig waiting to be slaughtered,
Nor as a keepsake on another’s throne.
“If I be waspish, best beware my sting.”
I will not apologize for my jarring song.
Like a siren, i’ll lure you with my ring,
And you shall stay mew’d up in my fog for long
My dreams heed the guidelines of defiance,
I am not a jade or stock for reliance
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