Author Archives: melissa.german

In Taming of The Shrew, Act 1 we see how Katherine and Bianca are being forced into marriage by their father. Bianca does not seem to mind so much but not everyone would enjoy having their family not only force them into marriage, but pick out a husband for them such as Bianca’s sister Katherine. Katherine is very outspoken, confident and reluctant to have others in her life decide her future. The men in the play say Katherine’s outspoken personality holds her back from having anyone approach her and possibly court her. What happens when a woman’s high education level becomes the reason why a man is afraid to build a relationship with her?

The M.R.S. and the Ph.D. starts off by saying, “TODAY women earn almost 60 percent of all bachelor’s degrees and more than half of master’s and Ph.D.’s which should make any woman proud. This however would hold women back from getting married from 1940 – 1970 when women were told they were too educated to marry. Luckily we have come a long way from this time period where women had to put their education aside in order to marry.

Act 1 of Taming of The Shrew not only shows us the amount of growth women have made but also the importance of understanding how reading what was going on during a time period such as Shakespeare’s, gives us an insight as to why women are now more outspoken and continue to push the envelope to be heard and be respected.