A Shrew's a Shrew

In the Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, one important theme arises; social roles emphasize the mood of the characters as having positive or negative connotation. This occurs at a few points throughout the play. Kate belongs to a lower social class than Petruchio, the man she was forced to marry. In their marriage, because Petruchio maintains his role as the dominant, he is much happier than Kate. Kate's social role fulfills her actions as a shrew. Another example is at the very beginning, with Christopher Sly. Sly is at a very low social role, and he is so low the upper classmen decide to play a practical joke on the drunkard. For now he is happy, as he is being portrayed as someone in a high social class/role, but he will be very upset and in a poor mood once the truth is revealed. This theme relates to our summary reading of Oedipus Rex. Oedipus was happy to be the ruler, being in a high social role. But the peasants were in a low social role, and were very unhappy, with Rex and with the social class they fell under.