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Masks. A comical device to fool and entertain, or a physiological term to describe the act of self expression towards others for motivated purposes. William Shakespeare, arguably the greatest writer of all time, exemplified his understanding of the human mind through his running imagery of Faces as Masks throughout many of his plays. It was evident through the words of King Duncan in the play Macbeth, There s no art to find the mind s construction in the face. The use of masks is commonly used by people wanting to attain a desirable goal, to register feeling of unhappiness or to hide a deep insecurity. In the play, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare s use of masks humorously illustrated how different characters had to change their outer selves, in attempt to obtain what their inner selves were seeking.
The use of masks in The Taming of the Shrew was most evident in the characters of Petruchio, Lucentio and Katherina. Petruchio was a man who wore a mask in hopes of obtaining his desirable goal; He wanted to tame the shrewish Katherina Minola. Petruchio was a man travelling the world, yet he also wanted to marry as soon as possible. Through his words, he saw that as long as he was married to a rich woman, he could live happily. Upon hearing of the shrewishness of Katherina, Petruchio immediately puts on his mask.
He starts building armor and protection through his words, Think you a little din can daunt mine ears. Petruchio then goes on to explain other horrors in the world which are much worse than the prospect of facing a shrewish woman s tongue. Petruchio is at a good man at heart. Upon hearing the stories of Katherina, Petruchio immediately devises ways of masking himself to Katherina s shrewishness by pretending every evil comment she makes means the exact opposite.
Petruchio also plans to outwardly complementing Katherina on her virtuous characteristics. As Petruchio and Katherina were married, Petruchio commenced with his false outer self through his wild actions at their wedding. Even though Petruchio was in his full mask, he showed a glimpses of his motives. Could I repair what she will wear in me. As I can change these poor accoutrements, There well for Kate and better for myself.
After the wedding, Petruchio continues the performance in his mask as he takes Katherina home and shows her what it is like to live with a shrew. He is openly vulgar, and commands her to agree with him when he talks of things only a lunatic would conceive. Amazingly, Petruchio s tactics worked. Kate trusted Petruchio, and they came to truly love one another. Although Petruchio s character may have seemed cruel at many times when he was in his mask, it was all worthwhile. In the end, it helped him to tame Katherina, and ultimately find an obedient and loving wife.
Lucentio was also a person who used a mask, in an attempt to secretly woo the beautiful Bianca Minola. Lucentio was a young man who had come to Padua to study philosophy, yet when he set eyes on Bianca Minola, he immediately sought ways he could get access to her. Lucentio s mask, unlike that of Petruchio and Kate, had more to do with his physical appearance. He used trickery, and costumes to become Cambio the schoolmaster. As Cambio, Lucentio gained his much needed access to Bianca and chances to woo her in secret. Although this physical costume was successful initially, it ran the couple into problems later in the play.
Lucentio s servant, Tranio, had the unfortunate job as dressing and acting as his master Lucentio. Therefore, it would actually be Tranio that Baptista would believe to be marrying Bianca. Also, Baptista had to be tricked into thinking that the old Pedant was actually Vincent. Inevitably, the entire plan crashed at the end, and many people were hurt. It was then that Lucentio came out of his mask, and expressed his apologies to his father whom felt cheated by his son, and Bianca whom begged of forgiveness to Baptista. Although Lucentio was successful in the sense that he wooed Bianca, he did it in a deceiving way.
It is learned through the actions of Lucentio that although his intentions were correct, the way he went about it came with it s consequences. Through the play, the mask that Katherina wore was probably the most significant of all characters. Katherina was termed by people as a shrew, and spoken to often in the tone of: From all such devils, good Lord deliver us! . As a shrew, Katherina was seen as a person unmovable physically and emotionally in the view of others. Unfortunately, many people did not realize that inside she was hiding the unhappiness and deep insecurities she faced. Kate was really hurt as she realized that on top of seemingly everyone obsessing over Bianca, her own father preferred Bianca to her as well.
To avoid getting hurt, Kate responded in fits of rage towards her sister due to her jealousy. Through her anger, Kate really deterred people from becoming close to her. She built up physical walls, not allowing anyone to enter and possibly hurt her. No one ever even attempted, because in their views she was totally uncaring and callous to feelings. When Katherina got married to Petruchio, she initially objected.
Strangely, Petruchio devised strange ways to tame Katherina, and she finally had her walls broken when she realized that she would be totally helpless if she did not give in. The ways Petruchio treated Katherina during this period may have seemed quite harsh, yet they taught Kate that she had to change her inner soul, and had to become more trusting and accepting of others if she wanted to be accepted herself. Ultimately, it changed Kate, and her harsh mask was taken off. She was now an obedient wife, and more importantly, a nicer person. Through the play, Taming of the Shrew, we saw some very different examples and motives for the use of masks in the characters of Petruchio, Lucentio and Katherina. Petruchio used a mask of inner self because he wanted to show Katherina what it was like to be treated harshly.
He changed himself in search of a true love, and it proved successful as he tamed Katherina into an obedient wife by the end of the play. Lucentio used a mask of physical appearance, so that he could secretly woo Bianca. Although he was successful, it did not come without consequences as the trickery and lies had to be faced eventually. Katherina had a mask to hide her insecurities as a person, and did this by appearing shrewish and very strong willed.
Unfortunately, Katherina only succeeded in driving people further away from her, and made people dislike her. As she eventually learned the hard way, through Petruchio s ways, to trust people and accept them. Katherina became a new person to everyone, and she would now live better knowing she was able to rid herself of her mask. In life, we all face situations where we must wear masks at times. It is hoped that you will wear them for all the right reasons, and prevent yourself from putting on the ones which may bring harm towards others and yourself. 347
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Research essay sample on Taming Of The Shrew Obedient Wife
