Taming Of The Shrew Research Paper

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Marriage is one of the most important themes in Pride and Prejudice and the Taming of the Shrew. During the 1500-1800s, marriage was one of the most important aspects of society. It was a very serious decision to make because it not only affected your life, but it also could have affected your family's. It either ruined your reputation (by marrying someone of a lower class) or supported you (by marrying someone of the same or higher class). Even though marriages in both novels were arranged by social statuses and were influenced by the husband/father, the Taming of the Shrew mainly centered around the economic aspects of marriage rather than the inner passions of lovers. Social status played a key role in marriage for both Pride and Prejudice and the Taming of the Shrew. In both societies, women were expected to support their husbands with money, property, and goods. If a marriage consisted of two partners with opposite social statuses, it was considered bad. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth was viewed as an unsuitable wife for Mr. Darcy because she was below his social…show more content…
In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy actually got to know each other before they got engaged. Their marriage was sincere and happy because they took the time to truly fall in love with each other. In contrast, Petruchio and Katherine, from the Taming of the Shrew, had a forced marriage that was staged and fake. Petruchio decided that he was going to marry Katherine before he even laid eyes on her. He ignored the warnings of her insane behavior because he only focused on what she had to offer him. Katherine's heart wasn't even set on Petruchio which made the marriage shaky. He made her pretend like she was happy even though she wasn't. Their marriage resembled a business arrangement because it was focused on money and wealth rather than feelings and

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