Conduct, Discipline, and Punishment: Representations of Early Modern Women in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing

Conduct, Discipline, and Punishment: Representations of Early Modern Women in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing

Presenter(s)

Madeleine Onderak

Comments

11:00-12:00, Kennedy Union Boll Theatre

Description

In early modern England (the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries), women’s nature and preferred conduct were frequently discussed in pamphlets, essays, ballads, and conduct manuals. This research project examines how early modern women are represented in William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing and the implications of such characterizations. Early modern literature defines virtuous women as good housewives, obedient, patient, chaste, wise, and pious; they should avoid vanity and submit to men. Early modern depictions of the ideal woman were influenced by the virtues emphasized in Christianity and Classical history and mythology. Women were encouraged to model themselves after well-known female exemplars from Christian and Classical stories. The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing, both comedies written in the early modern period, feature female main characters who either conform with these social expectations or defy them. An analysis of these plays reveals how early modern conceptions of women’s conduct were reflected and reinforced on stage, as well as how the women who did not conform could be disciplined or punished. In particular, these plays justify public humiliation as a response to unchaste women and domestic abuse as a response to disobedient wives. Plays have the ability to influence their audience’s perception of the world. As The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing are regularly performed today, it is important to understand and critique the lessons they teach contemporary audiences about women’s behavior.

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Project Designation

Honors Thesis

Primary Advisor

Dorian Borbonus, Kirsten N. Mendoza

Primary Advisor's Department

English

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Institutional Learning Goals

Scholarship

Conduct, Discipline, and Punishment: Representations of Early Modern Women in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing

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