Professor Michael Petersen and the Great Books Student Society saw a performance of “The Taming of the Shrew,” on November 2nd at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.
This Shakespearean comedy is notorious for its sexist implications and explicit details of the battle of the sexes in nineteenth-century Padua, Italy. However, viewing a comedic rendition of the text reveals a deeper interpretation of the work.
The main plot involves Baptista, a father seeking husbands for his two daughters, Bianca and Katherine. Bianca embraces the idea of marrying bachelors, while Katherine openly resists marriage. Katherine is a shrew, a feisty woman with an aggressive disposition, who does not have many suitors. However, this changes when a character named Petruchio makes a deal with Baptista, forcibly takes Katherine’s hand in marriage, publicly humiliates her, and challenges everything she says.
It is an odd marriage, but the pair end up falling in love. In other words, Petruchio has successfully tamed a shrew. This sort of story would seemingly appall any Liberal Arts institution because it seems to defy women’s rights, but the play’s message is significant. Shakespeare’s work was revolutionary for its time because he explained that women who think independently and are deemed difficult should not be disregarded.
Clearly, there is no androgyny involved in this sort of story, however, the play Petersen’s classes saw had an all-female ensemble directed by Barbara Gaines.
Because this production was told from a feminist point of view, actresses sometimes overshadowed Shakespeare’s initial intent. Petersen mentions, “The nice thing about Shakespeare is there are very few stage directions, so it can be so broadly interpreted that actors are free to respond any way they wish to the lines of the play.”
Too much freedom, however, will likely lead to an unneeded alteration of the play. When asked if literature or its original meaning should be altered, member of the Great Books Student Society Miguel Orozco had something to say.
"I think it should be changed to provide a different point of view, but not because it offends people," said Orozco. Another member Izaki Metropoulos added, “I don't think we grow as individuals if we're not exposed to ideas we tend to avoid. It limits our ability to respond to those ideas.”
This production of “The Taming of the Shrew” slightly strayed from the work’s overall meaning, but it was still a great success. The actors’ dynamic personalities complimented the set and held a full house’s attention with lots of laughs.
Another Great Books student, Amanda Jiang, appreciates the director’s decision to feature an all-female cast. Jiang says, “I feel that the recent adaptation of this play reaffirms women's status in the 21st century and tells every one of us that women are capable of leading and sending a message.”
According to the course syllabus, it is mandatory for Shakespeare students to watch a live performance of one of Shakespeare's plays because it enriches their understanding of the text.
“The plays were originally meant to be seen and not read. While it is interesting to study the plays closely in class, students may not appreciate Shakespeare's work until they see actors embodying the lines,” explains Petersen. “Aside from being able to simply analyze literature for a class, the lessons students learn can be applied to their own lives,” an anonymous source added.
This is one of the reasons Wright College has implemented the Great Books curriculum into students’ education; it is meant to enhance people’s worldviews. “Students are often surprised that the plays give them so much to think about regarding the human experience. Why do good people do bad things? How do we come to understand ourselves? Who are we? It is often unexpected for such questions to arise while studying works of fictitious literature assumed to be remote from everyday life,” added Petersen.
You’ll never know what you may learn in a Great Books course. After deciding to take a mandatory course that entails long research papers, students may end up learning more about themselves, or perhaps, how to tame a shrew.