Wednesday, 12 November 2014

The Taming of Shrew

http://www.shakespearefilms.com/images/taming-of-the-shrew.jpg
   The Taming of Shrew is one of Shakespear's earliest comedies. This is a romantic comedy, which is focusing on the concerns of married life and it is particularly relevant to English audience of the Renaissance period. As this play focuses on courtship and marriage, also the society of that era(Renaissance) concerned with marriage in general. Theirs was a society concerned with marriage in general, thanks in part to Henry VIII’s separation of England from the Catholic Church in 1534 in order to secure a divorce that the pope had refused to grant him. Henry’s troubles highlight one important aspect of Elizabethan marriages among the upper class: they were most often arranged for money, land, or power, rather than for love. Moreover, unless you were the king of England, the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries offered few ways out of an unhappy marriage.
    Katherine- the protagonist, at the start of the film is foul-tempered and sharp tangued. She constantly insult the men arround her. So as Elizabeth I, Kate demonstrated to be the mistress, to have dominion over every male especially if their discussion arrived till the topic of "the marriage". And also the way she walks through the corridors in the building where she works remind of the Queen Elizabeth was walking determinated through the politicians.
    The Taming of Shrew can be associated to the Elizabethan era because of the details that are very symbolic; For example the black costume, Kate wears nearly in the whole film. In color psychology, black creates a barrier between itself and the outside world, provide comfortm while protecting its emotions and feelings and hiding its vulnerabilities, insecurities and lack of self-confidence. And do not forget that Black was one of Elizabethan's favourite colors. Kate also wears an Elizabethan hairstyle during her sisters party- a Bun. It looked more like a contemporary hairstyle because it was on the nape of the neck.
    Katherine's mother is wearingh velvet jackets, jewelleries, She is also wearing a rose on her jacket which can be considered as a symbol of beauty; Katherine's sister,Bianca, wears fur an jewelleries as well.All these elements determinate them as people from upper classes.
    During the marriage of Katherine, her hairstyle is changing: from a french twist it changes into a simple disordered bun- which can be interpretated as a sign of a passage from a nice independent life to a lifestyle fulln of difficulties, similar to a lifestyle of a simple worker.
    If making reference to Bianca, we can notice some iconic details which prove her status of a rich careerist. For example she is wearing fur when she goes to New York as well as her boyufriend. For him it was a sign of a status change as first he wore simple clothes when he was a simple boy who promissed Bianca to teach italian. Another detail I've noticed is that Bianca's house, there were lots of her own portraits, similar to Queen Elizabeth who had lots of portraits of herself in way to control her image.

http://mmimageslarge.moviemail-online.co.uk/SHREW-08.jpg

     A new big change can be noticed in the end of the film if observing Katherine's groom who changed his status from a simple worker into a person  of an upper classes and this characteristic is noticeable from the way he is dressed.
    All these elements are very iconic because thanks to them we can see the changes and steps that someone does to pass from a class to another. We have to take into consideration that in Shakespear's era the social stratification in a very, not only from an esthetic point oif view, but also in terms of rights for example. It is true that inequalities exist till nowadays but in a less evident way.

No comments:

Post a Comment