Petruchio in the Taming of the Shrew Essay

Submitted By jwolf50
Words: 506
Pages: 3

2. The silliest part in this act to me is when Petruchio and his servant are going back and forth arguing about the dress. It is made clear in the scene that Petruchio did indeed order the dress to the requirements in which it was made to. If the dress was made how he wanted, then why is he arguing and yelling at the servant? Petruchio does this to show his assertiveness, and dominance. They exchange lines such as “well I don’t like the sleeves” and “in grief the gown is not for me.” They are arguing about how petruchio ordered the dress to be made. These phrases as a whole are very short, to the point phrases. Shakespeare using “well” as a very sarcastic word in this scene. It shows how Petruchio isn’t listening to the tailor and servants side of the story but rather blowing them off and standing strong by his personal opinion. “In grief” portrays that meaning of no matter what. “In grief” means in your last moments and in your final moments of life, Petrcuhio is saying here that even if he was dying he still would not like the gown. Having these short, strong willed statements makes the conversation very childish in a way. It shows how stubborn petruchio is being. Both these phrases are very comical and the scene as a whole is silly because of this.
5. This scene portrays how men want to be seen as the dominant one in a relationship no matter what. When the tailor brings out the dress that was in fact made to Petruchios specifications, Petruchio denies it. Petruchio sees this as an opportunity to show his dominance and his power he believes he is entitled to as a man. The moment Petruchio lays eyes on the dress he strongly says “Ill none of it.” With a short strong worded phrase said like this by Petruchio right away, it shows how keen he is on wanting to seem powerful. He does