Controlled Assessment

‘If I be waspish, best beware my sting’*. Venomous beasts, harsh teacher or actions misread. These words are what you could describe a woman. Women have been treated like objects no more than am accessorise or cloth. Woman also had no voice up on till recently. To have no voice would be torment, not being able to express your views or unable to say if something is right or wrong for you. Women have been label as house makers and kitchen dwellers, in some cases refer to as animals and possessions. I would be exploring the various views expressed by woman in ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ and poems of the passionate poet Sylvia Plath.

 

‘The Taming of the Shrew’ of is a very unique and interest play that express the unheard voice, feelings and ideas. The play is based in 16th century where women were seen as objects like animals. They were made to obey and have no opinion, no thoughts, no voice and most of all not freedom of expression. Back the 16th century, I believe the ‘Tudor era’ women were see as another item they could get or compete for. They were equal with men but equal with the very clothes they wear. Even though that is what society wanted women to be, more than a few reject the label and wanted to be free, expressive and independent. In play Petruchio tries to tame Katherina and takes it as a challenge and is motivated as he believes she is to out spoken and not like society vision or image of a woman. Katherina slowly conforms to him as she believes it is for her own good.

Katherina is the most prominent female character in the play. She expresses her views and feelings disregarding the society rules. This was to be silent, have no opinion and to obey. Women of the 16th Century wanted to be independent, free and have a voice. In ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ the unheard voice of a woman is heard and expressed.

Katherina is determined and strong willed for example at start of the play she is not married, I am certain every other woman around even her friends were getting married. She was probably in her 20’s when those days you would get married during your teens.

Another quote that shows the strength of feelings by women is when the widow says there will be no lecture, when Petruchio orders Katherina to lecture the wives that disobeyed their husband. This shows that some woman reject being under control of men. Furthermore she didn’t ask if there could not be a lecture she just said straight as it is, this shows woman were bold and had the confidence and belief to speak.

Katherina also express her feelings when she rages at her dad for conveying just like a prostitute in front of the men. Katherina shows her strong feelings of not wanting to be labelled a prostitute or anything of the sort.

The language features are broad devices such as pun and repetition are used variously.

‘Husht, master, here’s some good pastime toward; that wench is stark mad, or wonderful froward’ Compared to Bianca who is ‘But in the other’s silence I do see. Maid’s mild behaviour and sobriety…’ This quote is just after Lucentio has seen Katherina and Bianca- he talks about the character of Bianca, which have attracted him to Bianca (society’s requirements’. Before this statement Tranio talks about the things that disgust him about Katherina. A wife had to be meek and submissive. The physical features of a woman were also than into account when measuring if a woman was suitable to be a wife ‘…I saw her coral lip move….’ Katherina is labelled a whore (a prostitute), this is the worst tag anyone could be labelled with during these times.

One language feature used is puns. Puns are in abundance in this play as it is a Comedy. One of the puns is when Katherina and Petruchio are trying to outwit each-other. In this part of the play Katherina continuously outwits Petruchio. Petruchio has to react with sexual response to not look outwitted. Katherina strikes as she is only trying to protect herself not out of malice or anything of the sort, which shows that women like to be treated with respect and not as an object especially not a sex object.

Katherina feels vulnerable as she has no voice and minority of women stand up.

Sylvia Plath was a poet who used extremely strong, violent and expressive language in her poems. She was born in October 1932 and apparently committed suicide in 1962.This was extremely uncommon and unheard of especially for a woman in those days. She wasn’t the first, but one of the most important. The poems she wrote are like little chapters of a personal autobiography. Most of her poems refer to death and suicide.

I would be exploring the various devices and features used. I would go over each poem and then I would talk about each language feature or device and explain the each one and show were in each poem it is found.

The first poem I am would look at is ‘Daddy’. ‘Daddy’ is very raw, direct and blatant in language, which you only see used by a minority of men. It express very deep emotions such sadness, depression and anger. These emotions are rarely express by women during this time, which is around the 50’s or so. Poems such as these were hardly produced by men not to talk of women. In the first stanza there is an iambic pentameter, this was also used by William Shakespeare in plays such as ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. An iambic pentameter is used usual in music of drama it mainly just for a verse of few lines. An iambic pentameter gives rhyme and steadiness to a line of verse or phrase.

In some of her poems she refers to Christian or biblical things this show she still has a strong connection with her faith. At a tend age of 8, when the mind is quite fragile and insecure, her father died this can discourage anyone from believing there is no up there above. But this despite the fact of this she still has that little which is shown in her reference to things in the bible and relate to the Christian faith. She didn’t become an atheist as if she had become one she would have thought to kill herself to meet her dad. She believes there is something after death.

The next poem I would be analysing is ‘The Arrival of the Bee Box’. In the Arrival of the Bee Box it express vast amount of emotion, mostly optimism and regret. She describes how the box looks in the first stanza. She refers to death and her father when she says it is like a ’coffin of a midget’. The next stanza expresses her fear of the bee, which I believe represent her memories. Throughout the whole play she refers to her time and experience with her dad. This shows women are faithful and do not forget. She uses metaphors when she says if I stand back would they think I am a tree. She seems to regret getting the box which shows she sees her mistakes and knows how to a mend them. I believe the bees represent the memories of her and her father. Bee hives are built usually in hexagons, hexagons are efficient when build as you only need the shortest of lines possible if a large area is need to be covered. This shows even though she had a short time with her father she has built a big relationship with. The connection is so big that she says that the bees might consume her. This shows that the memories of him and her and so strong they are capable of controlling her.

In ‘Death & Co.’ Sylvia Plath express depression and distress. In this poem Sylvia Plath personifies death this shows she has a lust for death she creates two characters of death one her father the other Hughes her Husband. Death is described as something peaceable then it is expressed as lazy, non-pleased this is the Hughes character of Death. Repetition of dead bell creates a climax and urgency and it also shows something is impending. In the last stanza she says ‘somebody’s done for’ showing that action will be taken against something or someone or even herself.

‘I am Vertical’ Shows that women are strong-minded, stubborn, willing and selfish. It expresses Sylvia Plath desire to die and wanting to be dead. She has spoken about anything and the people how will suffer this shows that women are strong-minded and are stubborn and most all selfish.

Sylvia Plath strong obsession of death and things about her dad, show that women strong can never be broken with someone or something even through death. She expresses wanting to die so she could be with him. She conveys her anger, sadness and depression though her poems. She also expresses her regret.

As shown women are intelligent, determined and caring. Women feelings are express in the ‘Taming of the Shrew’ and in Sylvia Plath’s poems as much as strong as they really are. Women had strong feelings and need it to bring up children. Women I believe have a stronger mind then men on certain aspects of life. Women put their all in something if they really want and if it is for a loved one.

 

* A wasps’ sting hurts and unlike a bee it can sting as many times as it can without dying in the process.