Exploring the Rhetoric: A Feminist Study of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew
Keywords:
shakespeare; aristotle; judith butler; feminism; masculinity; femininity; performativity
Abstract
The Taming of the Shrew is one of the seminal literary canons composed by Shakespeare. The present study aims to approach Shakespeare's play employing the Aristotelian critical framework of rhetoric and the recent gender studies developed by feminist critic Judith Butler focusing on her notion of performativity and de-essentialising theory of gender at the heart of theoretical framework. The objectives of the study are to inspect how rhetorical training and education (given to men only) in early modern England play essential roles in shaping and continuing masculine superiority over feminine inferiority and how the early modern women overcoming their feminine infirmities attain feminine masculinity. The paper reveals that gender is a cultural and social construction not an inherent aspect to discover. The paper suggests that women need to be outspoken, brave and protesting of the injustice done to them with a view to establishing their rights, self-respect and their human identity.
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2024-06-08
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