Petruchio’s gaslighting in “Taming of the Shrew” helps us to understand authoritarian tactics in our own age.
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Tag Archives: Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Electorate
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Feminism, gaslighting, Heritage Foundation, Sexism, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Taming Americans through Gaslighting
Increasingly we are being gaslighted by Donald Trump and his GOP followers. Carl Rosin identifies “Taming of the Shrew” as one of the great plays about gaslighting.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Donald Trump, gaslighting, GOP, post-truth, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Verbal Combat Trumps Soft Romance
Shaw contributed some great plays to the feuding couples comedy genre, including Man and Superman and Pygmalion.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aphra Behn, C. S. Lewis, feuding couples comedy, George Bernard Shaw, Horse and His Boy, Man and Superman, Marriage, Much Ado about Nothing, Pygmalion, Rover, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Feuding Beats Shrew-Taming
“Taming of the Shrew” may have set the stage for the far more egalitarian “Much Ado about Nothing,” which launched the feuding couples comedy.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aphra Behn, feuding couples comedy, John Fletcher, Much Ado about Nothing, Rover, Tamer Tamed, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Feuding Couples Comedy
I have just begun teaching a “Feuding Couples Comedy” course. “Much Ado about Nothing” remains the quintessential example of the genre.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged couples comedy, feuding couples comedy, Much Ado about Nothing, Romantic Comedy, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Couples Fighting: It Must Be Love
Tuesday I read plays all day yesterday with an eye toward an upcoming class on “Battling Couples in Theatre and Film (the Comic Version).” The September course is part of Sewanee’s “Lifelong Learning” series. As the course runs for four weeks, I will teach four plays and four movies, pairing a play with a film […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aphra Behn, couples comedy, Edward Albee, George Bernard Shaw, His Girl Friday, It Happened One Night, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Much Ado about Nothing, Pillow Talk, Pygmalion, Romantic Comedy, Rover, screwball comedy, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Trump’s Taming of the GOP
Thursday Political scientists will debate for years how Donald J. Trump took over and “Trumpified” the modern Republican party. Multiple explanations exist, including George Packer’s theory that Trump represents a longtime rot within the GOP (I blogged about this on Monday). Nevertheless, it still boggles the mind that a disreputable realtor to whom no one […]
Resolving Shakespeare’s Shrew Problem
“The Taming of the Shrew” is one of Shakespeare’s problem plays because it seems to endorse Kate signing on to a male domination fantasy. Modern productions such as the Synetic Theater’s non-verbal version have to make adjustments to satisfy modern audiences.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged marital relationships, Marriage, misogyny, problem plays, Sexism, William Shakespeare Comments closed