An Interpretation of the Shrew Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew from the Feminist Perspective_英语论文

摘要

《驯悍记》是莎士比亚早期的代表作之一，自发表以来，它曾引发过许多争议，特别是进入20世纪以来，随着女权主义的兴起，这部作品吸引着越来越多的人的关注。从艺术成就上看，《驯悍记》应该是莎翁影响力最大的一部作品，它不仅向观众们展示了文艺复兴时期人们的情感生活、人文关怀、金钱观和婚姻观，还通过塑造凯瑟琳娜这个经典的“悍妇”形象来展示女性主义的发展。本文就将从“女性主义”角度出发，首先，通过剖析女主人公凯瑟琳娜泼辣任性的性格的内外成因，继而讲述她由“悍妇”被驯服成为“顺妻”的命运，以及证明其反抗失败的必然性，最后来揭示在男权强权社会的背景下，“悍妇”凯瑟琳娜女性形象的悲剧性特征，从而揭示文章主旨，引发读者深思。

关键词：《驯悍记》；莎士比亚；“悍妇”凯瑟琳娜；女性主义 

Abstract

The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's early masterpieces, which provokes continuous controversy since publicized. It attracts much attention after Women’ Rights movement. In terms of artistic achievements, The Taming of the Shrew is the most influential works of Shakespeare. It shows people not only their lives in Renaissance, but also their attitudes towards money and marriage, which reveals the development of feminism. From the perspective of feminism, this paper firstly analyses the development of the characters of the heroine Katherina, and then explains her fate of being tamed into a gentle wife, elaborates the inevitability of the failure of her resistance, and finally reveals the tragic female image "Shrew" Katherina under the patriarchal society, which triggers readers’ contemplation.

Key words:  The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare, shrew Katherina, feminism

Contents

1. Introduction.1 

2. Demonstration.3

2.1. The Development of the Personality of the Shrew Katherina.3

2.1.1. The External Cause——Families.3

2.1.2. The Internal Cause——Patriarchy4

2.2. The Destiny of Being Tamed5

2.2.1. The Change of the Personality of Katherina.6

2.2.2. The Success of the Male Power.6

2.3. The Rebellion of the Shrew Katherina9

2.3.1. Real Submission or Fake Performance 9

2.3.2. Reality or Dream10

3. Conclusion11

Works Cited.12

Bibliography13