Lauren Panepinto
Madness is evident through many of William Shakespeare’s plays. Throughout King Lear, Hamlet, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Taming of the Shrew and others. Madness is a key theme throughout his work, and to this day scholars write papers on the notions of madness in Shakespeare’s work. When we in the modern day think of madness or insanity in the Renaissance we think that the clinically insane were persecuted and neglected, which is easy to believe as many view the period as so much simpler then our own. "Madness was usually a human catastrophe… but Renaissance culture also gave an exalted interpretation to three specific notions or images of madness: folly, demonic possession and melancholia. Humanists, theologians and physicians could interpret these three as if each form of madness incorporated a laudable polar opposite, a form of the irrational that was not harmful but rather offered, so it seemed, access to deeper sources of insight and wisdom than the humdrum workings of consensus, convention and reason (Online)." Thoughts of madness were often confused by religious beliefs, and there was a great difficulty in separating the two, however many people in Renaissance times worked to either mesh the two together more efficiently or to keep them separated (Porter).
The dictionary defines madness as “extremely foolish behavior” and “a state of frenzied or chaotic activity.” In “The Taming of the Shrew” Katherine is often called mad, and by this definition she fits the term rather well, starting in the very first act when she says that she would rather hit Hortensio in the head with a stool and make a fool of him then have him for a suitor, Tranio says “That wench is stark mad…” Katherine does act very foolishly throughout the play, and displays chaotic behavior as well. In Act two, scene one Katherine has tied Bianca hands behind her back and questions Bianca about her suitors, striking her when she thinks Bianca is lying, even after Baptista steps in Katherine goes to hit Bianca. This scene shows how Katherine is prone to act chaotically, as if she were mad, and it also shows the audience how insecure Katherine is, and how she is jealous of her sister, who portrays the image of a perfect young maiden. Katherine seems to be in a constant state of furious activity, she is almost always either stating her opinion of someone rudely or striking the person she sees as offensive to her.
“In Renaissance drama, the link between women and madness is repeatedly made in characters who are either dramatized as seriously (tragically) insane…or presented for ridicule as stock examples of female irrationality, as in the shrewish Kate... (Salkeld 116).” Throughout literature and society alike females are portrayed as much more susceptible to madness then males, some even go so far as to call it a “female malady.” In “The Taming of the Shrew” Kate is ridiculed for the way she acts, and Petruchio swears that he can tame her, and turn her into a good and gentle wife. Kate does act very irrationally throughout the play, attacking and insulting the people around her. Kate completely adopts the behavior of a shrew, and has a very quarrelsome and ill-humored temperament. However this temperament she assumes seems to be a cover for an insecure girl, shadowed by her sister’s virtuous persona, even though Bianca seems to be as ill-humored as her sister, Bianca is merely calmer about it (Salkeld).
Many of the characters in “The Taming of the Shrew” act irrationally. Petruchio, after marrying Katherine, acts very irrationally in order to tame her, and on the day of the wedding, after observing the way the couple acts together Tranio says “Of all mad matches never was the like.” Petruchio takes on the role of an irrational chaotic husband in order to show Katherine how her behavior effects those around her, and to tame her. A servant in Petruchio’s home sums up Petruchio’s behavior perfectly in Act four, scene one when asked where Petruchio has gone, Curtis says “In her [Katherine’s] chamber, making a sermon of continency to her, and rails and swears and rates, that she, poor soul, knows not which way to stand, to look, to speak, and sits as one new-risen from a dream…” Petruchio acts just as mad as Kate in order to tame her, which also shows that anyone, male or female, could become mad and irrational. Petruchio is constantly chaotic after marrying Kate in his attempt to tame her. He sends food away, does not allow her to sleep, keeps her from visiting her father, and numerous other things. He rants and raves at the smallest things, highlighting the way Kate herself acts, and showing her that things could be better if she were a gentle woman. However his aim is not to completely change Kate, but to show her that she can not put up a façade of madness and anger to the public in order to protect herself, she should take up the role of a proper woman of her time, and can be herself with him when they are alone.
In Renaissance drama madness is shown mainly through “the contradiction of conventional patterns of meaning. ” Madness was found through comparing the mad with the rest of society. In “The Taming of the Shrew” we have both extremes, Bianca is the epitome of societal norms, and Katherine is the complete opposite of her sister. By putting these two women back to back they emphasize each others’ behaviors making Bianca seem even more virtuous and making Katherine to be even madder.
“The plays of Shakespeare…identify madness as produced by the self contradictions of the dominant ideology. This is not to suggest that madness in Shakespeare…is always a liberating experience. The mad are kept behind bars…and both taunted and feared (Salkeld 118).” In the play many try to suppress Katherine’s behavior, by either scolding her, ridiculing her, or acting just as rudely to her, as Petruchio does. Though Katherine tried to use her so-called madness to liberate herself it does more to suppress her then anything, she is taunted and even feared by some.
Madness
can be found throughout Renaissance drama, and Shakespeare explores the theme
in many of his plays. “The Taming of the Shrew” is a fine example
of this in the way that the characters contrast each other. This play compares
and contrast societal norms and madness humorously, and allows the audience
to see two extremes and to determine for themselves which is better.
Works Cited
Salkeld, Duncan. Madness and Drama in the age of Shakespeare. New York: Manchester University Press, 1993.
“Midelfort Wins Phi Beta
Kappa book award.” Inside UVA Online. 1999. University of Virginia.
11 November 2007 <http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/1999/38/midelfort.html>
Madness and Melancholy." Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World. The
Gale Group, Inc, 2004. Answers.com 14 Nov. 2007 <http://www.answers.com/topic/madness-and-melancholy>
Porter, Roy. Madness. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2002.