Question

In five to seven complete sentences, explain Shakespeare's use of literary elements to develop the plot, characters, and conflict in The Taming of the Shrew.

Answer 1

This is a very broad topic to cover in 5-7 sentences, but I think the main overarching conflict in Taming of the Shrew is about social classes and how they either restrict or grant freedom to the people in them, and how arbitrary and unfair they can be. For example, you could talk about how the social role of gender limits Katherine's autonomy and empowers Petruchio to overpower her and abuse her into submission. As for specific literary devices, there's a lot of metaphors comparing Katherine to a horse or a falcon, animals that have to be trained to submit to a master's will.

Additionally, on the topic of social class, there's several instances in the story where characters disguise themselves and take on different social roles (Hortensio and Lucentio disguise themselves as teachers to win over Bianca, Biondello disguises himself as Lucentio's father so Lucentio can pretend to be rich in order to marry Bianca, etc.) to get access to privileges they didn't earn. So another literary element you could talk about is the motif of disguises and how it serves as a commentary on social class.