顯微鏡下的呢喃

馴悍記中的女性主義 / Feminism in The Taming of The Shrew

    The Taming of the Shrew is the most controversial work by Shakespeare in the contemporary society mostly due to its chauvinism which teases the perception of women in pursuit of love. The Taming o of the Shrew the entire play is heavily wrapped up with chauvinistic plots; however, if the ribbon is unwrapped and you look inside carefully, you would see the main gift given by the cleverest Shakespeare: the motif is to raise the awareness of feminism and praise the power of love.

　　 馴悍記是莎士比亞筆下最富爭議性的作品之一，其因是因為在當代社會的沙文主義譏諷女性一昧追尋愛情的觀念。馴悍記整部劇都以沙文主義的情節包裝起來，然而，若你拆開包裝的繃帶，往內細看，你將會發現絕頂聰明的莎士比亞所要傳遞的一份訊息，這份訊息就是：這部戲主要的概要就是要喚醒女性主義以及歌頌愛的力量。

    First of all, in the play, there are two types of feminists. One is to chase one’s purpose. The other is to pursue one’s love. Bianca, the sister of Katherina, is the former one. She is completely a far cry from Katherina. She has all the adorable characteristics that would sweep all the males off their own feet, such as beauty, charm, and elegance, although, to be exact, they are the aftereffects of long-standing chauvinism. Nevertheless, Bianca is like a post-modern woman who dares to choose what she wants. She dares to make a prenuptial agreement with her fiancée to protect herself. In my opinion, feminism is all about the choice.

　　首先，在劇中有兩種不同類型的女性主義：一個是去追求自己的目標，而另一個是去追求自己的愛情。凱薩琳的妹妹碧昂卡則是前者，他完全的與凱薩琳風格迥異，她有許多特質是男人都會在她腳下甘拜下風，像是美貌、魅力、優雅，更確切來說，這些特質其實是長久以來，沙文主義之下的產物。儘管如此，碧昂卡其實就是一個後現代主義女性的代表，永於追求自己想要的，敢於去與他的未婚夫簽訂婚前協議保護自己，在我的觀念中，女性主義是一種選擇。

    By contrast, Shakespeare wants to create an unprecedented protagonist – the shrew – Katherina. She is the other kind woman of feminism. In some ways, there are some similarities between Katherina and Bianca, but on different display. For example, they are material-oriented and self-centered. Katherina wants fame (Petruchio’s noble title) to match up to herself. Bianca wants fortune. But after Katherina’s dramatic wedding, she starts to realize her husband’s scheme and true personalities. At first, she loses her mind and she tries to run away from her husband. However, Petruchio performs a show of so-called masculinity to soften and overwhelm Katherina’s solid heart which is called chauvinism. After that, Katherina comprehends that what she have chosen is based on her own true feeling for him. She begins to show her feminine masochism, obeying whatever her husband commands as the classic scene where he says it is sun, it is sun, not moon.

　　相對的，莎士比亞想要創作出一個史無前例的主角 - 一名潑婦 - 凱薩琳。她是另一種女性主義的代表，某些方面來說，凱薩琳跟碧昂卡有許多相似處，但卻是以不同的層面表現出來。舉例來說，他們其實都是以自我為中心並且物質導向（愛慕虛榮）的。凱薩琳要的是名（如一個貴族的稱謂），來跟自己相襯，而碧昂卡要的是財。凱薩琳戲劇化地舉辦了婚禮後，她才開始瞭解到他丈夫的個性以及陰謀。一開始，她發瘋想試著逃跑。然而她丈夫彼特魯喬卻以所謂的大男人主義來壓制並且軟化她堅毅的心。最後，凱薩琳才了解到，她所選擇的都是建立於對她丈夫所流露的真性情。她開始展現出她女性的受虐性格，遵從她老公的指示。就如同有一幕經典，就是她老公躺在床上看見月亮，他卻說是太陽，也逼著凱薩琳硬要說是太陽。

    All in all, Katherine seems to make her own choice being a feminist to pursue love. Being a female and being a feminist is quite different. After all, under the society of chauvinism, gender performativity is stereotyped. Doing something based on the norm against one’s own will is under constraint. However, Katherina is willing to obey the commands of her husband which proves that love can conquer everything. I think it is the main theme Shakespeare implicitly wants to lecture us with this comedy romance.

　　最後，凱薩琳似乎為自己下了決定，做一個追求愛情的女性主義者。作為一名女性與女性主義者截然不同，畢竟，在現代社會的沙文主義之下，性別操現已經完全被定位。做在社會規範中但卻違背自己意願的事是種約束，然而，凱薩琳卻願意去順從她丈夫的命令，這就展現了愛能克服一切的力量。我認為，這是莎翁寫這齣劇時，所想要隱約告訴我們的訊息。