In the play The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare addresses the roles of men and women. Through the interactions of the characters in the story and through the eventual change of Katherine, he shows his opinions on the place of men and women. Throughout the entire story, it is shown over and over that a good wife is one who obeys every word that her husband says and takes every statement he makes to be the truth.

One demonstration of Shakespeare's views is how the characters' attitudes change as Katherine changes from a "bad" wife to a "good" wife. In the beginning, Katherine is feared and hated by everyone. Even Petruchio, her husband, only married her for the money. One example of this disrespect is when Baptista gives Gremio permission to court Katherine and he replies, "To cart her, rather. She's too rough for me."(1:1 55) Responding to Baptista's...