The Sonnet

Kirwan, Peter. "The Taming of the Shrew." Photo. University of Nottingham, 2016,

In the first unit of my Drama course, I studied and read Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. I learned the type of social roles that were present in the 16th century and the customs of the 16th century. For my action project, I was tasked to write a sonnet that addressed a character of my choice from The Taming of the Shrew and give my opinion on the gender roles in the play. I decided to choose Kate. The most challenging part of this project was finding words to rhyme within the stanzas. I also found it difficult to communicate my message in a way that was clear to the audience. However, I felt that I was able to overcome those obstacles and feel that both my rhymes and message are easily understandable. Overall, I am proud of my action project.

Below are the lyrics to my sonnet and voice recording:

How should one think of its own worth?

Should thee decide one’s faith?

How is a strong woman so dearth?

You become reveled with men, just slay.

I cannot understand your behavior as you did,

Do not submit to the vexation:

“What is she but a foul contending rebel”

 Away you go without thee dissuasion.

It is not that you are Petruchio's Kate,

Society should not be there to determine our fate.

We can learn from Kate’s mistakes and break away from judgment,

To not be confined, but be freed.

Shakespeare has allowed us to reflect,

To not let gender force you, she, or anyone into anything, but respect