Essay on The Manliest Man in The Taming of the Shrew

In the play The Taming of the Shrew, men do quite absurd things to get what they desire. Petruchio, Lucentio, Hortensio, and Gremio all derive schemes to win the heart of the woman they choose. Throughout the play many characters create alternate personas to woo the one they love. However, one man, Petruchio, prefers to pursue his soon to be wife ingenuously. All of the ideas the men concoct are in hopes that Bianca or Kate might fall in love with them, whether or not they do fall in love is due to how well their suitors perform their acts of love. Lucentio is a suitor to Bianca. In the beginning of the play, Lucenito is portrayed as the clichà © â€Å"love at first sight† type of person. He must do everything in his power to get Bianca to wed†¦show more content†¦Another suitor of Bianca is Gremio. Gremio is an old, wealthy man who wishes to pursue a life with Bianca. Gremio is one of the few suitors who does not disguise himself in order to woo her. Instead Gremio hires a Latin tutor for Bianca, which ironically is Lucentio or ‘Cambio’. Gremio turns out to be the most foolish of the suitors in the play. He not only lost the race in which to win over Bianca, but he helped another suitor steal her heart. Although Gremio was not successful with Bianca he and Hortensio came up with a plan to get closer to her. Their plan was to find a suitor for Kate, so Bianca was free to wed. Unfortunately that was Gremio’s only accomplishment in the novel. He ended up helping two couples get married. Gremio is also at a constant battle with Tranio which shows his impatience and confidence that he will have Bianca for his wife. â€Å"Youngling, thou canst not love so dear as I. Greybeard, thy love doth freeze. But thine doth fry. Skipper, stand back: ‘tis age that nourisheth.†(2:1:330-331) It seems that Gremio is truly in love with Bianca because he never stops fighting for her. Gremio was not the manliest when it came to achiev ing happiness with women. He was foolish, but dedicated. The final suitor of Bianca is Hortensio. He was also unsuccessful in winning Bianca’s love. His main plan was to team up with Gremio and find a suitor for Kate so Bianca was free to wed. Otherwise, Hortensio did not stand a chance. He also tried to disguise himself