1809

Scene from Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" (Katharina and Petruchio)

American, 1779 - 1843

In this scene from The Taming of the Shrew, Katharina, who is called a "shrew" for her resistance to male suitors and the confines of marriage, tensely chews at a handkerchief. Her new husband, Petruchio, plots to "tame" her by depriving her of food and sleep, and by berating the tailors hired to make her a dress, claiming that nothing is good enough for her. The artist, Washington Allston, emphasized the theatrical performances of gender and particularly of masculinity, seen in the men’s flamboyant clothing and gestures toward one another. Allston maintained romantic friendships with men and wrote of having a certain "partiality" toward his male friends, including Shakespeare scholar Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Allston faced intense discrimination for his personal relationships with men and was later blackmailed while living in England.