The convergence and divergence of concept of marriage in the comedies of Shakespeare

Abstract

This study entitled "The Convergence and Divergence Concepts of Marriage in the Comedies of Shakespeare" aimed to analyze the different Elizabethan marriage concepts found in the comedy plays of Shakespeare, and how they were depicted in the literary elements through a literary analysis. This study also revealed the convergence and divergence of the Elizabethan concepts of marriage found in the plays with that of the Christian philosophy. The selected comedy plays are Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Much Ado About Nothing." This research zeroed in on the following problems: 1. What are the concepts of marriage depicted in the plays? 2. How are these concepts of marriage portrayed in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Much Ado about Nothing" thru the following literary elements: a. Characters; b. Motifs/Symbols 3. How do the Christian ideals or values converge and diverge with the concepts of marriage in Shakespeare's romantic comedies "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Much Ado About Nothing"? This research is a qualitative content analysis on selected comedy plays of William Shakespeare as a literature. To come up with answers to the problems, content analysis was utilized together with the different approaches in literary analysis including Formalistic, Historical, Philosophical, Socio-cultural approach in literature including Gender Criticism analysis. The researcher used the written texts of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" and "The Taming of the Shrew" as the main sources of data. In drawing out the Christian philosophical ideals about marriage, the Bible served as the main reference with the help of other sources to support the study such as related books, essays or journals, the internet, and other related literature. To come up with the answers to the questions in this study, a thorough content analysis of the two comedy plays of Shakespeare was conducted. The following are the major findings of the study: 1. Shakespeare had used Elizabethan concepts of marriage in his comedy plays "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Much Ado About Nothing". 2. Shakespeare used literary elements in his comedies to depict the concepts of marriage such as characters, scenes, and symbols. 3. Shakespeare reflected some of the biblical philosophies in marriage which converges and diverges with that of the Elizabethan concepts present in his period. Based on the findings of this study, the following were concluded: 1. The comedy plays The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing of Shakespeare depicted Elizabethan concepts of marriage; 2. The Elizabethan concepts of marriage were depicted in Shakespeare's plays The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado about Nothing through some literary elements of the play; 3. The Elizabethan concepts of marriage in Shakespeare's comedy plays converge and diverge with the Christian philosophies on marriage. In relation to the relevant findings of this study, the following are recommended: 1. Another content analysis can be conducted to focus on other concepts of marriage found in Shakespeare's tragedies and historical plays; 2. A literary content analysis can be conducted on what other cultural and social issues are depicted through the literary elements in Shakespeare's comedy plays; 3. A research can be conducted to study the different Biblical allusions depicting Christianity in other Shakespearean plays. 4. A qualitative study can be conducted to confirm "Battle of the Sexes" as a motif of Shakespeare's selected comedies; 5. A content analysis can also be conducted to study the historical truths on Shakespeare's plays especially on the history plays he wrote.