한나 아렌트의 생명정치 맥락에서 읽는 『말괄량이 길들이기』

Abstract

This paper endeavors to examine The Taming of the Shrew, a contentious work regarding the sexual dynamics, with Hannah Arendt’s exploration of biopolitics as articulated in her seminal work, The Human Condition. It offers two interpretations of the play. Firstly, it illuminates the play in terms of the phenomenological aspect—the appearance—of the action, the crucial factor that constitutes Arendt’s politics, that is, bios, as distinguished from zoe, the realm of domesticity and labour in Aristotle’s politics. The play’s inherent theatricality and performativity, seen in Sly’s framing and the frequent role reversals of the characters, generate varied implications in light of the phenomenological dimension of action. Secondly, it allows the consideration of Petruchio and Katherina’s marital narrative in terms of negative and positive biopolitics. Viewing Petruchio and Katherina’s relationship through the prism of negative biopolitics, as typified by the dynamic between lord (husband) and subject (wife), may suggest parallels with an oppressive totalitarian regime. However, Petruchio’s efforts to tame Katherina unveil biopolitics’ positive dimensions by disrupting conventional power dynamics, aligning Petruchio with the world of creatures, animals and objects. Rather than asserting human supremacy over creatures, Petruchio is portrayed as their steward, relying heavily on them in his attempts to tame Katherina, whom he likens to a falcon. It also suggests that Petruchio and Katherina’s marriage represents their transformation into animal husband and animal wife. Additionally, this paper explores the connection between Katherina’s final speech and Arendt’s concept of the daemon, which pertains to the freedom and natality of the agent within biopolitical action.