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"We get it, Will, you hate women." This is the most liked review of The Taming of the Shrew on the site. It's a rather lazy response to the surface appearance of the play. In truth, one would have to have a rather unsophisticated sense of humor and an inability to understand the subtleties of irony to like this statement. Or perhaps they saw a production of the play where the director was guilty of these shortcomings. Much Ado, like all the previous comedies, clearly shows that Shakespeare had a great deal more respect and admiration for women in many aspects than he did for men. For him, a woman's feelings had more integrity and virtue, and her sense of reality was more developed. His men, on the other hand, are often duplicitous, tyrannical, changeable, and shallow. My feeling is that Much Ado is a play that is better seen staged than read. It has a lot of vitality to express, but the plot devices are somewhat weak. The evil character who causes all the chaos is little more than a talking head. Its only real point of interest is the philosophical sparring between Beatrice and Benedick, a contest in which once again the female comes out on top. I think it can be said that it's marriage that Shakespeare doesn't like - both Beatrice and Benedick are adamant that they will never marry - but he is enamored of the role that psychology plays in the rituals of male-female courtship.
