Quem sabe o príncipe virou um chato: relacionamentos problemáticos em Romeu e Julieta e a Megera Domada

Abstract

With the purpose of broadening the studies on troublesome relationships portrayed in literature, and aiming to diminish how romanticized they are, this study’s proposition is to analyze two plays by William Shakespeare searching for connections between the romantic relationships presented in them, and the concepts of abusive and unhealthy relationships, in parallel with definitions of healthy relationships and the romantic ideal, based on authors such as Markey e Markey (2007), McCarry (2010), McLaren (2015), e Sánchez (1995). Through reading and annotating the plays Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew, it is offered a new view on the relationships between Katherina and Petrucchio, and Romeo and Juliet, especially taking into consideration that the latter couple became the symbol of ideal love in modern society. We concluded that it is possible to find evidences that the relationship between Katherina and Petruchio is an abusive one, since Petruchio controls and blackmails his wife on different occasions, and that the relationship between Romeo and Juliet fits the definition of an unhealthy one, as both can be understood as mentally unstable. With such a contemporary topic debate, having its source on William Shakespeare’s works, we hope to add to the voices praising the relevance that the playwright has until this day.