The Gate to Women's Country: pg. 299 to End

Michael and Morgot come face to face for the first time in the entire book. Morgot had given the maps to the men, and they came to the exact place in order to be ambushed. 

The history of Women's country was revealed. The reason for the name of Marthastown came from the fact that Martha Evesdaughter was the woman to found the town 300 year ago. After the devastation caused by the men, Martha made the plan to breed out violence. 

The idea of women warriors was introduced in the reading. They started in order to act as men in the garrison, however apparently there are certain tricks and weapons, such as ninja star-like projectiles that the current women have access to. It was already revealed that all girls are taught self-defense, but some people along with the special servitors learned the new special way of fighting. 

The women seem to know a lot about the garrison, such as the murder of the previous commander and his cronies, which Michael had orchestrated.

A different side of Joshua came out, when he felt such jealousy, that he was satisfied by being the one to kill Michael, who believed the children of Morgot were his offspring.

Chernon does not seem like as bad of a person when the book is from his point of view. He seems to be very sure of himself in making these poor choices, however he had doubts about why the faces of women are never talked about in the sagas. 

The war orchestrated by the council seems to explain all the past wars. It had said that past wars were caused by ambiguous caused, which were probably methods of either population control, as part of the large trap was for, or for calming down the ideas of rebellion. The women always outnumber the men, in order to keep the women in power. The fact that a group of women could manipulate 1,200 men into marching off to their deaths seems extraordinary, however it seems to occur every decade. Such as with the war in which Barten died against Susantown. Perhaps the meeting between Morgot and the two women was not actually about food, but also included information on a planned war between the two garrisons.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapter 34- pg. 299

The big secret of why only servitors father children is revealed. Much like the Laplanders and the breeding of the docile reindeer, the women are working to breed out the men who are more warlike. Many of the men who come through the wall are respected, as they often are much calmer and less violent.
It was interesting how Septemius was able to see through the misdirection in order to see what was truly occurring in Women's Country. He puts the clues together, what with more men returning  many books on selective breeding.
The question of the ethicalness of the situation, what with men basically wasting their lives and never being told the truth seems like it would be an issue. Also, apparently some women are sterilized, in order to prevent them from having offspring if they are not ideal for having offspring in Women's Country. While men have a choice to return through the wall, the women who do not know about the plan have no choice in the matter of having children by a warrior.
Morgot's strange companionship with Joshua is truly explained. He is the father of four of her children, and acts almost as a husband except without the domination of the relationship as there is in the Holylands. Myra's differences from Stavia seems to be due to having a poor sire, who also fathered Chernon. This helps support the claim against Myra and Barten from being half-siblings, as Stavia was worried about if Michael had been the father.
Finally, Stavia seems to be entering into a stable romantic relationship not based purely off of selfishness, guilt and domination by Chernon. Corrig cares for Stavia, thinks about what she wants, and is very caring. Due to his long-feel, Corrig predicts their future, which includes saving the women from the Holylands.
After Chernon saw how terribly Stavia was hurt, and the flaws in the society of the Holylands, it seems incredible that he has the stupidity to spread ideas of enslaving women. While his views sometimes matched up with that of the men in the Holylands, the fact that he wished for it to spread to Women's Country made the reader lose their last shred of respect for him.
The women seem to face a lot of rebellions, which are always dealt with. Morgot seems to have a plan, as Michael received maps to go to a location in order to meet with other commanders, however it seems to be a ploy in order to make the "swelling go down".

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 31 -33

Stavia had been hit with a shovel in the last reading, and apparently she is in a very poor condition. She seems to be hallucinating or dreaming about her situation, however with reindeer instead of people. Stavia saved the females from the male stag, which mislead these females and wanted them just for show. It seems to have a lot of parallels between Stavia and Chernon's relationship, and also the way women are treated in the Holylands. The men just want to have a woman who they can mislead, own and dominate, despite not caring much about the women.
I found it interesting how Susannah was chastising her son, but her husband reprimanded her for being disrespectful. It shows just how little respect the women receive, that they are even lower than their own sons.
Susannah hanged herself, which may have truly been brought on by seeing how after only a short amount of time, Stavia was resembling the other wives. Wives were abused, hit, hungry, and shaved. Susannah finally snapped and was sick of being pregnant and beaten, and she did all she could do to take care of Chastity by putting in the implant. She had no reason to continue to live.
The servitors along with the help of Septemius Bird show their true power. Using Stavia's pain, they were able to track her down. To save her, they had an genius plan, based off of Septemius' ideas on magic and trickery. They dressed as demons, associating Chernon with the devil. Also, they found a way to make it look like an angel had saved Stavia. Not only did this terrify the Holylanders, but also prevented them from attacking Women's Country.
Morgot revealed a huge scandal at the end of the reading. None of the warriors actually father any children. Things have started to fall into place. Such as when Myra was getting ready for the summer carnival one time, and Morgot saw the implant in Myra and commented on the importance and usefulness of the implants. As the implant kept Myra from getting pregnant from Barten.

The Gate to Womens Country: Chapter 28- 30

Stavia decided to head back, when Chernon lit a fire despite Stavia's order not to. The extremely desperate men from the Holylands ended up finding the pair. Further information about some of the eduaction of Womens Country was revealed when Stavia said that all girls learned to fight. This small tidbit seemed interesting when the warriors view the women as extremely helpless.
The Holylands and there customs and the reason for some of these customs is explained. The men view a woman who is not covered constantly in clothing as indecent. The only time women undress is during bathing. Stavia looked at the customs of the land, and was able to tell that female infanticide had taken place based on the low female to male ratio. Stavia pointed out that polyandry, or the practice of a woman taking on multiple husbands. Stavia was angry at how women were basically objects, which could be owned by "whoever impregnates me, owns me".
Marriage customs are revealed. First, the woman's head was shaved. The Holylanders viewed it as a way to make a woman less desireable, however Stavia saw it as a method in which the men controlled the women. The women were violated and felt shame about their lack of hair. The wife is also brutally beaten before marriage, in order to remind the woman to do well in duty. This is yet another way in which the woman is dominated by the male elder, even after  the years of brainwashing.
Chernon goes from possesive to a violent, controlling animal within this reading. I more or less enjoyed the long romance between the two, however Chernon took a turn for the worse. Chernon manipulates the brothers into letting Chernon remove the implant. Perhaps for his own selfish reason, of obtaining a son.
Not only does this make Stavia pregnant, as it seems when she is the only woman not to have her period for weeks, but also offers an advantage on the sid eof Chastity. Susannah begged Stavia to put it into Chastity, as Chastity would soon be going into marriage and having a couple of years to grow up before having a child would make a large difference. It seems like the only people who actually enjoy the set up of the society are the elders, who prey on large numbers of young women. The girls sre forced to spend their lives bearing children, and the younger men are unmarried for long periods of time without enough women for all of them.
For a second time, long feel is coming of use. Corrig and Joshua were able to detect that Stavia was hurt in the Holylands, and gathered other special servitors in order to retrieve her.
One thing I found interesting, was how the Council already seems to know about the impending rebellion.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapter 23- Chapter 27

Capable, Dutiful and Reliable are three new characters. They are the son's of Susannah, and are the people spying on Stavia and the camp. The beliefs of these three men is that while the devil exists in everyone, women especially have the devil. Servitors are viewed as captives, who would have to be killed, unlike the women, who could be tamed. It is odd that since women are so objectified in the Holylands, that being sexually appealing is seen as a bad idea. In order to be a decent woman, a woman would cover themselves and shave their head.
Stavia felt the eyes of the three men, and asks Septemius to give a report on the presence of other people to the south along with the sheep dogs. Stavia chooses not to go south with her exploration, as it would be unsafe without warriors.
Septemius decides it is time to settle in Women's country. Stavia gave him advice on how to become a resident, by staying in the itinerant's quarter for a couple years, and then applying for a residence along with Kostia and Tonia.
The short snippet of the play was a good preface to the chapter following it. Achilles tried to exert his power over Polyxena however as she is dead, Polyxena cannot be controlled by him.
Stavia met up with Chernon, who basically raped her. Despite that encounter, Stavia still seems to forgive him. The relationship between the pair had changed alot, with "a large part of their emotion toward one another was hostility." Stavia only truly gave up her dream of being with the boy Chernon, not the man Chernon, after an argument about pregnancy. Chernon asked for a son, however Stavia pointed  out that she got an implant in order to prevent pregnancy. Of course, Chernon gets angry, thinking that it was meant for Stavia's servitor partner, however Stavia points out that women were often raped by bandits. Chernon points out that one of the reasons he agreed to come was to have a son, who was definitely his. Stavia is a strong, knowledgeable woman and points out the flaw in his logic.  At this point, Stavia emotionally left Chernon.
Once this happened, Chernon had very little control over Stavia without his emotional hold over her.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapter 20- 22

The Holylands (as referred to by those within them) or the badlands (as referred to by those from Women's country) are introduced. The Holylands have what seems to be even stranger customs than Women's country.
Women are very objectified in the culture of the Holylands. They are pieces which can be traded away for other. At the age of 14, the woman is often given to a man in marriage. Often the man is much older than her, and if the woman is widowed and childless, she is given to a younger man. However if she is widowed and had a child, then the woman lives out her life on her own. Apparently the old men do not enjoy being married to someone "after another had had her." In Women's Country, there is no mention on what happens during women's periods. However, menstruating in the Holyland merits being called unclean, and the hanging of a red kerchief. Once married, women's hair is shaved off, which makes no sense. The women's sole purpose is to produce more sons. Susannah was pregnant 11 times in 15 years.
Female infanticide seems to be extremely common in the Holyland. However, the result of such actions is beginning to cause problems when there are not enough wives for the bachelors. Girls were often left for the coyotes, and the occasional weak boy too.
The Holylands are regulated by a set of laws called the Scriptures. While the women in Women's country pray to the Lady, the only god figure in the Holylands is All Father. It gets to the point that Susannah wishes for a female deity to pray to.

Chernon and Septemius interact. Septemius tries to point out the flaws in Chernon's logic about how the Council is secret, by pointing out how in the garrison many of the same practices are exercised  yet Chernon accepts them.

Stavia seems to be close to interacting with the people of the Holylands. Dogs from the Holylands had joined the flocks of sheep, protecting the sheep from the coyotes. After the sons in the Holylands suggested breaking a woman's legs after taking her from Women's country, I am extremely concerned for what will occur in the future. Someone is going to die, however it will not be Stavia as 1) the twins specified so 2)Stavia is still alive at the age of 37. Chernon seems like a likely person, however Septemius and the twins, or perhaps if Stavia befriends Susannah, Susannah may be killed.

The Gate to Women's Country: pg. 182- end of Chapter 19

The garrisons of the cities seem to be planning rebellion. Michael has become commander, and ensured that all the other garrisons would either follow suit with their own cities, or will not attack the Marthatown garrison. In the current year, there was a larger harvest. Both of Michael's conditions for rebellion have taken place, and he decided to wait until after the harvest and trade. The only part which could possibly mess up their plan is the weapon, which the men still know nothing about.
Exploration teams are being gathered. The last set of teams brought back bugs and a type of tea plant. The different jobs of the different teams are set up.

• South- 2 people (one servitor, one woman) The south team will find botanical specimens and see how far north the strangers have come. 
• North-  The group is to see the limits of the ice.
• East- The group is to investigate into the desolations, and whether or not they have shrunk.
• West- They will take a boat  and explore the shore.

Some workings of exploratio teams seem to be that young people without children, and with training in a useful field tend to be sent. Medical training and a knowledge in gardening make Stavia a perfect choice. It seems like finding people for these teams would be difficult, after Kostia and Tonia point out the irregularity that someone of Stavia's age would not have had a child yet. 

While Kostia and Tonia's abilities were already shown by their having some sort of long-feel, they chose a different way of presenting the information than Corrig. They used cards in order to tell Stavia her future, while Corrig uses his power of long-feel to suggest that Stavia does not go on the expedition.

Chernon seems to be a very complex character, who simultaneously loves Stavia yet also uses her in order to fulfill his duties to Michael. He convinces her to bring him on her expedition, instead of a servitor.

The Gate to Women's Country: pg. 161 (Chapter 15)- pg. 182 (Chapter 18)

This reading introduced/elaborated on some characters:
Septemius

• It is mentioned that Septemius traveled all over Women's Country, and he has information such as that Marthatown was the first town of Women's country. Septemius provides a comparison to the play, when Polyxena decides to grieve for the loss of cakes, wine, and dances. Septemius too is saddened with the lack of spices and flavoring from the tropics, which the twins are confused about when they had never even had them in their lifetimes. 

Kostia and Tonia

• Kostia and Tonia appear to have some sort of long-feel, as shown through their ability to perceive Stavia's distress, along with extracting her name without being told. I found it interesting how suddenly they made the decision to settle, after a lifetime of travel. 

Myra

• Myra provides a parallel between the passage in Chapter 18 from the play. Hecuba comforts Cassandra, who was distressed after no one believes her, and Cassandra views herself as only defined by her ability to see the future. Hecuba  pointed out how Andromache and herself (Hecuba) were defined by their husband, and that with the death of their men they lost their own identities. However, Cassandra has her own name and identity for herself. Myra, much in the way of Hecuba and Andromache, had her identity completely dependent upon Barten. Even after his death, Barten's ideas and view of the servitors remained. It got to the point that Myra moved out of Morgot's house, after Morgot refused to get rid of the servitors.

Some details on Women's country came to the surface. Not only was Marthatown being the first town an interesting detail, but also that Annville seems to have been a town from preconvulsion times, explaining its power plant and factories from old times. Kostia and Tonia question why the cities do not become larger, which Septemius explained of as being able to grow and harvest things within a close range in order to support the city, and avoid bandits. This brings up the question as to if there are any other reasons for the smaller size. Perhaps the convulsions led to trade declining, making some communities unable to support themselves, however the smaller size allowed for better self-sufficiency. The exact size of Marthatown is revealed to be 15,000 with 2-3,000 servitors, and 4,000 boys and men in the garrison. Servitors seemed a lot less common, as the idea of honor and pride and how the majority of men stay in the garrison seems to be dwelt upon quite a bit. However, the numbers show that about a third of the men actually choose to go to Women's country.When the croplands are forced to extend in order to support the population, a new town is set up, however there is only so much available space, and the desolations are making harder to have available croplands.
One interesting thing about the garrison sparked Stavia's interest. The fact that in their freetime, men took up a certain craft, such as basket making or carving, which seem to have been within the realm of women's studies are actually quite common.
Also, it is revealed that all women must study a craft, an art, and a science.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 14- pg. 160

Chapter 14 was all about Chernon, and what was going on inside his head. At the time, he was 15.
The idea of honor, at least how the warriors perceive it is played with. The warriors view the women as only worth protecting in order to have sons, as sons were everything to the warriors. Habby points out that "They want you to stay, so they call staying honorable." Using the idea of honor is one way in which the warriors are held together, when everything else seems to be a reason to return to Women's Country.
The warriors view several acts as dishonorable. The worst was returning to Women's country, however making a girl a gypsy is also dishonorable, despite the weird pride that Barten apparently got from it.
Chernon's view of Stavia as more than just an assignment is interesting. He is upset when she leaves for nine years for the medical program, and the hurt that he feels he blames on Stavia. Chernon wanted to get Stavia to get the rules, because without the ordinances, the women have to rely on the men. Chernon also imagined leaving the garrison, and traveling the world honorably with Stavia as his companion.
Corrig, who is a servitor in the time of present day Sstavia is introduced. Everyone views him as strange and crazy, with his ability to know things. It seems as though Corrig too has the long-feel.
The beginning of chapter 15 jumps to a new character, Septemius Bird. He meets Stavia, who is now a 22 year old medic. His nieces Kostia and Tonia, along with his father Bowough are all itinerants, who perform magic tricks. He seems to be a peculiar character, with eccentric views on his life via a metaphor of being a piece of flotsam while flowing through the river. Such thinking apparently arose when the numerous adults in his life all sought his approval.
The relationship between Septemius and Octobra has parallels with that of Chernon and Stavia. Both saw each other in a friendly, family, and slightly romantic light.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 12-13

The play seems to be both important to adult Stavia, and her views on Dawid, along with young Stavia. Even at 13, Stavia knew alot about the impact of war on the women.

Morgot always seems calm and composed,  which she reveals to Stavia that is necessary when one is in a position of power. Much like the phrase fake it until you make it, Morgot points out it is more important to seem calm than do something frantically.

The explanation for a seemingly inexplicable war between Susantown and  Marthatown from Morgot is that as there are more food shortages, people as a whole become edgy, and eventually war breaks out.

The ordinances seem to regulate every part of life. Especially when it comes to war, and the interaction between warriors and the women.  Warriors are unable to be attended on by doctors while in battle, yet doctors treat the men if they get diseases from the gypsies, since Morgot says “they choose battle”. It seems to have parallels to the play in that the women are separated in order to not be harmed by the aftermath of any war. The warriors are required to fight at close range in order to see the blood and gore of battle, in order to make the choice of staying a warrior without a lot of responsibilities.
Barten's death came as a real shock. He no longer performed an important function with Myra, as she had already carried his baby. However, the fact that he was speared from the back, which Stavia calmly observes only occurs in two cases 1) Barten was fleeing the battle (making him a coward, or 2) Barten was so unpopular with his own garrison, that he was stabbed from behind.
Donal is the new servitor, who seems to have the function of revealing the inner workings of Women's country. While servitors are not part of the council, servitors can form fraternities which can give the council opinions.
Joshua seems to be using his long-feel more and more, at least more openly around Stavia. He senses the tensions between Chernon and Stavia, and gets Stavia to manipulate Chernon into giving the book back. Also, it is revealed that Habby chose/will choose to go to Women's country in Tabithatown.

The Gate to Women's Country: pg. 105- Chapter 11

Joshua’s true power is displayed in the chapter. Servitors were viewed as feminine and weak, however that is not the case. Morgot and Joshua decide to bait in a group of people, who Joshua can sense as following them. In a  seemingly peaceful society, at least in Women’s country, taking that sort of violent and tactical initiative seems at odds with the domestic calm of life in Marthatown. Stavia is forced to take an oath of never speaking of what occurred while Morgot and Joshua "baited" the men in. Joshua quickly and efficiently kills six of the seven men, using a blade connected to a long chain (perhaps similar to a nunchuck?). Morgot's crueler and calmer side comes out, when she rids the area of all evidence of the bodies, along with hiding the tracks and fires. It is scary that two adult were so easily able to commit murder and leave no incriminating evidence, and they both felt no emotion about the happenings.
Michael seems to have been extremely busy in this reading. First, he continues to coach Chernon into manipulating Stavia. Stavia refused to give Chernon books, which upsets Chernon. Michael tells Chernon to act hurt enough that Stavia feels like she needs to make it up to him. While spending time with Michael, a man, Besset enters the area.
Besset joined a group of gypsies, and his group was going to attack what turns out to have been Joshua, Morgot, and Stavia. Besset was scared that the women have a secret weapon, perhaps form preconvulsion times. Yet, the knife on a chain seems less like the weapon than the long-feel of the servitors, which allows them to anticipate attacks.
The story took a turn when Marthatown enters into a war with the Susantown garrison, despite the recently formed trade agreement. It is unclear whether the garrison exists purely for these type of wars, or if they also perform another function.
Barten will have to fight, since he is actually twenty-five. It seems that centuries of 100 men may sometimes have too many people, and are then moved down a century by age. Barten was in the 24 year old century, however he will still have to fight since he is actually 25. Morgot reveals that Myra is not Michael's daughter, making it more socially acceptable for her and Barten to be together. However, this brings up the question as to who the father is. Michael mentioned that he was the only one that Morgot had carnival with.
I am proud of Stavia at the end when she refused Chernon books. She put the ordinances before her own personal feelings for Chernon, going against what Michael predicted.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 9- pg. 104

Details of the Society:

• the play was acted by the Councilwomen of the city
• servitors are clean shaven, warriors wear beards
• some women that leave the town do not join the gypsies, some become wanderers
• servitors know information
• Servitors are able to go to servitor school, and since they start later than the girls, they are allowed to specialize
• deer are bred and released annually after some survived the convulsions
• bleak devastation- lands where nothing grows, and are filled with radiation  made by a some people with "their evil weapons"

Myra develops as a character in the reading. Myra became upset once Marcus lost his resemblance to Barten (Marcus had blue eyes and black hair, but the hair fell out and his eyes turned hazel). Morgot becomes so fed up with Myra and Myra's belief in the opinions of Barten, that Morgot suggests that Myra moves into another house on her own. Myra seems needy and desperate for attention, when it is revealed that Myra participated in the carnival with Barten even when she was six months pregnant, just in the hopes of keeping him to herself. 

Joshua  truly becomes a person in this chapter. He shares his opinion that Myra will not change from her state of rebellion. Joshua shares the reason why he left his garrison and the warriors. Joshua's friend Cornus was killed in battle, and Joshua was able to feel Cornus's pain. He called it "long-feel/time-feel", and said that the warriors who have it tended to become servitors. Joshua was apparently amazing at the war game Battle-Ball, and as a result was treasured and kept safe for the game. However, Joshua found out that nothing changed based on the war games, and after a large battle between two garrisons for no real reason, Joshua made the choice to leave the warriors. Perhaps the thing that Joshua founded out while on messenger duty will play an important role later on in the story.

It seems like the women are currently going through hard times. The council plans to cut allotments (which seem to be rations , but only for those within the city, and not the garrison. The town needs more glass jars, however they lack the power from the watermills in order to do so along with all the other things which need to be produced. First of all, this would make Michael's wisdom on not taking on the city while in a time of hardship seem even wiser. Also, it is revealed that 200 babies were born in Marthatown in a year, yet not enough people died to balance out the population increase, leading to the food shortages.

What kind of men return to women's country? Why? When?

Men return to women's country when they are 15 and choose to, or if the lifestyle of a warrior becomes too much, the man can leave. Some of the men who return are into learning and knowledge, others have the long-feel like Joshua. 

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapter 8

How has this culture accounted for regeneration/children?
The culture accounted for children by hosting a twice yearly celebration, called carnival, in which the warriors and the women that choose to can have sex for basically all month for fun and perhaps in the hopes of future offspring.
What do you think about this solution?
The solution is a bit odd, with your family members knowing that you leave the house and go and just drink and have sex for a month. While a necessary part of the culture in order for them to survive as a community  your parents knowing that you have been planning to go out and lose your virginity to someone is a bit awkward from my point of view.
Why are boys denied books?
Boys are denied books since 1) they are unnecessary to the warrior lifestyle 2) may distract the men 3) the boys may wish to know more, or see the flaws in the warrior lifestyle
Who breaks this injunction and why?
Chernon breaks this injunction after he feels ignorant after talking about genetics, and he expresses his wish to read books about science or other women's studies.
Who helps him get books?
Stavia helps Chernon get books.
What value do women place on education? Why?
Women put a huge value on education, along with their jobs, women are constantly learning and studying. After the convulsions, a lot of books were gone and knowledge lost, so the women made it their mission to make knowledge widespread and common among the women and servitors.

Things I found interesting:
In this chapter, Chernon mentions Vinsas forcing one of the boys, leading to the discussion about gay syndrome, and how for the most part, homosexuality was eradicated from the population. Such an idea helped contribute to this almost The Giver- like utopia, where everything including the small "imperfections" in society is removed. While I understand how homosexuality could cause problems in a society set up the way as the one in the current book, the idea never occurred to me that the women would go out of their way in order to prevent homosexuality.

Taming of the Shrew Act 4 Scene 3 to End

Act 4 Scene 3

• Katherine wants food
• planning on clothes to buy

This scene feels like the first true turning point for Katherine in her "taming". Katherine admits to being hungry and tired, and tries to get Grumio to get her food. Petruchio and Katherine meet with a tailor on some beautiful gowns, however Petruchio pretends to be disappointed with them, in order to manipulate Kate. Katherine begins to lose more and more control as Petruchio threatens not to go to Bianca's wedding and have them go in their current attire.

Act 4 Scene 4

Act 4 Scene 4 overall was long, and boring. There was little to no character development, no humor or interesting verbal wordplay. What occurred could have been summarized within a few lines of dialogue with "Vincentio" being introduced, and then Baptista going to meet with "Lucentio" and "Vincentio" over the dowry.

I felt like the whole scene with just Biondello and Lucentio was unnecessary to the plot, except for Biondello announcing that Lucentio could elope with Bianca, which could have been combined into Act 5 Scene 1. Otherwise, nothing interesting occurred.

Act 4 Scene 5

The humor of the play finally truly appeared in this scene. Katherine truly gives into Petruchio, allowing herself to admit to Petruchio's claim that the sun is actually the moon. When Lucentio's father, Vincentio appears, Katherine plays along with Petruchio's ploy. She greets the old man as if he were a young woman, who she hugs, after which Petruchio points out that Vincentio actually was an old man. All of this was confusing, yet undoubtedly humorous. 

Act 5 Scene 1

This scene speaks a lot about identity, and how it can easily be reaffirmed by those around us. The fake Vincentio was only truly believable after numerous people could attest to his being the real Vincentio, while the real Vincentio was almost arrested for impersonation due to his lack of support.

Act 5 Scene 2
The end of the book seemed rather sudden. The chapter only exists in order to prove that the shrew truly was tamed, and to such an extent that all other women are not as obedient or as loyal as Katherine. I was irritated by the fact that Katherine lost all of her personality and spunk, in exchange for a woman who looks up at everything that a man does. Since Shakespeare wrote this play, as a man in the time, he found obedience to be attractive. The viewpoint of the writer was definitely from a male, as men are portrayed as these fantastic god-like figures who know and do all, along with having wives who should essentially worship them. Basically, I hated the ending. 

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 6-7

What role do the servitors play?

• The servitors assist the women in Women’s country. They are placed in a certain household, and are both employee and friend to the women.

How do the women seem to feel about them?

• Usually the women see them as good confidantes and workers, who care for the family (such as carving the napkin rings). Some of the servitors are quite old, and have known the women since they were girls.

How do the other men feel about them?

• The other men look down on the servitors. As Myra recalls how Barten viewed the servitors “men who did come home were cowards and tit-suckers.”

These two chapters revealed more about the society

Men:

• they are not allowed to fight until they are 25, which brings up the question who/wwhat are the men fighting
• most fertile from 18-25

Women:

• some women give up and leave Women’s country, becoming a gypsy
• gypsies seem to be the equivalent of prostitutes
• warrirors from the men’s side visit these women, often giving them infections or diseases
• as a result, Morgot checks and swabs each gypsy, in order to check whether or not they have
• gives clean seal on forhead
• something, and whterh or not it’s curable
• if the disease is curable, the woman goes into quarantine
• if the disease is chronic, a woman cannot return back to women’s coutnry or stay near the city
• some girls become gypsies when a warrior takes them by convincing them
• ex: Tally and Barten

Mentions of the disaster:

• cannot cure cancer, got close once
• unable to treat things that were once curable before the convulsions

Why are these men and women so drawn to an ancient story and model?

• The story is used as a reminder for what would happen should they break the ordinances as a community. The characters are easily identificable. Dawid is compared to Achilles, when he decided to stay with the warriors, Iphighenia was killed, not a hind as is told. Achilles thought that Artemis would save Iphighenia, yet it only ended in her suffering. Also, the warriors look up to Telemachus and Odysseus, while in the play, Odysseus is one of the antagonists in a way, taking Hecuba away with him.