The Taming of the
Shrew is one of the earliest comedies written by sixteenth and seventeenth
century English bard, William Shakespeare.
Some scholars believe it may have been his first work written for the
stage as well as his first comedy (Shakespearean 310). The earliest record of it being performed
on stage is in 1593 or 1594. It is
thought by many to be one of Shakespeare's most immature plays (Cyclopedia
1106).
In The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio was
the only suitor willing to court Kate, the more undesirable of Baptista's two daughters. Kate was never described as unattractive
(Elizabeth Taylor played her role in one film of the production), but was known
for her shrewish behavior
around all of Padua.
Bianca, on the other hand was very sweet and charming and beautiful; for
these reasons many suitors wooed her.
Kate was presented to be much more intelligent and witty than Bianca,
but, ironically, she could not compete with Bianca because of these witty
comebacks and caustic remarks she made (Dash 830). All of the men who desired Bianca needed
somebody to marry Kate, as it was customary for the older daughter to be
married before the young one. Finally,
Petruchio came along to court Kate, saying he wanted to marry wealthily in
Padua. It appeared, though, as if
Petruchio was the kind of man who needed an opposition in life. The shrewish Kate, who was known to have a
sharp tongue, very adequately filled his need for another powerful character in
a relationship (Kahn 419). When
Petruchio began to woo Kate, everybody was rather surprised, but Signior
Baptista agreed when Petruchio wanted marry her on Saturday of the week he met
her. Clearly, he was not opposed because
he wanted to hurry and get Kate married so she would not be in Bianca's way
anymore. Petruchio showed up to the
wedding late and in strange attire, but nevertheless they were married that
Saturday. Petruchio began his famous
process of taming his bride.
From the
beginning, Petruchio wanted to dominate a relationship of two dominating
personalities. He sought to tame her in
a nonviolent but still somewhat cruel fashion.
Petruchio's method of "taming" Kate featured depriving her of
the things she had taken for granted and been given all of her life, and he
sarcastically acted as if it was in her best interest (Leggatt 410). In the name of love, Petruchio refused to let
her eat, under the pretense that she deserved better food than what was being
given her (Nevo 262). Similarly,
Petruchio did not think that her bed was suitable for her to sleep in, so his
servants took turns keeping her awake and denying her the sleep that she so
desperately needed. When the tailor
brought in what seemed to be a very pretty cap, Petruchio refused to let Kate
have it, despite her incessant pleas to keep the cap (Legatt 410). Petruchio took the stance that Kate was his
property, as he pointed out in the second scene of act three:
I will be master of what is mine own.
230 She is my goods, my chattels, she is my
house.
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox,
my ass, my anything....
Petruchio's words
left no doubt as to his belief in the patriarchal marriage system that existed
during Shakespeare's time, perhaps presented in somewhat of an exaggerated form
(Kahn 414).
As tiredness,
hunger, and frustration set in on Kate, her wildcat personality began to weaken
noticeably. Because of the helplessness
of her situation, she began to show submission to her husband. When Kate mentioned the sun in a
conversation, Petruchio absurdly disagreed with her and told her it was the
moon. Kate proceeded to agree with him,
to which, of course, he changed his mind back.
Kate's response was that it changes even as his mind, and this was the
first sign of her submission to Petruchio (Evans 32).
Petruchio's
actions were very extreme during the play, but as Kate caught on to their role
playing their relationship improved (Nevo 262).
Many scholars feel that, despite Kate's submissiveness in the closing scene of the play, she would continue
to be a strong opposition for Petruchio.
Her representation at the end of the play, however, is very docile and
submissive. There were several points in
the play during which she demonstrated her new found domesticated
personality. Firstly, she showcased it
by saying what Petruchio wanted her to, regardless of the absurdity of the
statement. In addition to the already
mentioned sun-moon incident, Kate referred to the old and decrepit Vincentio as
a 'young budding virgin, fair and fresh and sweet' (Evans 32). In effect, Petruchio was demonstrating
absurdity by being absurd, and Kate responded to his preposterousness. Another point in the play where Kate
displayed her complaisance was when she came at Petruchio's call. When one of the men proposed a wager on whose
wife will return first when they are all called, Petruchio responded by raising
the bet significantly. He reasoned that
he would wager that much on his hound, but his wife merited a much larger bet
(Leggatt 413). Petruchio displayed complete
trust in Kate in that situation, and she came through for her man. Many critics have pointed out that the wager
scene is dominated by reversals: quiet
Bianca talked back, while the shrewish Katherina came across as an obedient
wife (Kahn 418). Kate enjoyed winning
the wager for Petruchio just as Petruchio delighted in making (and raising) it
(Leggatt 413). However, Ruth Nevo
pointed out that Kate did not only win the wager, but her speech testifies a
generosity worth far more than the two hundred crowns of the wager (264). Another point that must be made concerning
her speech is that she delighted in reprimanding the other ladies for their
unconventional behavior. She especially
enjoyed admonishing Bianca for her unseemly behavior (Dash 835). Another instant when Kate obeyed her
husband's outlandish demands came as somewhat of a surprise after the wager
scene. Kate returned with the hat
Petruchio had given her, and he instructed her to take off the hat, which Kate
actually liked. She once again complied
in front of the surprised crowd. As if
all of these symbols of her obedience were not enough, Kate showed one more
sign. As she concluded the scene and the
play, Kate prepared to put her hand beneath her husband's foot, and Elizabethan
symbol of wifely obedience (Kahn 419).
Kate truly showed submission, obedience, and respect to her husband in
the final scene of the play, earning respect for herself in the process.
Many critics have
observed and noted that Petruchio and Kate had a need for each other, being the
strong personalities that they are. They
thrive off of the intellectual games they play throughout The Taming of the
Shrew. Both have a witty intelligence that
made them attracted to each other. Also,
each of them had something to prove:
Petruchio needed to confirm his manhood, while Kate needed to steer her
demeanor toward the ladylike side of things.
The whole plot of the play drives toward these goals. It was Kate's submission to Petruchio which
makes him a man, finally and indisputably (Kahn 419). Kate earned bountiful respect from the other
men in the closing scene, as she proved to fit the mold of the conventional
woman better than their wives did (Dash 835).
Petruchio did not break Kate's wit and will, as some might perceive; he
simply used them to his advantage, as is quite noticeable in the wager
scene. This showed how Kate was actually
a foil of Petruchio (Nevo 262). The
acting done by Kate and Petruchio lived up to the patriarchal ideals of their
time, but yet the reader is led to believe that in the future, there will still
be opposition in their relationship.
Even in the final scene, Kate never showed signs of being a weak
character, but rather the ability to be strong in any way she needs to be. In a sense, Kate and Petruchio had what one
might call a symbiotic relationship; that is, they both had a strong need for
each other, which is somewhat paradoxical, as both of them were fiercely
independent characters.
The customs and
standards of marriages during the Elizabethan Age that Shakespeare wrote The
Taming of the Shrew in are represented very accurately throughout the text of
the play. There are hints that the
marriage of Petruchio and Kate may not have exactly met these standards, but
for acceptance they attempted to make it look that way. In fact, neither of them were really accepted
until they did that. The marriages of
the time were very male dominated. This
is why Petruchio's form of violence was accepted; because he was the master of
his property and could do what he wanted with it. Kate was not the conventional shrew, because
most "shrews" were women that were already married and dominated
their husbands in their relationship.
Kate's violence was very unacceptable in their society, because women
just did not do that at that time. Kate
committed four physically violent acts on stage: she broke the lute over the Hortensio's head,
tied and beat Bianca, and hit Petruchio and Grumio (Kahn 415). Petruchio, however, never once committed an
act of physical violence, but he did, in the name of love, deprive Kate of her
needs until she bent to his will.
Because Petruchio was a male, though, his violence was more accepted by
society than was Kate's (Kahn 414).
Petruchio's therapy for Kate has been compared to holding up a mirror
and letting the shrew see herself.
Whenever Kate would throw her tantrums, Petruchio would throw them right
back, in perhaps even more exaggerated form.
These provided the comical aspect of the play, as well as giving Kate a
chance to look at her own image (Nevo 262).
This exchange of roles, which landed Kate on the receiving end of all of
those hideous tantrums, took her out of herself. This remedy appealed to the intelligent
aspect of Kate's complex personality, and they brought about a change in
her. This appeal to her intelligence is
why Kate's will was not broken, but rather changed to meet Petruchio's mold to
some extent (Nevo 263). The patriarchal
styles that the marriages took on during the Elizabethan age are very well
represented in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.
Works Cited
Cyclopedia of
Characters II. Vol. 3. Salem:
Salem Press, 1990. 1106- 1107.
Dash, Irene
G. "Wooing, Wedding, and
Power: Women in Shakespeare Plays". The Critical Perspective Volume 2.
Ed. Harold Bloom. New York:
Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.
825-833.
Evans,
Bernard. Shakespeare's Comedies. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1960.
Kahn,
Copella. Untitled Essay. Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Mark W. Scott
and Sandra L. Williamson. Detroit: Gale Research, Inc., 1989. 413-419.
Leggatt,
Alexander. Untitled Essay. Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Mark W. Scott and Sandra L. Williamson. Detroit:
Gale Research, Inc., 1989. 407-413.
Nevo, Ruth. "'Kate of Kate Hall': The Taming of the Shrew." Modern Critical
Reviews. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York:
Chelsea House Publishers,
1986. 253-264.
Scott, Mark W.
and Williamson, Sandra L., et al., ed.
Shakespearean Criticism. Detroit:
Gale Research, Inc., 1989. 310-311.
Shakespeare,
William. The Taming of the Shrew. Logan, IA:
The Perfection Form Company, 1986.
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