Commentary on Taming of the Shrew Essay

English literature essay

In William Shakespeares The Taming of the Shrew, Petruccio attempts to tame Katherine and uses love and affection as a way to trick her into thinking women are owned by their husbands and should obey them in every way. Katherine is referred to as the shrew and is considered to be an unattractive candidate for marriage to men but she must marry before her sister Bianca can marry. She speaks her mind and it seems she would be the last woman to ever be tamed by anyone, but as the play unravels, we begin to see Petruccios success in taming her. She is brainwashed and tricked by Petruccio and as her character unravels, she becomes the tamest and most obedient wife of all.

In the beginning, Katherine is viewed as a loud, sharp-tongued woman and she seems to chase away any suitable candidates for marriage. Her attitude is a disguise for her deep, hidden jealousy toward her sister Bianca, and her own insecurities. Katherine feels undesirable and perhaps her sometimes-violent behaviour stems from her fear of never finding a husband. She feels angry at the way she is out of place in that society and is not willing to conform to the role of maiden daughter.

In the first act, we dont hear a lot from Katherine and do not know much about her character other than what other people say about her. It becomes clear that she is frowned upon by men and no one dares to marry her. In act one, Gremio declares that to marry Katherine is worse than to take her dowry with this condition, to be whipped at the high-cross every morning. (p.15) The other characters portray her as unmannerly and disobedient, but with a closer look, what she says reveals that she is not as forceful and overbearing as they make her seem. When she speaks for the first time, she asks her father not to wed her to a fool, showing that she is not afraid to speak out to her father, but also that this is not an unreasonable request and she seems more reasonable rather than shrew-like. Furthermore, it becomes clear that Katherine is acting out in anger and jealousy at the way Baptista favours her sister over her claiming, She is your treasure, she must have a husband; I must dance bare foot on her wedding day and for your love to her lead apes in hell. (p. 29) Here it seems Katherine only wants to be treated the same way as her sister by her father and perhaps the reader may sympathise with her.

When she meets Petrucio, she is somewhat surprised that he is not like the usual easily dominated men who are normally around her. It seems Petriccio already knows what he is doing and begins his plan straight away. Katherine is left with the decision that either she marry or be left alone, miserable, out of place and looked down upon by her father.

Petruccios character is difficult to interpret and could be seen in different views. He is undoubtedly selfish and determined to dominate the marriage and be the master to his wife, but the question lies in whether he is really capable of actually loving Katherine and only treats her the way he does to ensure a successful marriage. On the other hand, he can be seen as nothing but a drunken, uncaring, chauvinist who feels the husband should be master and the wife should do as she is told, no questions asked.

Petruccio goes to great lengths to show his dominance over Katherine. In act IV, he says, She eat no meat to-day, nor none shall eat; Last night she slept not, not to-night she shall not. (P. 58) showing that he is in control of her and everything she does, further reinforcing the idea that he is in control of Katherine. He describes this as a way to kill a wife with kindness. Katherines personality begins to transform and seems almost at first like mistaken identity, but she seems to be changing into a well-behaved, tame wife because of Petruccios actions towards her. It is sometimes unclear whether Katherines actions and personality change is (real) or whether she is simply conforming to the way she is expected to act and it is all (fake). It seems almost impossible for such a woman to completely change her ways so quickly and become so obedient but perhaps she sees this life as better than being alone and left a shrew forever. In any case, she obeys Petruccio her character changes into an compliant wife as the play continues.

In the final act, the evidence that Petruccio has succeeded in taming his wife is unmistakable. He makes a bet with the other characters to see whose wife is more obedient and will come when they are called upon. Lucentio is refused by his wife and Hortensios wife tells him to come to her. Katherine is the one who comes to them and the others are shocked at the fact that Petruccio had tamed her. Petruccio even tells her that her cap becomes her not and tells her to take it off and she listens. When she makes her final speech to the other women about what duties they owe to their husbands, it is clear to the other characters that Petruccio has done the unimaginable and tamed the shrew.

The question remains though whether Katherine was being sarcastic in her speech, or perhaps she and Petruccio planned it all so they could win the bet and the money. It is not really clear but I suppose at that time, people assumed she had changed for real and did not see it in an ironic way. Shakespeare wrote the play in the late sixteenth century so the attitudes toward gender issues are very much a reflection of the time period. Todays modern audiences may be (put off) by the harsh treatment of the taming of the shrew. If people today were comfortable with Sakespeares original play, then there would be no need to change, omit or re-write the more brutal scenes.