Petruchio recognizes that he has much less to lose than Katherine for not showing up to the wedding, and he uses it as leverage against her. With the leverage, he is able to force her to agree with him even on the most foolish fallacies. By repeatedly snaring Katherine in battles that she cannot resist or win, he is able to wear her down. After Petruchio threatens to turn back in Act 4 Scene 5, Katherine yields and says, “Forward, I pray, since
In Taming ofthe Shrew the play starts off by introducing two sisters Bianca, and Katherine. Bianca has two men who want to be her husband, but she cannot marry before her sister who is known as “the shrew”. Katherine is rude to men and women and threatens people. Unlike Bianca who is very quiet, and does as she told by her father, Katherine is very independent , and is outspoken, and does as she wants. Bianca is liked by more men because she is more submissive to what the
In the end of Taming of the Shrew, the shrew Katherine says: “Such duty as the subject owes the prince. Even such a woman oweth to her husband;” (Shakespeare 5.2 2663) This is a crucial line in the play, as most of the plot in Taming of the Shrew, revolves around the trials and tribulations of Petruchio attempting to tame Katherine, the shrew of the Minola family. Petruchio is a stubborn man (similar to Kate), hell-bent on taming Kate, as he sees her hard exterior, and makes it his mission to break that tough exterior she holds up. Petruchio at the beginning of the play seems like a man that is insolent to his servants, and only worried about marrying for financial gain, but we soon see this as untrue. Petruchio is a dynamic character which we see as he embarks on a journey to tame Katherine and take her as his wife.
A good servant knows what their master means, and Grumio didn't. Grumio eventually saw what Petruchio meant, but didn't until later, when it didn't matter. Grumio is not a very good servant, acting ridiculously, because his skull was too thick to understand what Petruchio meant. Petruchio should
There are a few examples but the most significant one is Katherine’s long speech. “Fie, fie! Unknit that threat’ning unkind brow, and dart not scornful glances from those eyes to wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor. It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads, confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds, and in no sense is meet or amiable.” (Act 5, scene 2, line 152-157) This was only the first five lines of Katherine’s speech, but it does proves that she is not only obedient to Petruchio but that she truly believes what she is saying. She believes that, the wife should do whatever is needed by the husband to make him content and it is giving more proof that she is the most obedient wife, because she would do whatever Petruchio asked of her.
Petruchio had to act like a different person and show Katherine a different side of himself. When Petruchio was first wooing Katherine, he didn’t act the way he did at their wedding or in his house. Granted, Petruchio’s wooing was out of the box but he didn’t act the same. Petruchio had to show a different more cruel side of himself. Denying Katherine her basic needs like food and sleep wasn’t something he would have done normally or with a more normal girl.
This underscores the idea that Petruchio could have used simpler words but he makes the conscious decision to speak in a way that amplifies his own ‘manliness.’ Petruchio also uses various metaphors, other than the animal imagery, associated with generally ‘masculine’ activities such as comparing Katherina to a boat (1.2.94), and the endeavour of wooing her to an adventure where he is the hero (1.2.197-205), which in turn, creates an image of him being the man. The falcon imagery even becomes a way for Petruchio to consolidate his own status as a gentleman as falconers are often gentlemen according to Catherine Bates’ essay. The idea of ‘taming’ a woman is also suggested to be a male fantasy; “The taming-school? What, is there such a place?” (4.2.55). This self-fashioning of Petruchio suggests that he is merely playing a role expected of him and that rather than “taming,” he is teaching Katherina to do the same by separating their roles in public and private; “she shall still be curst in company” (2.1.298) which, of course, is reversed in Act
Generally, she is used to be invisible to men, they never gave her attention and no one had proposed to marry her. When Petruchio does, she reacts harshly thinking that he aims to steal her freedom and to inhibit her keen personality. Petruchio keeps provoking Katherina and talks with a reckless tone: "Come, come, you wasp; i'faith, you are too angry"(2.1.205), and then, Katherina replies with an intimidating tone and says: "If I be waspish, best beware my sting. "(2.1.206) she threatens Petruchio of her sting, and by sting she may be referring to her intelligence or powerful personality which she considers them as her only weapon and protector in her battle with Petruchio. During the intensive word exchange between Petruchio and Katherina one can notice that Petruchio's treatment is mainly based on Katherina's behaviour.
Petruchio refers this as how to tame an obedient falcon. “To make her come and know her keeper's call/That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites/That bate and beat and will not be obedient./She eat no meat to-day, nor none shall eat;/Last night she slept not, nor to-night she shall not.” (4.1.176-180) The taming of the shrew begins; Katherina’s reputation had fallen and shattered into thousands of pieces of glass. The pain that she endures every minute and second are outrageous. Obey or disobey and to be, or not to be: that is the
Even though the story line is about love and relationships, the fact remains that the time periods as well as the idea of relationship and marriage are very different from Shakespeare’s time and that of the 1990’s. In both the film and play, Kat Stratford and Katherina Minola make changes to better accommodate their partners. For example –Katherina changes her shrewish attitude to better suit Petruchio, and – Kat changes her negative attitude ,and same goes with Patrick, meeting half way, while changing things she dislikes about him as well. “Have you seen the unwashed miscreants that go to that school?” is a direct quote from the movie supporting Kat and her negative attitude. Walter Stratford is the single and overprotective dad to Kat and her lovely younger sister Bianca, and in his desire to not allow Bianca to date until Kat does.