Katherine in Taming of the shrew, by Shakespeare is an interesting character who is extremely important to the plot of the story. Katherine starts out as a rather unpleasant character. After being introduced to a man who has other reasons for wanting to marry her. Katherine begins to change midway, and blossoms into a polite respectful beautiful women. This paper will be about how and why Katherine changes.
In the beginning, the story shows Katherine being vicious to her sister, Bianca, for when she hears and sees Bianca is interested in a man she curses and beats her sister in a fit of rage. Katherine stays in her father Baptiste’s house, alone and vile, like a snake in its hole. She has a total disrespect for authority which in that time and place was horrifying, especially being a women. Katherine’s father
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Kate comes out of the room on her wedding day in a beautiful wedding dress fully displaying her wealth. After sitting at the church, irately waiting for her groom, Petruchio arrives wearing a poor man’s getup. This is the beginning of the embarrassments that have yet to come. Kate, infuriated, resentfully walks to the alter with Petruchio who then blatantly disrespects the priest. As the priest asks Kate to marry him she begins to say no but Petruchio grabs her and kisses her, which seals the marriage. Without leaving any time for her to say proper goodbyes to her relatives, Petruchio leaves for his homestead. At the castle Kate is subjected to many disappointments, such as when Petruchio gets her new dresses, then rips them in front of her to show her that life is not about the looks, it is about what is inside. After a while Petruchio gets an invitation to Bianca’s wedding. Hearing this, Kate is overjoyed and becomes her disrespectful self. Immediately Petruchio tells her that they will not be going. After hearing this, Kate gets an epiphany; If she is submissive and respectful she could have an extremely good
The relationship between Kate and Petruchio is completely different from the love of Bianca and Lucentio. "Kate is a neglected, hurt, and humiliated daughter who disguises her grief from herself as well as others with a noisy shrewish temper" (Craig 342). She has a fiery disposition and a reputation for reacting violently to people. The challenge of capturing her is Petruchio's real attraction to her. He can be seen as a rough, unfeeling, greedy, "swash-buckler" who cares nothing for Kate's feelings (so long as she has money). "
Petruchio wears the psychological mask of a guy who only has eyes for money. He makes his mask clear to the reader when he tells Hortensio to “wife wealthily” adding “you don’t know the power of gold.” after being told about Katherina’s bad behavior, not to mention her temper. It appears that Petruchio marries Kate for her money, but immediately starts to “kill her with kindness”. He begins going so by depriving her of food and sleep because he claims that neither the food from the kitchen nor the bed is good enough for her. Petruchio puts on a show of bad temper towards his servants for every fault, showing Kate what it is like to live with a bad-tempered person. For the first time in her life, Kate finds herself trying to get someone else to control their anger. Petruchio also shows Kate that she will get the things she wants when she learns to agree with what her husband says. By treating Kate in this manner, Petruchio seems cruel, but there is a reason for it. If he were truly interested only in money, he could have left Kate at home and gone out on his own. In the end, his efforts to improve his wife have worked. He improves Kate’s life, so that she does not continue to live an unhappy life. Because of Petruchio, Katherina the shrew is happily married in the end, and comes to be a good example to
In the play Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare includes several appeals of pathos, ethos and logos. In the last passage of the book, Katharina speaks out to all of the characters with a speech. Katharina describes how she has changed into a person who looks to her husband as her lord, her care taker. The characters who listened to her speech seemed impressed on how she has finally changed her rude attitude and how she obeys her husband Pertruchio’s every word.
Petruchio may have been mean to her in order to tame her but by the end; he shows how he truly loves her. “Come, my sweet Kate/Better once than never, for never too late” (Shakespeare Vi 149-150). Kat’s sonnet about her feelings towards Patrick show that she has accepted that she can be in love. This is her version of being “tamed” because she can rely on someone other than herself. Patrick uses the money he made dating her to buy her a guitar and beg for her forgiveness. He has fallen for her though that was no his original intention. “I thought you could use it. You know, when you start your band. Besides, I had some extra cash, you know. Some asshole paid me to take out a really great girl but I screwed up. I fell for her” (10 Things I Hate About You). Besides the story, the filmmakers have used several exact lines from the play in the movie. Cameron echoes Lucentio’s line, “I burn, I pine, I perish”(Shakespeare Ii 155) when he sees Bianca for the first time. Kat, like Kate, tells her sister “You don't always have to be who they want you to be” (10 Things I Hate About You). The filmmakers kept Shakespeare’s story of love and deceit intact in the modernization.
The sun: it is not moonlight now./Pet: I say it is the moon that shines so bright." (4.5.2-4). Petruchio first called the sun the moon and Kate argued with him because it was obviously the sun (at the time, they were on their way to Baptista's house), but Petruchio insisted that it was the moon. Kate finally agreed, "I know it is the moon that shines so bright" (4.5.5). People just reading through the play and not studying it would say that Petruchio is controlling Kate by making her agree with him. I don't think this is so - Kate most likely just gets sick of arguing with Petruchio because she can tell he will continue to insist that the sun is the moon. If you think about your childhood, there is probably at least one example of a time you were arguing with a friend of yours about something and neither of you wanted to give up and let the other person "win" the argument, but eventually, one of you gives in. The reason Kate might be so quick to give in this time is because she knows Petruchio is trying to tame her and that she won't be able to get anywhere with him. Petruchio tells her when they first meet, "For I am he am born to tame you Kate,/And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate/Conformable as other household Kates" (2.1.308-310).
As mentioned above, Katherine was the elderly daughter of a wealthy merchant, who was known throughout the city of Padua for her scolding tongue and her fiery tempered attitude. Most men had excluded her when suggestions arrived in terms of marriage. Due to this situation, Katherine had set her mind to not getting married at all. “Good, Morning Kate, said Petruchio, as the haughty lady swept in. ‘my name is Katherine’, she pouted. ‘No is isn’t, you are called plain Kate and Bonny Kate and sometimes Kate the wild cat . . . . But I think you are the prettiest Kate in Christendom- gentle, beautiful, modest and kind. Yes I’ve heard all about you, and I’ve come to ask you to be my wife’. She slapped his face” (page 3) .This quote gives details in how arrogant Kate is towards Petruchio. It is known to be very disrespectful manners to answer back to an opposite gender, but slapping someone who has come to ask for your hand is revolting. But poor Katherine doesn’t remain in this high position throughout the novel. As soon as she and Petruchio are wedded she experiences many changes within her and around her.” All her life she had had everything she wanted. Now,
The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, and has weathered well into our modern era. For all the praises it has garnered throughout the centuries, it is curious to note that many have considered it to be one of his most controversial in his treatment of women. The "taming" of Katherine has been contended as being excessively cruel by many writers and critics of the modern era. George Bernard Shaw himself pressed for its banning during the 19th century. The subservience of Katherine has been labeled as barbaric, antiquated, and generally demeaning. The play centers on her and her lack of suitors. It establishes in the first act her shrewish demeanor and its repercussions on her family. It is only with the introduction of the witty Petruchio as her suitor, that one begins to see an evolution in her character. Through an elaborate charade of humiliating behavior, Petruchio humbles her and by the end
In addition, Kate’s final monologue, also in Act 5, scene 2, tells the audience a lot; about the play itself, as well as the society in Shakespeare’s era. On face value, Kate’s final monologue seems to be a long lecture about serving your husband, no questions asked. “Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot, / And place your hands below your husband’s foot” (v, ii, lines 92-3, page 221). However, Shakespeare gave Kate the last word in the play, a sign of her consistent power and control. As well, her monologue can be perceived as quite ironic. Kate is aware of the beliefs about how women in the household should act and, as clearly portrayed throughout the entire play, the role Petruchio has been trying to get her to fill. By playing along fullheartedly with society’s expectations, in front of the large audience of guests, Kate becomes “truly tamed” - or just incredibly
In essence, all Petruchio did was teach Kate not to be so brash and rebellious. He showed her how awful her actions looked, and on her own, she made the decision to change her demeanor. She could have remained bitter and feisty, but it would have been in vain, and I believe that she realized that her actions had been no worse than the vanity and shallowness she witnessed in the people of Padua.
Katherine continues to tell them that any women who does not obey and follow their husbands then they are 'foul contending rebels'. Katherine’s speech is full of love and respect for Petruchio. Right from the moment she met Petruchio, it is unmistakable that she was intrigued by him, it could even have been love at first sight. They are very similar characters and they express their emotions by arguing and insulting each other but deep down they are in love. There are two explanations for Katherine’s final speech. One explanation is that Kate could be filled with so much love and affection for Petruchio that she will withstand his harsh treatments and cruel tests just to be with him. Another explanation is that Kate has admitted defeat by Petruchio and that she respects him and understands that he is now master. Kate always wanted to be married and at last she has, she is no longer the controller but has a strong husband to look after her and keep her in a her place. Finally the shrew has been tamed and at last she is married, and so it is a happy ending for
Often times, authors use their works to display themes that they deem to be important or wrong with the world. Frequently, the authors are able to convey these themes to the reader through the use of various literary devices. These literary devices have the themes that the author wants to convey embedded in them. In Hemingway's novel The Old Man and the Sea, he uses devices to display what he calls the code hero. One ideal of the code hero is endurance. Endurance is a necessary part of life that everyone will have an experience with. While some may endure lots and other little, everyone has issues they must endure through. In “The Veldt”, Bradbury uses literary devices to display his thoughts of technology. Technology is constantly becoming more and more advanced and some, including Bradbury, have the fear technology will take over the role of humans. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini uses the devices to show oppression. Everyone strives to take control of their lives, however sometimes that is not possible when they are being restricted by outside forces. The authors Hemingway, Bradbury and Hosseini use the literary devices of symbolism, flashback, imagery and metaphor to demonstrate their themes.
In contrast to this, Kate is very angry and frustrated by the Petruchio, and immediately becomes "shrewish," resorting to insults, 'A joint stool,' and violence. This gives the effect of Kate being much less in control of what is going on, and perhaps reflects the direction their relationship is going to take, that Petruchio will be the one in charge, and Kate will not have any control. This could however also demonstrate Kate's intelligence and wit, that she is able to keep up and match Petruchio's wordplay. However Kate feels the need to resort to violence, again demonstrating Petruchio's intelligent wordplay and calm attitude, as he does not react violently towards Kate, but simply
Plato and Aristotle each advocate the idea of arete as a way of life for those who want to be “truly happy.” Plato is a chronicler of Socrates’ ideas but his concept of happiness and “arete” are his own. The concept of arete can be translated into a simple English word, “excellence.” “Arete is the idea of trying to do your best in everything you do because true happiness is a result of self-fulfillment.” (Plato, 3). Socrates argues that to reach true happiness one must practice their skills and do one’s job at the best of your abilities. Socrates argues that everyone has their own arete; a doctors’ is to cure people, and a shoemakers arete is to make shoes, the best one’s he possibly can. An individual, needs to just focus on their arete and making it better instead of interfering with someone else’s arete.
As the play continues, we learn even more about Kate. For example, when Kate and Petruchio go back to Baptista’s, Kate begins to see how Petruchio operates. She learns that if she does what Petruchio says, even if she knows it is not true, she will get something she wants out of it, like going back to her father’s house. Petruchio test Kate when they meet the real Vincentio on the road and he asks Kate if she has ever seen a finer young women. Knowing what he is up to, Kate shows her amazing wit and decides to play his game. She has figured out that Petruchio has a method to his madness and if she plays her cards right, their relationship can be a partnership with a series of actions and rewards.
o Analyzing and interpret data to identify patterns and solutions, including surveys and focus group transcripts.