The Different Ways to Tame a Shrew in Kiss Me Kate and The Taming of the Shrew

I must and will have Katherine to my wife. (Act 2, Scene 1, Page 13)

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.

Domestic abuse happens all the time, yet is often overlooked, ignored, or excused. For Katherine Minola, her husband’s friends, servants, and her family overlook any signs of abuse her husband, Petruchio, shows. To any upstander, it would’ve been clear to see that Petruchio would use his power to control Katherine and break her spirit. Petruchio’s verbal and physical behavior towards Katherine and others creates many signs that his relationship with Katherine may become abusive.

In the play Taming of the Shrew, written by William Shakespeare, many characters are reshaped and given new personality traits. Petruchio is known as being a cocky man who intends to help tame a shrewish young lady named Kate. There are many critics that believe Petruchio is solely obnoxious and a bully but through out his interactions with Kate it is shown that he truly cares about the well being of others. Of course at the beginning of Petruchio’s plan to tame a young lady he is acting off of his confidence and trying to impress those around him but this soon changes once he begins to interact with Kate. Petruchio proves that his ways have changed and he is only taming Kate to make her feel better about herself, “Petruchio uses psychological methods, not aggressive or barbaric ones, to tame Kate, which alls her to still be witty and intellectual, but also happily married, at the end of the play”(Natale,98). Petruchio truly believes that by taming Kate he is preforming a good deed and helping her accept herself in this process.

“When love speaks the voice of all the gods makes heaven drowsy with the harmony,” Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, scene II.

Examine the different ways in which Shakespeare presents the attitude towards marriage in the play, ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’

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

In the play, The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio is a foolish nobleman who tames the character of Kate because she is a shrew. A shrew is ill-spoken woman who has a negative reputation in the Elizabethan period. Petruchio tames Kate by abusing her physically and mentally, Petruchio starves Kate and deprives her of any sleep, finally he humiliates her. Kate is forced under submission because of Petruchio trying to “...cure her wild and willful nature...” (Act 4, Scene 1, Pg. 10). Petruchio explains that all his abusing is because he loves her and for her own good, when in fact he is trying to break her down. The Taming of the Shrew is about the conflict between Kate and Bianca in which their father’s rule which does not allow Bianca to get married

The act of abuse, including mental and unintentional abuse, is vicious because the product is always a damaged person. In the play, , William Shakespeare constructs an abusive character, Petruchio, that traps Katherina, an alleged shrew, in a toxic relationship. By definition, a shrew is a woman who is aggressively assertive and violent. Although Katherina is depicted as a shrew in this story, Petruchio exhibits far more shrewish qualities. In an attempt to “tame” Kate, Petruchio employs abusive techniques to get what he wants.

This story also depicts that a woman is not suppose to be strong and opinionated. Kate is viewed by most suitors as undesirable because she speaks her mind and doesn't let the male population walk all over her (Dolan 32). She is very precautious of the intentions of the men that claim they would like to marry her. Throughout the story it's made clear that Petruccio's objective is to "tame" Kate so that she will be suitable to be a wife. It's not that it's in her nature to be mean but she has a different that on the role of a wife. She indeed believes that she should be good to her husband and do all that things that are expected of her but feels that it should be deserved. Her husband needs to be worthy of all of her affection and attention. Not only that, he needs to love her in such a way that makes her want to be a good woman to him (33).

The relationships between servants and masters closely reflect the gender relationships in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Lucentio and Tranio's relationship as master and servant is an ideal of the Renaissance era according to "An Homily on the State of Matrimony." Tranio risks taking the place of his master because of his love for him and Lucentio always treats him with kindness and respect, almost like an equal. Though they are not involved romantically, Lucentio and Tranio fulfill these ideals better than any marriage in The Taming of the Shrew. Lucentio's relationship with Bianca reflects his role with Tranio: Bianca shows respect for Lucentio as he

   William Shakespeare's comedy, The Taming of the Shrew illistrates the difficulty of trying to tame a headstrong, stubborn, and a high-spirited woman so that she will make a docile wife. The one attempting to tame Kate, the shrew, is Petruchio. They contend with each other with tremendous vitality and have a forced relationship. In contrast, there is another romantically linked couple who seemingly possess an ideal relationship. These young lovers, Bianca and Lucentio, share a love that is not grounded in reality, but in fantasy. These two sub-plot characters are stock characters and Shakespeare creates the irony of the play through the differences between the two couples. It

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

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.

One of the most notorious topics of interest in the works of Shakespeare is the role women receive in his plays. The way Shakespeare wrote his plays, women were very submissive to men and had no will and choice of their own. Women were extremely reliant upon the men in their lives, believing that they were inferior and thus following their desire for the women’s lives. This included that marriages were usually arranged by a powerful male, instead of giving the woman the opportunity of choosing marriage for love. It is not surprising that Shakespeare portrayed women in a way that was familiar to him and the time era in which he lived. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Taming of the Shrew, both focus on the development of love and not, with