K: [To Baptista]
I pray you, sir, is it your will
To make stale of me amongst these mates?
H: 'Mates', maid, how mean you that? No mates for
you
Unless you were of gentler, milder mould.
K: I'faith, sir, you shall never need to fear;
Iwis it is not halfway to her heart.
But if it were, doubt not her care should be
To comb your noddle with a three-legged stool,
And paint your face, and use you as a fool.
Katherina shows that she is in fact angered and upset by the willingness of the suitors of the town to turn to her sister when she is the older of the two, and she should be married before her. She turns her anger to violence directed at Bianca as shown in the beginning of Act 2 Scene 1, shortly before the meeting of Petruchio and Katherina.
K: O, then belike you fancy riches more:
You will have Gremio to keep you fair.
B: Is it for him you do envy me so?
Nay then you jest, and now I well perceive
You have but jested with me all this while.
I prithee, sister Kate, untie my hands.
K: [Striking her] If that be jest, then all the rest
was so.
These representations of the characters I will analyse have shown that the characters have very similar personalities and are prone to violence. Especially when it comes to lack of love. This will change in a drastic way as I investigate the play. Petruchio will prevail and Katherina will be tamed.
Act 2 Scene 1: The Meeting
When Petruchio is alone before the first meeting, he shares with the audience his proposal to woo Kate, using a soliloquy. This opens the audience up towards Petruchio's way of thinking and sets about reminding us what he plans to accomplish by the end of the play. This insight provides the audience with a proper knowledge of what Petruchio is aiming to succeed in.
P: And woo her with some spirit when she comes.
Say, that she rail, why then I'll tell her plain,
She sings sweetly as a nightingale.
When Katherina first meets Petruchio he is forward and makes sure he has the first words of flattery before she has the chance to speak. This is Petruchio's strategy to begin the wooing process. Katherina has different ideas as she has a similar strategy planned due to their very similar, but conflicting personalities.
P: Good morrow Kate - for that's your name I hear.
K: Well you have heard, but something hard of
hearing:
They call me Katherina that do talk of me.
Their relationship seems violent from the start and there is little love involved, more hate. It seems that both characters express their anger through violence. They both feel that they don't have anything in common (i.e Petruchio is in it for the money and Katherina has been chosen to marry Petruchio against her wishes) but they seem to possess similar personalities, for example, they both seem to be sarcastic, Petruchio in a subtle manner, Katherina more obviously.
K: That I'll try
She strikes him
P: I swear I'll cuff you if you strike again
K: So may you lose your arms
If you strike me you are no gentleman
And if no gentleman, why then no arms.
Petruchio and Katherina's sarcasm displayed in their relationship, in Act 2 Scene 1 can be contrasted to the same genre of sarcasm bared in Act 4 Scene 5, when Petruchio sees Vincentio and describes him as a beautiful young woman.
P: Good morrow, gentle mistress, where
away?
-Tell me, sweet Kate, and tell me truly too.
Hast thou beheld a fresher gentlewoman?
Such war of white and red within her cheeks!
What stars do spangle heaven with such beauty
As those two eyes become that heavenly face?
-Fair lovely maid, once more good day to thee.
-Sweet Kate, embrace her for her beauty's sake.
K: Young budding virgin, fair, and fresh, and sweet,
Whither away, or where is thy abode?
Happy the parents of so fair a child;
Happier the man whom favourable stars
Allots thee for his lovely bedfellow.
In Petruchio's attempt to woo Katherina he uses alot of flattery, and appears to have a laid-back attitude towards the verbal dispute that arises in the first meeting. He is made to feel unwelcome from the moment Katherina is present, but he is confident that he will change her view towards him and accept him as her husband-to-be. The word movable is used as an insult by Katherina, but Petruchio deliberately misunderstands what she is trying to say and makes a witty pun from this.
P: Why, what's a movable?
K: A joined stool.
P: Thou hast hit it. Come, sit on me.
K: Asses are made to bear, and so are you.
P: Women are made to bear, and so are you.
Towards the end of this act Petruchio begins to grow tired of Katherina’s lack of co-operation towards the matter of marriage. In a last desperate act before Baptista , Tranio and Gremio return, he loses his charming image and appears as very forward and aggressive towards Katherina. This emphasizes his short temper and antagonistic nature.
P: Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented
That you shall be my wife; your dowry ’greed on;
And will you, nill you, I will marry you.
P: Thou must be married to no man but me.
When Baptista returns Katherina doesn’t hide the feelings of hate she feels towards Petruchio, but instead of taking this as another insult he twists hr words and explains to her father that Katherina has the right to be shrewish in public because this is the only way she knows how to act, but in private she was very different. This shows that Petruchio is a very believable liar and this will help him succeed in the taming process throughout the rest of the play.
P: ’Tis bargained ’twixt us twain, being alone,
That she shall still be curst in company.
I tell you ’tis incredible to believe
How much she loves me.
Act 3 Scene 2: After the Wedding
K: Are you content to stay?
After an eventful and chaotic wedding, Katherina is deeply hurt inside, but her anger shows on the outside. This is worsened when Petruchio wants to lave for hom and doesn’t attend his own wedding feast. This shows Petruchio’s leadership in the relationship at such an early stage. Katherina is understandably furious isn’t ready to deal with Petruchio’s strange behaviour and tells him he can leave but she will not be going with him. This is an attempt by Katherina to gain some leadership in the relationship because she is only used to getting her own way and doesn’t like how she is being treated.
K: Nay then, do what thou canst, I will not go today,
No, nor tomorrow, not till I please myself.
The door is open sir, there lies your way,
You may be jogging whiles your boots are green.
Whom thou lov'st best; see thou dissemble not.
B: Believe me, sister, of all the men alive
I never yet beheld that special face
Which I could fancy more than any other.
K: Minion, thou liest. Is't not Hortensio?
B: If you affect him, sister, here I swear
I'll plead for you myself but you shall have h
