Bianca’s suitors are desperate to wed her so decide to team up to find her a husband. Luckily for them, Hortensio’s friend, Petruchio, turns up in Padua looking to find a wife and have a family. Petruchio is very masculine and shows bravado by saying, “ I have come to wive it wealthily in Padua; if wealthily, then happily in Padua” after he finds out that Katherina’s father is very rich, although this shouldn’t really matter as he is very rich himself. As he has heard of Katherina’s temper and spirit, he tells us in his soliquiy, just before he meets her, that he will confuse Katherina by saying the exact opposite of what she expects to hear, “if she do bid me pack, I’ll give her thanks. As though she bid me stay by her a week”
The conversation between Katherina and Petruchio is fast paced and exciting. Katherina seems to appreciate that he doesn’t mock or tease her and that he doesn’t treat her contemptuously, but seems to respect her. He seems to appreciate her fiery spirit. They are both quick witted, use a fast pace and clearly enjoy each other’s company. I also think she appreciates him not humiliating her in public, something most men she knows seem to do to her. He shows appreciation and love of her by saying:
“For by this light whereby I see thy beauty-
Thy beauty that doth makes me like thee well-
Thought must be married to no man but me,
For I am here to tame you Kate,”
At first, though, she refuses, but Petruchio outwits her by telling everyone how her wildness is an act that is just for show, but when she is alone she’s tame and loves him greatly.
On their wedding day, Katherina was at first excited and happy, but her excitement and happiness soon turn to sadness as Petruchio is extremely late. Even when he does finally turn up he is dressed in rags and smells. His justification is, “To me she’s married, not unto my clothes.” He then embarrasses her further in the church by swearing, slapping the priest, getting drunk on the communion wine, throwing the wine in the sexton’s face and then kissing her in an undignified manner. He is using shock tactics as part of his taming strategy, being cruel to be kind. Also he is showing her he is in charge. If this isn’t enough, he then goes and insults her father by not going to the wedding feast and when Katherina begs him to stay he embarrasses her further. Unfortunately he has the attitude of the man of those times as he feels “she is my goods, my chattels…” The guests then smugly mock them as if they were mad.
When they arrive home Petruchio abuses the servants in front of Katherina. Then he deprives her of food, saying it is burnt when in fact it is perfectly done. “And ‘tis my hope to end successfully.
My falcon now is sharp and passing empty,
And till she stoop she must not be full- gorged…
She ate no meat today, nor none shall eat;
Last night she slept not, nor tonight she shall not.”
He is doing all this in an effort to tame her. By the way he acts around her you would think that he enjoys it and thinks she deserves it, but, in actual fact he says; “He that knows better how to tame a shrew, now let him speak- ‘tis charity to show.” When he says this, you realize how much he hates doing this because he loves her and how much he would do anything to “curb her mad and headstrong humor.” in any other way, but he sees this as his only option. The way he tames her makes modern readers uncomfortable because it is very much from a time where men were in charge of what and how women behaved which is definitely not the case today.
Do Petruchio’s methods work? Yes, and it doesn’t take long either. When they get home Petruchio beats the servants to show Katherina how she really is but when he starts doing this she tries to stop him, “Patience I pray you. ’Twas a fault unwilling.” This shows how she is beginning to show empathy and sympathy towards others, a trait we haven’t seen her do before. She begins to show courtesy towards others, even the servants. When Petruchio says the sun is the moon she first begins to correct him but then decides it’s not going to bother her, saying it’s the moon, even if it is the sun show. She decides to humor him by agreeing that it is the moon. This is when she starts to have self control she is now learning when to choose her battles. A test of her self control is when they meet a man on the road but as Petruchio calls him a woman she does too without hesitation and when he says it’s a man she doesn’t criticize him, she just apologizes to the man. This shows she has passed the test.
They arrive at Baptista’s house along with Bianca and Lucientio and Hortensio and his new wife the widow for a feast. Bianca and the widow attempt to provoke Katherina by telling her that “your husband, being troubled with a shrew,”. After the widow says this, Katherina is calm and just puts down the widow like she deserves by saying “I am mean in deed, respecting you” When the women leave the room Petruchio is so confident that Katherina will obey him he places a bet that she will come when called and the other two wives won’t. They send their servants one at a time for the different wives. Bianca says she is busy, the widow says her husband can come to her. When Katherina is called she comes straight away. When asked by Petruchio to tell the other wives what duty they owe their husbands she replies with a proud speech about how an angry woman is like a “fountain troubled, Muddy ill-seeming, beret of beauty” and that a husband “is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee and for thy maintenance”
She goes on to say why women should care, love and make a husband as happy as possible and do everything he asks:
“Commits his body
to painful labor both by sea and land, …
Whilst thou li’st at home, secure and safe”
She even says that “love, fair looks and true obedience- Too little payment for so great a debt.” She explains that her old behavior is something she now hates: “when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient his honest will,
What is she but a foul contending rebel?
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
I am ashamed that women are so simple”
In conclusion although I think that what Petruchio did is wrong I feel the end result was amazing. Her inner beauty is finally allowed to shine through, and she still has her fiery spirit but at least it is now controlled and others can now respect and admire her for all she is.
