This shows that she is extremely violent and willing to beat a confession out of anyone. Because Katharina is this way, no man wishes to marry her, although many of tried. But Petruchio comes along and he finds a challenge and, of course, a fair amount of money to profit from the venture. He is interested in the money from the dowry in particular because he enquires,
“Then tell me – if I got your daughter’s love, what dowry shall I have with her to wife?” (Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 119 – 120)
This shows he is probably more interested in the dowry than in Katharina. Now we know that Petruchio is greedy as well as rich!
A good scene to show as an example of both Petruchio and Katharina in conversation is Act 2, Scene 1. While Petruchio is in meeting with Katharina for the very first time, at Baptista’s (Bianca’s and Katharina’s father) house, she tries to scare him away as she did with the other suitors and Hortensio while he is posing as a tutor of music. So she obviously does not want to marry anyone or is just plain impatient or angry most of the time! An example of this would be,
“To comb your noddle with a three-legged stool, and paint your face, and use you like a fool.” (Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 64 - 65)
Katharina insults Petruchio a lot but he just returns or retaliates with his own insults and begins to mock Katharina by exclaiming,
“You lie, in faith, for you are called plain Kate, and bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst.” (Act 2, Scene1, Lines 185 – 186)
This possibly could be the beginning of the taming process already! All that Petruchio actually does is to match Kathrina’s spite, hate and violence. One thing Katharina says threateningly to Petruchio is,
“I’ll see thee hanged on Sunday first!” (Act 2, Scene 1, Line 292)
This shows us again that she doesn’t want to marry Petruchio at all! From the quote, she prefers that he were dead! In Petruchio’s soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 1 he says he shall ‘woo’ Katharina and tell her that she is really a nice person and,
“Sings as sweetly as a nightingale.” (Act 2, Scene 1, Line 171)
So Petruchio might actually like Katharina after all and not just the money as I once thought earlier. He then goes on to say that,
“If she deny me wed, ill crave the day.”
That quote supports the fact that Petruchio wishes to marry Katharina even though she does not want to be his wife. Petruchio is very humorous but he can also turn very nasty and has a quick temper. He wittily argues with Katharina in Act 2, Scene 1 – in this scene a lot of humour and mockery flies across the room directed towards each other, between Katharina and Petruchio for example the following dialogue is part of insulting Petruchio and mocking him,
Katharina: “What is your crest? A coxcomb?
Petruchio: “A combless cock, so Kate will be my hen.”
Katharina: “No cock of mine, you crow too like a craven.”
That extract was taken from Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 223 – 225. Afterwards, Katharina tries something else to get rid of Petruchio. She strikes him and because he has to match Katharina’s actions he mutters,
“I swear, ill cuff you if you strike again.” (Act 2, Scene 1, Line 218)
This shows that Petruchio can and is willing to punish her for her violence, bad behaviour etc. (which leads on to the question: Is this story a sexist one?). Or maybe he just wants to teach her a lesson. Put her in other people’s shoes maybe. He also embarrasses her at their wedding in Act 3, Scene 2, by wearing hideous clothes such as, ‘an old jerkin’, ‘a pair of boots that have been candle-cases’ and carrying ‘an old rusty sword’. This shows Katharina up and is another method of taming her.
Finally, I will explain the height of the ‘taming of the shrew’, which can all be explained with Petruchio’s second soliloquy. Petruchio uses different methods of calming or taming Katharina so she becomes acceptable into public society. Petruchio explains to the reader how he will tame Katharina,
“She eat no meat today, nor none shall eat; Last night she slept not, nor tonight she shall not.” (Act 4, Scene 1, Lines 182 - 183)
This shows us that Petruchio is starving Katharina of her food and also depriving her of sleep. Hopefully this will turn her into a good person! Petruchio mentions one last thing near to the end of his second soliloquy, which tells us exactly why he is doing this:
“This is a way to kill a wife with kindness.” (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 193)
In conclusion I think the two make an entertaining pair, which make the story thoroughly enjoyable for many people. The ‘tamer’ and ‘the shrew’ are amazingly similar in different ways and in the end Petruchio and Katharina bonded. Katharina becomes extremely well behaved and obedient even more so than Bianca, the total opposite to what she used to be. The taming of the shrew is complete and thus, the story ends.
