Act III concludes after the wedding between Petruchio and Katherine. Straight away after the wedding Petruchio orders Katherine to go back to his country house, so that he can start his taming process without allowing Katherine to know. He then leaves the wedding much to the disgust of the guests without talking to them or having the after marriage banquet. Petruchio announces that Katherine his now his property and that he can do as he pleases with her.
“I will be master of what is my own” (pg 237 line 227)
This leaves Act III in an appealing situation as the audience is waiting to see what Petruchio has in mind to tame Katherine and Katherine does not know what is going to happen to her. They already see that he has been mocking Katherine by what he has been wearing and the way he has acted.
“Petruchio is coming in a new hat and an old jerkin; a pair of old breeches thrice turned; a pair of boots that have been candle-cases, one buckled, other laced; an old rusty sword ta’en out of the town armoury, with a broken hilt, and chapless; with two broken points; his horse hipped—with an old mothy saddle and stirrups of no kindred” (pg 225-226 line 41-47)
Act IV begins by starting the taming process. Petruchio leaves Katherine outside the house in the rain and cold while he sits down pretending he has forgotten about her until she starts to knock on the door repeatedly. The next few days in Petruchio’s household are the continuation of the taming process by keeping Katherine from eating or sleeping, pretending that he loves her so much he cannot allow her to eat his inferior food or sleep in his poorly made bed.
“Tis burnt, and so is all the meat.”
While studying the Taming of The Shrew I have watched two film productions, read the book, and also viewed a production at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, this has allowed me to gain lots of viewpoints about the play and how they all complement each other. I enjoyed Act IV the most for many reasons.
There is lots of action and more violence than the other acts, which makes it stand out. There are also a lot of subtle lines and ‘going ons’ that make you think hard about the actions and how they are contributing to the whole play. At the beginning of the Act Petruchio constantly verbally and physically abuses the servants in front of Katherine to show off and prove he has power, she tries to stick up for them and protect them but Petruchio does not allow this. I believe that this livens up the play as the taming process has begun. Petruchio was striking and shouting at the servants for a purpose, directed at Kate, as she tries to protect them she realises that she has stopped thinking only about herself and begins to feel for the others.
Another amusing aspect of the Act was when Lucentio needed a father so that his marriage can go through. He came across an old man and told him a story of how their two towns hated each other and if someone found out about him, he would be killed. It was risky but also a bit stupid of the man to accept.
In this Act but there is one scene that is especially comical. Petruchio continuing the taming process begins to tease Katherine with new clothes. He introduces a tailor and a haberdasher who both present the most stylish of clothing, which Katherine loves immediately, however Petruchio realising this, disapproves of everything saying it is not fit for her and is poorly made. He starts ruining the clothes and ordering the men to leave. Katherine however picks up a hat and puts it on and she wants it so much,
“All gentle women on the streets wear such a beautiful piece of clothing”
However immediately Petruchio replies
“When you are gentle, you shall have one too, and not till then.”
This is obvious without any subtlety. It hits you in the face and points out to Katherine what Petruchio is trying to do.
However amongst all the humour and action surrounding the Act at the moment there comes a point in the Act where all of this seems to disappear. All of scene IV is rather lifeless and fails to entertain the audience as previous scenes had. It becomes more serious and I think rather loses the attention of the audience and distracts their attention away from the play.
