The Taming of the Shrew

Authors Avatar

In The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio’s seemingly attempts to get Kate to love him makes readers believe that he is a chauvinistic bully but in the end, his strategy which led many to judge is harsh, consists of a caring therapist. In this essay will contain the experiments used by Petruchio to obtain the love and compassion of Kate, the three tests performed by Kate to see if she is loyal to her husband and the conclusion of the play which allows the reader to believe that Petruchio’s actions are clever.  

Firstly, Petruchio’s scheme to bend Kate to his will by pretending to act like her concludes in the love of Kate towards him. During the whole play, Petruchio decides to act like Kate, who is sharp tongued and quick tempered, to “tame” the shrew. For instance, when Petruchio and Kate arrive at Petruchio’s country house, he demands dinner, and his servants prepare it as quickly as possible. Nevertheless he argues that the meat is burned and not edible and pushes the whole meal off the table. In the meantime, Kate, evidently tired and starving, begs with him to be more tolerant with the servants. Petruchio answers by saying that he demands the best for his new wife. Petruchio’s intention was not only to have Kate respect him but also to aggravate Kate and to keep her wanting. Another example would be when a tailor had arranged well-designed and luxurious clothes for their return to Padua. Unsurprisingly, Petruchio opposes to what Kate says and blames the tailor for poor craftsmanship. Once again Petruchio’s schemes to get Kate to his will is successful because they wind up going in the clothes they were wearing. To conclude, Petruchio’s method to act like Kate led many to believe that he is an over-bearing bully, however the impact brought by this idea made many consider that he is a clever therapist.

Join now!

        Secondly, on the way back to Padua, Petruchio tries three tests on Kate to see if she is loyal to him after what has transpired the past day. To prove her loyalty towards Petruchio, Kate was never to oppose to what her husband said. The first test transpires during midday. Petruchio remarks on how dazzlingly the moon is shining, and when Kate counters that the sun is shining, he refuses to go on with the trip until she affirms that it is the moon.  Having no more power to go against what Petruchio says, Kate admits that it is indeed ...

This is a preview of the whole essay