is hypercritical. She is saying that what Bianca and the Widow are saying is wrong and that they should be lower than their
husbands and obey and serve them. Their husbands are superior to them and yet she would never have even dreamt of talking
like this before, that it is almost unbelievable. It shows that Katherina has succumbed to Petruchio's forcefulness and has believed
the way that he has taught her is right and that her way was out of order and undisciplined. But finally, I must say that I do
admire the struggle that she puts up when fighting against the men.
Taming of the Shrew: The Character of Kate
Katherina Minola is one of Shakespeare's most formidable heroines, from one of his most successful comedies, The Taming of the Shrew. An audience-pleaser full of twists, turns and deception, the play has always entertained; at the same time, it has raised feminist hackles. Admittedly, at first glance, one may see only the comically told story of a proud woman forced to submit to a domineering husband. However, upon study, the depth of Shakespeare's characters emerges, adding a new dimension and subtlety to the play. A prime example is the character of the shrew, Katherina, or Kate, who is far more complex beneath her raging surface.
What is the source of Kate's fury and scorn? To find the answer, it would be helpful to first examine her family. Baptista Minola, her father, seems bewildered by his unruly daughter and is unable to control her: "Dame, whence grows this insolence?" (II.i. 23). However, he also holds a genuine fatherly love for Kate, as he tells Petruchio he must win her love before he marries her. Baptista dotes shamelessly on Bianca, Kate's younger sister. Bianca is no doubt a contributor to Kate's petulance. Kate is transparently jealous of the sweet, feminine, and shallow Bianca, whose beauty attracts several persistent suitors. Bianca and her parade of suitors are a constant reminder to Kate of her unsuitability and lack of admirers. Baptista, their father, has decreed Bianca will be wooed only when Kate has married; this makes Kate a mere obstacle to Bianca, the true prize: "She is [Baptista's] treasure, she must have a husband..." (II.i. 32). Bianca becomes an easy target for Kate's wrath, if not a totally innocent one. Kate knows Bianca's act of silent suffering in waiting for marriage attracts her the wanted sympathy: "It is best / Put finger in the eye, an she knew why." (I.i. 78-9).
The inability of Kate's family to understand or deal with her is only a symptom of a greater underlying problem: the world in which Kate lives. Kate is obviously a highly intelligent, witty and spirited woman; however, the domestic Paduan woman's world leaves her no outlet in which to express her gifts. Padua has no place for Kate, and therefore rejects her as vile-tempered and laughable. Gremio dismisses her thus: "You may go to the devil's dam; your gifts are so great, here's none will hold you." (I.i.105-6). She is notorious throughout the city for her temper, and has been subject to humiliation and ridicule; the sarcasm with which she defends herself from verbal barbs only adds to her image. A need for love and acceptance as who she is has turned to self-hatred, aggressiveness and defensiveness. She must be impenetrable to everything, and years of such a life have generated a genuine emotional problem. She has come to believe the stereotype, and now sees herself as unlovable.
Herein lies Kate's biggest problem. All around her plays the constant drama of adoring suitors and richly dowried vapid women. The fiery, spirited Kate is plagued by her lack of admirers, yet unwilling to play meek and mild to win them. She is indignant at her father's offer of her to men beneath her concern: "I pray you, sir, is it your will / To make a stale of me amongst these mates?" (I.i. 57-8). Her rejection of marriage is a rejection of the Paduan marriage she will no doubt be forced into, built on the tradition of female submission. For Kate to thrive in love, she needs a marriage of equals and true intellectual fellowship. Petruchio wanders in on the scene at exactly the right moment to untie Kate's knot of pride and jealousy. Initially, her reaction to him is automatic contempt, but in the ensuing battle of wits the improbable couple tests each other's ground. Petruchio sees almost immediately the vivacious, clever woman hidden behind the wall of causticity: "For by this light ...I see thy beauty..." (II.i.268). Kate, for her part, is confused by Petruchio's flattery: "Kate like the hazel-twig is straight and slender...and sweeter than the kernels." (II.i. 249), and intrigued by his wit. When he does not show for their wedding, she expresses genuine sorrow and hurt at the trust she had placed in him: "Would Katherine had never seen him through!" (III.ii. 26). In the taming that follows their wedding, the perceptive Petruchio "kills her in her own humour" (IV. i. 172) by acting even worse-tempered than she is. His aim is not to break her spirit, but rather to prove himself worthy of her and liberate her true, good nature. His methods of starvation, sleep denial and constant brawling seem questionable, but he achieves his goal and wins Kate as an ally. The culmination of his success is Kate's final speech, where she speaks of a wife's duty to be temperate and serving:
"A woman moved is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill seeming, thick, bereft of beauty,
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, they sovereign; one that cares for thee..." (V.ii. 142-147)
What a change from the venomous, arrogant Kate of Act I! Interpretations of the speech vary greatly, from broken-hearted mumbling to a sarcastic repartee to Petruchio. Truly, however, it would seem to be simply a positive and eloquent expression of the new Kate. She has found her place in worthy Petruchio's house, as respected wife, and though there is the element of submission, one can hardly imagine Kate adhering fully to it. She is more fully alive than ever; her transformation is complete.
The theme of role reversal and illusion is predominant in The Taming of the Shrew. The disguised Lucentio and Bianca pour forth romanticism and poetry; however, in the end, their marriage seems hollow and superficial. Contrarily, the once comical and rough union of Petruchio and Kate transforms itself into a potential love of the truest kind. In the same way, then, Katherina is a heroine not for her disguise of sarcasm and insolence, but for her hidden wisdom and true spirit.
