In the 2003 Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, Petruchio is shown as being drunk when he first makes his appearance in the play. He is also shown to hug Hortensio. This perhaps gives us an insight into his more sensitive side.
Another way that Petruchio shows his internally sensitive nature is by using flowing and complementary words to describe Katherina:
“Her affability and bashful modesty.”
This seems almost like Petruchio is trying to kid himself as to what Katherina is really like. This also has the effect of giving the audience a view of how he wants Katherina to turn out after he has ‘tamed’ her. Petruchio reiterates this in Act II, scene I, line 168 in his first soliloquy. Here, he tells the audience that he will contradict everything she says and does:
“Say that she frown, I’ll say she looks as clear
As morning roses newly wash’d with dew.”
He does this to attempt to confuse her and win her favour.
Katherine’s first appearance in the play is a very loud and violent one that has the effect of really getting across how shrewd and angry Katherina is. The 2003 Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ has the sounds of Katherina screaming and shouting off screen, so that the audience know, before Katherina enters that she really is as terrible as people say. This production also implies that the reason Katherina is so angry is because her father favours Bianca over her. They do this by emphasising the way Baptista talks about his daughter. This production sympathises with Katherina and doesn’t attempt to humiliate her beyond that that Shakespeare intended.
When Petruchio speaks, he always uses courtesy and constraint. This is likely to make the audience view him in a different light as he behaves very differently from his first scene. The audience may begin to take a liking to him and hope that he does woo Katherine. This sensitivity paves the way for the end of play, where Katherina and Petruchio understand and respect each other. In Katherine’s final speech, she scolds Bianca and Hortensio’s Widow for their lack of respect and obedience. Bianca, originally the most popular of the sisters, with many wooers, is shown as being spoiled.
In Petruchio’s first speech to Katherina, he refers to her as ‘Kate’, ten times, after she has specifically told him that she dislikes the name. He does this as an act of defiance. Katherine is used to people being afraid of her and avoiding talking to her. However Petruchio must let her know that this is not the case for him, and that his purpose of coming to her is to marry her.
“Myself am mov’d to woo thee for my wife.”
This speech would be amusing to a Shakespearean audience, as it is to a modern day one. The former would be amused because of repetition and the puns. A modern day audience could find humour in the way that some of the phrases used, sound like modern day ones. For example: “Kate of Kate Hall” sounds similar to “Toad of Toad Hall” from ‘Wind in the Willows’.
Katherina comes back quickly by making a pun of Petruchio’s “Mov’d”.
“Mov’d, in good time! Let him that mov’d you hither
Remove you hence. I knew you at the first
You were a movable.”
By this, Katherina means that she thinks Petruchio shall be easily controlled. Petruchio seems offended and replies with indignation.
“Why what’s a movable?”
However, he some recovers from this and they continue the dialogue.
From line 200, Petruchio starts to introduce some sexual references to let Katherina know that he is serious about wooing her.
“Women are made to bear, and so are you.”
When Katherina starts to walk away from Petruchio, he again uses a sexual reference.
“What, with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again.”
Petruchio phrases this so that it sounds like Katherina is being obscene.
In the 2003 Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, by this point, Katherina is starting to an affection for Petruchio. This works well and may be how Shakespeare intended it.
Just before Baptista, Gremio and Tranio enter, Petruchio gives a speech to Katherina in which he tells her that he likes her and intends to marry her. Here he tells her the opposite of what her father, Baptista had told Petruchio. Baptista had said:
“She is not for your turn.”
However, Petruchio tells Katherina:
“Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn.”
This is another example of Petruchio contradicting people, regarding Katherina. This shows the audience that he is different from the other men in the play and that he may be able to tame Katherina.
When the three other men enter the stage, Katherina denies taking a liking to Petruchio.
“You have show’d a tender fatherly regard
To wish me wed to one half lunatic.”
Petruchio tells Baptista that Katherina isn’t at all bad:
“For she’s not froward, but modest as the dove.”
This is third time he has used similar lines to these. The first time was in his soliloquy in Act II, scene I, line 168, the second was to Katherina and this is the third. This implies that his plan to woo Katherina is going well.
Petruchio then tells the other men that when they alone, she is affectionate towards him.
“’Tis bargain’d twixt us twain, being alone,
That she still be curst in company.”
Petruchio says this so that Baptista will not call off the wedding because Katherina doesn’t like him.
Petruchio’s appearance, described by Biondello in Act III, scene ii, line 41, at the wedding is done to shock Katherina into silence and to embarrass her. Although the audience does not see the reaction of Katherina, we do see how quiet and withdrawn she is when she reappears later in the play. We also see how she reacts when Petruchio deprives her of clean smart clothes to visit her father in Act IV scene iii. The way Petruchio behaves in the scenes around the wedding make Katherina seem very calm and quiet compared to him. This is what he intended. Gremio states this fact when he returns from the wedding ceremony.
“Gre. Why, he’s a devil, a devil, a very fiend.
Tra. Why, she’s a devil, a devil, the devil’s dam.
Gre. Tut! She’s a lamb, a dove, a fool to him.”
When Kate reappears, although she is more subdued, she still does not obey Petruchio to the extent that he wants her to.
“Do what thou canst, I will not go today.”
Although Petruchio then takes Katherina away against her will, he covers up this by giving a speech.
“She is my good, my chattels, she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing.”
By this, he implies that he is taking her away because he loves her and that she is his to take. He also clearly suggests that the other men are jealous, they are trying to steal her and Petruchio is rescuing her.
“Draw forth thy weapon, we are beset with thieves,
Rescue thy mistress if thou be a man.”
This is a rather pathetic attempt at getting Katherina to feel lucky that she has Petruchio to save her.
When Petruchio and Katherina enter his house, Petruchio talks of food and eating. However when Katherine is just starting to eat, he takes it away from her.
“’Tis burnt, and so is all the meat.”
He plans to starve Katherina into submission.
On line 175, when Kate has left to go to bed, Petruchio starts his second soliloquy.
“Thus have I politicly begun my reign.”
This soliloquy is another that intends to tell the audience what Petruchio is planning to do. He likens Katherina to a bird of prey and intends to tame her in the same way.
“As with the meat, some undeserved fault
I’ll find about the making of the bed.”
He intends to make Katherine feel so oppressed and suffocated that she will be unable to fight back.
“This is a way to kill a wife with kindness,
And thus I’ll curb her mad and headstrong humour.”
In Act IV, scene iii, Petruchio brings in a Tailor and a Haberdasher to present fine clothes to Katherina. However Petruchio dismisses them as “lewd and filthy”. This way Katherina has to visit her father in the dirty clothes that she has been wearing since the wedding.
The journey that Petruchio and Katherina take to return to Padua is the turning point for Katherine. Petruchio intentionally calls the sun the moon. After a small argument, Katherina realises that it is easier to agree with him.
“Forward, I pray, since we have come so far,
And be it moon, or sun, or what you please.”
From this point onwards, Katherina realises that her life is much better when she agrees with him.
The last scene in which a banquet is laid out and all the characters of the play are present is the final test for Katherina. When Hortensio’s widow insults Petruchio, Katherina comes to his defence:
“’He that is giddy thinks world turns round’-
I pray you tell me what you meant by that.”
Katherine turns out more obedient than Bianca and the Widow and she wins Petruchio money because of it. This suggests that a successful marriage is one of respect. The play finishes with a Katherina’s 44-line speech in which she praises the man’s role in happy marriage and describes the woman’s. She condones the actions and lack of respect of Bianca and the Widow.
This speech does not state that the woman should obey their husband, as the rest of the play implies.
Depending on the age and context in which ‘The taming of the Shrew’ is performed, the marriage of Petruchio and Bianca is generally viewed as a successful marriage.