The taming of the Shrew is a play written by William Shakespeare. The play depicts the general roles of men and women in the seventeenth century. The play focuses mainly on the character and relationship between Kate and Petruchio who are male and female who oppose each other. In the play, Petruchio must be able to tame Kate his wife who is the untamed shrew in the play without breaking her inner spirit. Katharina was always placed second by the father over her sister Bianca’s and through this her anger made her to be a woman who could not be tamed and thus was hated by everyone including her family. She never respected anyone.
The taming of the shrew is not about men dominating women but about the responsibilities each partner must assume in order to maintain a successful marriage. In the play, it was petruchio and Kate’s responsibility to make their marriage work out even though Kate was an untamed shrew to everybody. Here comes Petruchio who is paid by Kate’s father in order to marry her because he wanted her off his hands. Even though Petruchio is aware of what kind of person Kate was, he agrees and marries her with the aim of changing her into a better person.
Throughout the play, Petruchio focuses on taming Kate despite the fact that everybody new that she could not be tamed. Kate never obeyed anyone in the beginning of the play but after she got married to Patruchio, we see her obeying him. In the play, Petruchio controls Kate's emotions and they both work together into changing her because if she was not in control of her emotions, she could not have respected her husband. Kate had to obey her husband when he told her that she was to put on her old out fit in Bianca and Lucientio’s wedding because the fabric the tailor used to knit her gown was not good enough for her. Kate obeyed his orders because she also wanted to be a submissive wife. Petruchio was responsible for Kate and he wanted her to change so through her obedience and Petruchio giving the orders, they both worked on her character. Another instance is where Petruchio demands that Kate should call the sun the moon and an old man a young virgin which Kate’s obeys and does exactly what her husband asks her to. Kate’s obedience can be seen in her words “Forward, I pray, since we have come so far, and be it moon, or sun, or what you please" (Shakespeare 33). Petruchio believed that he could Change Kate’s negative actions despite the fact that everyone new that she was a shrew that could not be tamed. Kate needed her husband’s support in order to change and through the support she got from Petruchio, she was able to change into an obedient wife.
Petruchio worked on Kate’s character throughout the play. This is also seen whereby all the men call out on their women and none turns up except Kate who was termed as an untamed Shrew (Shakespeare 66). Kate’s appearance was a sign of obedience to her husband and to prove to all the people that her characters have changed and they are having a successful marriage.
Kate’s behavior at the end of the story shows that it is a responsibility of each partner to maintain a successful marriage. She was untamed in the beginning of the play but at the end, she becomes the obedient and submissive wife to Petruchio. Petruchio used all tactics just to change and tame Kate and together with Kate’s obedience, they ended up having a happy marriage and Kate became a submissive and obedient wife. This is seen where she alone appeared when all the other wives were never obedient to their husbands.
Kate controlled her decisions and actions even though her husband controlled her more. If Kate never controlled her actions, Petruchio could not have made it in changing her, but they both worked together. This shows that it is each partner’s responsibility to make their marriage be successful. Petruchio took an initiative to change her wife and Kate made work easier for him by being obedient and submissive.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew. (Dover Thrift Edition). New York: Dover Publications, 1997. Print.
