Free Essays on Taming of the Shrew: Was Katherina Tamed?

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Taming of the Shrew: Was Katherina the Shrew Tamed?

The question of whether or not Katherina was a shrew seems, on our

listserve anyway, to be solved. It seems that yes, Kate was a shrew,

but by the end of the play, was no longer. So, how was this big

accomplishment executed? As Barton pointed out in the introduction

to the play Petruchio tamed Kate with two techniques. The first of

the two, he was "more shrew than she" (IV.i.85-86), throwing tantrums,

and plates for that matter, showing up to the wedding in awful clothes

and starving her. The second he engaged in at the same time as the first.

He told her she was loving and kind, in hopes that by encouragement of

kind words those qualities may shine through the shrewish ones. So as

Barton explains, "Petruchio wins in the end not because of superior force

but because he succeeds in showing Katherina both the unloveliness of the

false personality she has adopted and the emotional truth of the self she

has submerged." In other words, she figures out who she really is and gets

in contact with her true self.

Now on to the tough question. Did Kate want to be tamed? I would

have to say yes, for one simple reason. Kate was not stupid; she knew

what Petruchio was up to. After all, he stated that he wanted to tame

her. "For I am he am born to tame you, Kate" (II.i.276). It does not

get much more evident than that. Even before Petruchio states it

simply, Kate had already shown signs of submission. Before she even

talked to Petruchio she stated to her father, "I must dance barefoot

on her wedding-day, / And for your love to her lead apes in hell."

(II.I.33-34.) Kate seems distressed over the fact that her younger

sister has more suitors than she; it also seems that she does not want

to be an old maid forever and will even, "lead apes in hell" so not

to be. Apparently, whatever it takes, even being tamed, she will do,

so long as to be wed some day.

My last point is not so much that Kate wanted to be tamed, but

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