In what ways does Shakespeare make Act 5 Scene 2 an appropriate ending to “The Taming of the Shrew”?

The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy written by William Shakespeare between 1590-1594. In many ways, it can be likened to a romantic comedy film, and in a romantic comedy, many things can be expected. Usually, films in this genre center on ideals like the power of true love. The audience can also expect a romantic comedy to involve funny plot-lines, a resolution between the two main characters and sometimes, another love match. In this essay, I will explain how Act Five, Scene Two is an appropriate ending for Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

The story of The Taming of the Shrew involves quite a complex structure. The main five acts consist of a main plot, which concerns Katherina's taming and Petruchio's methods, and a sub-plot, which features a competition between suitors for Katherina's more agreeable sister, Bianca. Both the main plot and the sub-plot begin together at the start of the play, when Baptista Minola, Katherina and Bianca's father, announces that sweet, amiable Bianca would not be married until her shrewish and ill-tempered sister Katherina is married first. This leads to an agreement between one of the suitors and a friend, which happens to be Petruchio, to woo Katherina and marry her. But at this point the sub-plot becomes more complex than the main plot, when Lucentio adds to Bianca's suitors several disguises are made. It then becomes easier for the audience to focus on how Petruchio 'tames' his wife. Therefore the final scene is appropriate to the play because it finally brings together all the principal characters in one big celebration, tying the main plot and sub-plot together again. This creates a much more rounded-off ending, as it answers most of the questions posed at the start of the play (such ...

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...w. Shakespeare has used the number three many times in his plays. This might perhaps be because the Elizabethan society is well known to be very superstitious, in many ways the number three was seen as lucky “three times lucky”. Perhaps the number three was used to symbolise the happiness achieved by the three couples after their present troubles were sorted out.

To conclude, I think that Act Five, Scene Two was a very appropriate ending for The Taming of the Shrew. There were many questions posed in the build-up to the ending, and I think that Act Five, Scene Two answered them. It also answered whether Katherina was in fact, “tamed”. In my opinion, she was not, as I have said before, she echoes the mens' tactics of disguise, but instead, using the words in her final speech. In the end the audience was made happy with the happy ending that the play ended with.