Shakespeare's Presentation of Katherina in Taming of the Shrew

Shakespeare's Presentation of Katherina in Taming of the Shrew

Katherina, at the beginning of the play, is shown as having many

problems with her family. 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: "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

only adds to her image. A need for love and acceptance has turned to

self-hatred, aggressiveness and defensiveness. Herein lies Kate's

biggest problem. She is unable to let anyone in.

Contrasting this is the 'perfect' woman, her sister Bianca, who

appears to be well mannered and knows her place in society is under

her father, or once married, her husband. Having such contradictory

characters makes Katherina's harsh tongue seem even more extreme and

allows the other characters in the play to draw distinct comparisons

between her and her sister.

In the taming scene (Act 2 Scene 1) it is the first time the reader

really hears Katherina speak, as previously she has only spoken the

occasional line. Here we see how Bianca and Katherina are treated

differently by their father, "Poor girl, she weeps," says Baptista

when he first sees...

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... into and how they must stop themselves before the situation gets too

bad.

The final speech could be seen as Katherina finally conquering her

problem of being unable to let anyone into her life. It signifies that

she has accepted Petruchio as her husband and is beginning to show

signs of feeling some kind of affection towards him, maybe not love,

but something is definitely there. Whatever is the true meaning of

Katherina we will never know and this is why Shakespeare presented her

as he did. He wanted people to question her motives and actions, while

trying to figure out whether or not she believes in what she is

saying.

She provides hope for women who have been submissive all their lives,

but to a gentlewoman is a constant reminder of what you could become

if you do not take care of yourself and your husband.