An analysis of the relationship between Petruchio and Katherina
throughout the play The Taming Of The Shrew
Introduction:
The Taming Of The Shrew is a comic play based around a town in Italy
called Padua. In my view, the play is mainly centred round the
relationship of Petruchio and Katherina. Petruchio, a young, ambitious
and (it could be said) ravenous man has his heart set on locating a
young and beautiful women with a wealthy background to be his wife.
The fact that he will only be interested in the women for her money is
indicated several times before the meeting of Petruchio and Katherina.
P: "I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;
If wealthily, then happily in Padua."
P: "Signor Hortensio, 'twixt such friends as we
Few words suffice; and therefore, if thou know
One rich enough to be Petruchio's wife-
As wealth is burden of my wooing dance-"
He also says that as long as she has money she could be:
Old
Curst
Shrewd
He thinks that her scolding will have no effect on him and he will
succeed in overcoming Katherinas furious temper.
Katherina is the daughter of Baptista, a wealthy man of Padua. She is
one of two daughters and because of her widely known temper and
spiteful personality she has failed to attract the attention from the
suitors of Padua. They are all instead turned towards the silent
beauty of her younger sister Bianca. This is obviously upsetting for
Katherina but she doesn't change her ways to attract attention of
suitors. It is as if she doesn't want to be married to people with
wealth that are forced upon her and she voices her views without
hesitation.
G: To cart her rather. She's too rough for me.
There, there Hortensio, will you have any wife?
K...
... middle of paper ...
...tionship at such
an early stage. Katherina is understandably furious isn't ready to
deal with Petruchio's strange behaviour and tells him he can leave but
she will not be going with him. This is an attempt by Katherina to
gain some leadership in the relationship because she is only used to
getting her own way and doesn't like how she is being treated.
K: Nay then, do what thou canst, I will not go today,
No, nor tomorrow, not till I please myself.
The door is open sir, there lies your way,
You may be jogging whiles your boots are green.
Whom thou lov'st best; see thou dissemble not.
B: Believe me, sister, of all the men alive
I never yet beheld that special face
Which I could fancy more than any other.
K: Minion, thou liest. Is't not Hortensio?
B: If you affect him, sister, here I swear
I'll plead for you myself but you shall have
Different Interpretations of the Relationship Between Kate and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew
Often in literature, parallels are used to accentuate certain things. William Shakespeare utilizes this tool in both The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In both of these comedic plays, there is a set of women who are at odds with each other. These relationships can be compared and contrasted in different aspects.
find a wife. "I come to wives it wealthy in Padua; If wealthy, then happily in
Katherine and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew. & nbsp; The Taming of the Shrew brings out the comedic side of Shakespeare. where irony and puns carry the play throughout. In my paper, I will. concentrate on the irony of the play, the introduction of the two. sisters. These two sisters begin off with the elder, Katherine, viewed as. a shrew, and Bianca as the angelic younger of the two. However, as the play proceeds, we begin to see the true sides of the two sisters and their roles totally turn around. I will try to analyze the method in which Shakespeare introduces the two sisters and how he hints at their true identity.
In the play The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Petrucio recognizes, respects and desires Katherine’s strength of character. Petrucio is a clever man who sees beyond facades because he uses them himself. (II, i 46) (II, I 283 - 89) He is stimulated by Katherine’s sharp tongue and harsh actions. He proves this many times throughout the play.
Garner, Shirley Nelson. “The Taming of the Shrew:Inside or Outside of the Joke?” “Bad” Shakespeare: Revaluations of the Shakespeare Canon. Dickinson: Farleigh Dickinson U P, 1988. 105-19. Rpt. in Shakespeare for Students. Ed. Catherine C. Dominic. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 374-78. Print.
In Shakespeare's comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare has a woman as one of the story's main characters. Katherine Minola (Kate) is off the wall, and kinda crazy. Because of her actions, the “male centered world” around her doesn't know what to do with her.
"Then tell me - if I got your daughter's love, what dowry shall I have
Battle of the Sexes would have been another appropriate title for this play because the entire play is women verses men, men verses women. This battle of the sexes shows no boundaries between the rich and poor, young or old, man or women. The basis of all the rivalry stems from the fact that the men in this play look at the women as if they were objects, instead of human beings with feelings. This theory that women are merely objects creates an environment that the women have to adapt to and survive in and the environment of a person will depict what he or she will become, resulting in a battle between the sexes.
of the men who desired Bianca needed somebody to marry Kate, as it was customary
Plato argued that comedy blends pain with pleasure. How do you respond to this view in reference to The Taming of the Shrew? Has Shakespeare crafted The Taming of the Shrew so that the audience feels both emotions?
In The Taming of the Shrew, the concept of love is a means of emotional manipulation, and manipulation is nothing more than a means of control between men and women. William Shakespeare critiques the patriarchal social structure by ironically employing the manipulative stance Petruchio takes towards winning Katherine as his wife by charming her with words and manipulating her psychologically, and then taming her after their marriage through legal, physical, financial, and psychological control and manipulation. Though Petruchio may think he yields power over his wife, Katherine uses obedience as a tool of manipulation and has the control of the household, as can be seen by her ironic speech at the end of the play, where she claims women must serve their men. Shakespeare uses the irony of a man using manipulation as a tool for control to magnify the significance of the power women yield through manipulation, thus proving that men and women engage in a power-shifting struggle.
William Shakespeare's comedy, The Taming of the Shrew illistrates the difficulty of trying to tame a headstrong, stubborn, and a high-spirited woman so that she will make a docile wife. The one attempting to tame Kate, the shrew, is Petruchio. They contend with each other with tremendous vitality and have a forced relationship. In contrast, there is another romantically linked couple who seemingly possess an ideal relationship. These young lovers, Bianca and Lucentio, share a love that is not grounded in reality, but in fantasy. These two sub-plot characters are stock characters and Shakespeare creates the irony of the play through the differences between the two couples. It is through his use of stock characters and irony that the differences between the two couples are revealed.
A long time ago, a drunken man fell asleep outside an alehouse. This man, Christopher Sly, was discovered by a mischievous lord who took him into his home. The witty lord then convinced Sly that he was a lord, as well. The lord then put on a play for him. The play, The Taming of the Shrew, was about the two young daughters of Baptista. The youngest daughter, Bianca, wished to wed but her father, Baptista, would not allow this until his eldest daughter, Katherina, was married. Under normal circumstances, it would be easy to find a husband for Katherina with all her beauty, but all her beauty was covered by her shrewd personality. By this time Bianca's suitors were growing very impatient, so they decide to team up and find a husband for Katherina. In jest they mentioned their plan to a friend, Petruchio, who surprisingly agreed to marry Katherina. All her beauty and wealth were enough for him. Katherina reluctantly was wed to Petruchio and she was taken to his home to be tamed. With Katherina out of the way, Bianca was now allowed to marry Lucentio, who offered her father the highest dowry for her. In the final scenes of the play, Katherina proves that she is tamed by winning an obedience contest at a dinner party. Katherina is now even more in accordance with her wifely duties than Bianca. A fare is a type of comedy based on a ridiculous situation. The Taming of the Shrew, an eminent example of a farce, is the first of three farces written by Shakespeare.
“SparkNote on The Taming of the Shrew.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.