Dictionary: “A noisy, domineering woman; a shrew.”
As you probably know, Will Shakespeare wrote a play titled “The Taming of the Shrew.”
It’s strange that a work like this has been performed so often in our time; the feminist revolution of the past century or so would seem to have rendered portions of the play – shall we say, unpalatable? – for today’s audiences. But there have been plenty of staged productions, as well as Broadway musicals and major motion pictures (“Kiss Me Kate,” for example).
Here’s the story. Kate is angry. She has quite a bit to be angry about. She’s the eldest daughter, but she feels she has always been treated as second-rate while her younger sister, Bianca – who is regarded as more beautiful as well as “nicer” – receives attention and admiration from everyone. So Kate has become sharp-tongued and quick-tempered and has been known to throw stuff about during a tantrum.
The father, Baptista, had the problem all fathers of that era had: he must find suitable husbands for his daughters. He felt that it was important that Kate, the eldest, be married first, but of course the problem was that any potential suitor who got to know Kate took off as soon as he could and was not seen again.
So Baptista’s rule was, no one could court (or marry) Bianca until Kate was married.
That’s the situation when our hero, Petruchio, arrives in town, openly planning to get married, assuming he can find a reasonably attractive female who also has a hefty dowry.
Well, Kate fits that description, but locals warn him that the girl is impossible. But Petruchio, who can be as loud, boisterous and eccentric as Baptista’s oldest daughter, disregards everyone who warns him of her shrewishness.
When he goes to Baptista’s house to meet Kate, they have a tremendous duel of words. (Above, the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton version.) Katherine insults Petruchio repeatedly, but he tells her that he is going to marry her whether she agrees or not. Hearing this claim, Kate is strangely silent, so the wedding is set.
One gets the feeling that Katherine really has a deep-seated sense of insecurity, which is probably the cause of her shrewishness, and that she actually rather likes the idea of marrying this brash young man.
Petruchio does all kinds of wild stuff to prove he’s the boss. He shows up at the wedding under the alfluence of inkohol while wearing outlandish clothes, and he plays tricks on his new wife. Today’s audiences tend to feel a bit uncomfortable during all this; it is clearly abusive behavior.
But it’s the final sequence that is the hardest to take. Petruchio has succeeded in taming the shrew. His wife has changed greatly; she has become passive and submissive. When he orders her to drop what she’s doing and come to him, she replies:
“What is’t your honour will command wherein your lady and your humble wife may show her duty and make known her love?”
Petruchio replies: “Kiss me, Kate, since thou art become so prudent, kind and dutiful a wife.”
So we are left with a question. Is the play titled “The Taming of the Shrew” an indication of what William Shakespeare thought an ideal wife should be to have a good marriage? Or is the play actually his attack on the hypocrisy of the customs and practices of his time?
Your opinion?
