Taming Of The Shrew Essay

The Taming of the Shrew

Kate's only suitor and future husband, Petruchio is an amazing character that on the surface

appears to be rough, noisy, and insensitive - a person who cares nothing for Katherine's

feelings so long as she has money. Yet, in the inside Petruchio's intention is not interested for her

money but the challenge of capturing her because of the reputation that she has. He manages to

"kill her in her own humor" (IV.ii. 180) by taking the same physical and methods in use

as she did. He teaches Kate happiness through reversed psychology.

The transformation that Kate undergoes near the end of the play is not one of character,

but one of attitude. Her final speech in the very end of the play clearly displays that she has

changed and that she's willing to accept the role as a married woman and start a partnership with

her husband. She submits herself by stereotyping women as physically weak and then suggests

that they should make their personality mild to match their physique: "Why are our bodies soft,

and weak, and smooth... But that our soft conditions and our hearts should well agree with our

external parts?" (V.ii.169Ð'-172).

A crucial factor in the "taming" of Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew is definitely the

societal values of the day. Back in medieval Europe there was no doubt who was the boss at

home and women were expected to fulfill the role as the