Hi everyone! After hearing what everyone had to say in class, here is my response post:
The title The Taming of the Shrew is meant to refer to Katherina, but there are subtle instances of taming even before we meet her. In the induction, when the Lord is talking about his multiple dogs, we inherently know that these animals have been trained to do his bidding. He even seems to prefer one dog over the others, most likely because this dog is the tamest of the bunch, and responds most obediently to the Lord’s orders.
It’s also interesting to see the Lord’s behavior towards Sly. He has just been talking about taming his dogs, and now will go on to tame this drunken bum. Sly falls for his game almost immediately, subtly putting himself on the same level as the dogs – obedient, but not very smart, and certainly not as sophisticated as the Lord.
Even when we meet Lucentio and Tranio, there are notes of taming going on. Lucentio is a teenager, being subtly pushed and influenced by not only his father, but his servant, who is supposed to be his inferior. Even though Tranio tells him to study what makes him happy, this is a slight push in one direction.
An important topic, well set out. If you look more closely at the dialogue between them, it appears that the dogs that the Lord and his huntsman prefer are those who do not lose the scent, who risk themselves in quest of prey. I hope we’ll talk about the difference between taming, conditioning, and bringing the best out of the creatures in one’s care.
I think the idea of taming continues throughout this play and not just in the early instances as Mary points out. There are instances where Katherine is made out to be this wild animal that must be tamed. Her relationship with Petruchio only further establishes this theme of taming or domestication as Petruchio says he will train her like a falcon.
There is also an instance where Hortensio calls their house a “taming-school” where other men may learn to tame women in the manner that Petruchio has.
In the end everything in this play seems to even boil down to a competition among the men as to who has the most obedient wife.
I have to wonder if what happens to Sly at the beginning of the play is true taming. If this play is about turning Kate into the perfect wife, and this is accomplished by “taming” her, where is the parallel that can be drawn to Sly at the end of the play? As we discussed in class today, one of the typical elements of a Shakespearian play is the reflection of a concept or idea between characters, enabling readers to draw comparisons (Petruchio and Kate’s connection in contrast to Lucentio and Bianca’s via a private language). I find Sly’s absence at the end conspicuous, especially when an effort was made earlier in the play to remind the audience that the play being observed was really a play-within-a-play.
Perhaps what happens to Sly is something different (although certainly relatable) from the taming of Kate. Maybe the Lord’s successful prank is Shakespeare’s way of alluding to the manipulative abilities of the noble class, which is reinforced by Petruchio’s success. Or, this could be suggestive of how gullible the masses are.
Taming usually refers things that are out of control; you can tame an animal, or “house-train” him if you are looking for a synonym. However, to be Tame can also mean to be meek or to be submissive. Is Petruchio’s objective to make Katherina weak and docile? I believe that Petruchio likes Katherina’s wit and the sharpness of her mind (not necessarily her tongue), but wants to get rid of her cruelty and her tendency for violence (which we saw when she strikes Bianca). She is not necessarily being tamed, rather conditioned to behavior in which Petruchio wants.
Also, I have to disagree when you refer to Tranio and Lucentio’s interactions as “taming”. The servant, Tranio is always looking out for Lucentio as proven again and again in the play. When you claim that there is any type of taming going on between these two, I cringe. They are definitely friends (although master and servant) and Tranio is merely doing his best to look out for Lucentio. Although he is “inferior” in position, he is older and therefore superior in wisdom.
These three comments are all about nuances — taming is problematic in the ways you describe, and I agree with your efforts to find different ways to describe the adjustment that Petruchio seems to have effected in his treatment of Katharine.
“Taming” is supposedly done throughout the play. I use the word supposedly only because are those who have been said to be tamed, in reality conformed to this new lifestyle? Is Katherine is actuality, at the end of the play, tamed? There are instances in Act V where she conforms to Petruchio and learns to agree, however these actions can be viewed sarcastically or a way of just accepting what her husband wants of her. Katherine is known as the shrew and men are appalled by even the thought of marrying her, so she knows that Petruchio could be her only means of a marriage. In these times it was important for women to marry in order to live their lives securely or comfortably. In Act two scene 1, Katherine shows her concern over her father favoring Bianca and mentions the fact that she is more likely to obtain a husband, while Katherine will “dance barefoot on her wedding-day”.
Also, Bianca is said to be the more “tamed” or obedient but shows her deceitfullness at the end of the play.