Category Archives: Ideas of governance

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Lorey

I apologize for posting this late however, my assignment was to analyze Act 5 of Taming of The Shrew and I believe in “better late than never!” I would like to particularly discuss Act 5, Scene 2, lines 179-188; These are the last several lines of Katherine’s speech to the wives.

But first, I can’t say that I’m particularly surprised by Katherine’s extreme role reversal, after all love makes us do crazy things. We never really discussed the idea of love being a factor towards Katherine’s transformation and I do believe that it was love that changed her.  My argument isn’t necessarily that it was healthy love or even true love, but I find it to be the best explanation. I believe she had found a companion within Petruchio, initiated by their witty conversations, someone she felt a sense of loyalty to and a sense of security with. We all can easily say that you should never change who you are for someone else, they should like you for you, blah blah blah but sometimes your heart gets in the way of your mind.  I think Katherine sacrificed apart of herself in order to feel loved.

“My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown.
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband’s foot:
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.”

Katherine loses her sense of self clearly and rejects the strength she once had for the sake of her husband. As a romantic, this is the saddest token of affection. It’s admirable her reverence for her husband but at the price she pays, I’m torn. I can’t imagine trading my beliefs for love, at best, I hope I wouldn’t. Is this perhaps an ideal of their time? As a woman of the Elizabethan Era is there much more to look forward to than succumbing to a man? If love makes you weak, love broke Katherine.

Posted in Gender matters, Ideas of governance, The Taming of the Shrew | 2 Comments