My direction for the final speech of the play would probably line up closely with the Zeffirelli production. Recalling the wedding banquet scene in 3.2 I think that Kate still has a sense that, "the game is afoot." She, knowing that the other women refused the men, chooses to play along with Petruchio. Even though it is a show of obedience, Kate sort of "one ups" him in the logic game. She shows that, yes, the man is lord, but over what? A Woman. Kate implies that, sure men have power, but doesn't a woman have power too, especially over her man? It is the very fact that a man has such a great desire for a woman that puts him in such a "needy" position. Because a man needs a woman, he is forced to care for her with toil and sweat. I would change the ending a bit from Elizabeth Taylor's performance, however. After delivering the speech I would instruct a middle aged, Kate Hepburn type to wink directly at Petruchio, without letting the rest of the "actors" see her. By this action Kate says to her dashing but a little too sure of himself, Sean Connery type "Okay, the ball is in your court. Keep the game going."
Clearly identity is affected by the roles imposed on us by others. To me, this is the true theme of Taming of the Shrew. When considering this, I am reminded of a poem hung in my mother's living room when I was a child. It began, "If a child lives with criticism, she learns to condemn...." This reminds me of Katherine who, when compared with her passive sister Bianca, is a shrew. However, she really isn't. But because she is so convinced of her own inadequacies by those around her, she becomes a bitch.
That Katherina knows she is unfavored is evidenced in the scene in which she has bound Bianca's hands. Baptista orders Bianca freed, and Katharina says she'll end up dancing barefoot at Bianca's wedding. Also proof of Katharina's disfavor with others is when Lucentio and Hortensio (disguised) go in to tutor the sisters. Katharina, knowing her reputation, realizes both only want to instruct Bianca so she expresses her frustration by bashing Litio (Hortensio) with the lute.
It is not until Petruchio comes on the scene that Katharina begins to lose some of her shrewishness. We know that Petruchio has the secret to love (or, loving someone) when he says that he'll contradict her negativism with compliments to her. Although Katharina doesn't outright accept, her seeming transformation begins when she shows up at the marriage. Even after the marriage, Petruchio doesn't ever insult her but condemns everything as not being good enough for his beloved, prized bride. In this manner, Katharina seems to evolve from a wild falcon to a tamed falcon.
We know she's not a dove, as she seems in the last scene, however, because of her willingness to verbally spar with Petruchio on the road to Padua. She is only acting docile because if she doesn't, Petruchio will punish her in his roundabout way. In actuality, Kate ends the play as a tamed falcon--able to grab and drag in her sister and Hortensio's bride when ordered to do so.
Just as Kate acts subservient, so does Christopher Sly. He deep down knows he's not a lord but plays along with the charade because, like Katharina, he knows his preferential treatment will end if he denies the charade. In a way, Sly believes he deserves such treatment because he's descended from William (whom he calls Richard!) the Conqueror. The induction was included to illustrate how, when a tinker is treated like a lord, he acts like a lord. This further illustrates how, when a shrew is treated like a lady, she becomes one.
Thesis: BAPTISTA IS A GOOD FATHER
Sub-theses:
cares about the financial welfare of both daughters.
cares about the emotional welfare of both.
thinks Bianca is a more ideal young lady
cares for Kate despite irritation at her behavior
OVERVIEW/THESIS: BAPTISTA IS A GOOD FATHER
Subthesis 1: cares about the financial welfare of both daughters.
Argument1. Baptista requires proof of financial stability of Bianca's suitors.
Evidence (Baptista)
Consent you, gentlemen. I will compound on this strife.
'Tis deeds must win the prize, and he of both
That can assure my daughter greatest dower
Shall have my Bianca's love (Evidence 2.1.361-364).
Only the one with the largest settlement for Bianca will be able to marry her.
Argument 2. Baptista tells Petruchio upfront of the large amount of money he is willing to give him if he marries Kate: "After my death, the one half of my lands,/ And, in possession [when Kate is married], twenty thousand crowns" (Evidence 2.1.128-29).
Baptista is eager to have Kate married and does not scrutinize Petruchio's intentions or background as he did with Bianca's suitors. But Petruchio immediately responds with his part in assuring Kate's financial security:
And, for that dowry, I'll assure her of
Her widowhood, be it that she survive me,
In all my lands and leases whatsoever. (Evidence 2.1.130-32)
Subthesis 2: cares about the emotional welfare of both.
Argument 1. Baptista is concerned for the emotional welfare of both daughters in relation to marriage and choice of husband. When Petruchio wants to draw up a marriage contract before he has even met Kate, Baptista says that can only happen
...when the special thing is well obtained,
That is, her love, for that is all in all (Evidence: 2.1.135-136.)
Argument 2. In this instance, he equally wants both Kate and Bianca to willingly accept their suitors with love. Presumably, he knows that Bianca does not particularly want any one of her suitors over another. Bianca has told Kate that she "never yet beheld that special face/ Which I could fancy more than any other" (Evidence 2.1.11-12) and she offers either Hortensio or Gremio to Kate (Evidence 2.1.13-20). (Of course, this is before she meets Lucentio in disguise as Cambio.) Although Baptista is responsible for making many decisions regarding the type of suitor acceptable to his daughters, he wants, at the very least, their consent as well.
Subthesis 3: thinks Bianca is a more ideal young lady
Argument 1. Although Baptista's favoritism toward Bianca is not entirely evident in the text, his actions belie his true feelings. Observers clearly distinguish the differences between the two daughters, for example in 1.1:
Gentlemen, that I may soon make good
What I have said--Bianca, get you in,
And let it not displease thee, good Bianca,
For I will love thee ne'er the less, my girl (Evidence 1.1.75-78).
Argument 2. Baptista does not hesitate in providing Bianca and Kate skills and talents becoming of young women. After all, it is his way of making them more attractive to suitors. Since Bianca does not protest to the guidance and advice of her father, he finds it easier to "marry her off." As he says in 2.1.171-173, Baptista identifies Bianca as the willing and dutiful daughter, trainable and obedient, unlike the aggressive and argumentative Kate.
(Baptista to the tutor Litio after Kate has smashed his lute over his head)
Well, go with me, and be not so discomfited.
Proceed in practice with my younger daughter.
She's apt to learn, and thankful for good turns (Evidence 2.1.171-173).
Subthesis 4: cares for Kate despite irritation at her behavior
Argument 1: At the wedding Baptista recognizes and sympathizes with Kate's embarassment and pain by encouraging her to leave and cry. Not even a saint could endure such trying circumstances as she just experienced.
Go, girl. I cannot blame thee now to weep,
For suh an injury would vex a very saint,
Much more a shrew of [thy] impatient humor (Evidence 3.2.27-29).
Argument 2. Baptista goes on to chastise Petruchio for his rude behavior (in wearing unsuitable clothes) even though he has finally arrived to marry Kate.
Why, sir, you know this is your wedding day.
First were we sad, fearing you would not come,
Now sadder that you come so unprovided (Evidence 3.2.98-100)
Quotation #4: In the Induction, Sly the Tinker says this after the Lord has had him dressed as a nobleman and Sly awakens from a drunken stupor and is treated like a lord. "Can this be true, or am I dreaming? But I'm awake, and I'm aware of my surroundings. I can see, hear, smell, and feel all that's around me, and it's very real. Good golly, I guess I am a Lord. In that case, bring me my fair lady and some more light beer."
This play deals with identities--how they are formed or created and whether they are formed by outside forces or if we shape our own identities. In this speech, a drunkard has been tricked into believeing he's a lord. We're not sure how this ends up, though, because it's never brought back into the play. We don't know if Sly actually becomes a Lord, or, at least, a sober upright citizen, although it seems doubtful when his first act is to call for beer. But we do see how Kate turns out after Petruchio tricks her into thinking she is soft, beautiful and submissive. In his own warped way, Petruchio does seem to change Kate from being a heartless, cold shrew to a warm, loving wife. What we don't know for sure, though, is whether Petruchio actually tamed her into submission, or if she chose to "identify" herself with the behavior Petruchio wants because she loves him and wants to be his wife.
The idea of doubling the parts of Kate/Petruchio and Page/Sly [given in the popup example about the Indianapolis 1992 production] is intriguing. Whatever happened to the induction is for scholars to debate and directors to have fun with. I see the induction as a sort of instruction from Shakespeare on how to interpret this play. The audience sees how silly it really is for Sly to accept the role projected on him. I believe Shakespeare cautions his audience to not be easily deceived about the identities of the "players". It is easy to assume that because Kate acts like a shrew and looks like a shrew that she has always been and always will be a shrew. Shakespeare wants his audience to not take Baptista's word for it when describing his daughters, just as it seems ludicrous for Sly to take the Lord at his word. As part of the induction, I would add the parts of Lord/Baptista to the list of parts doubled in the play. Though this is a subtle change, I think it enhances the "identity formation" interpretation by demonstrating how people can be a component in wrong or incorrect identity formation. This also warns us that Bianca may not be what she seems, so that her submissiveness is shown to hide willfulness when she is alone with her tutors and at her marriage banquet when she refuses to come when Lucentio, her husband, calls.
Ultimately at the end of the play, I would have the players return to the stage in their Kate/Petruchio/Baptista costumes and sit in the places that were sat in by their doubles. Now instead of seeing Kate as the duped person and Petruchio as the puppetmaster, we see Petruchio as the easily-tricked Sly and Baptista as the self-indulgent Lord, seeking his own pleasure at other people's (Kate's) expense.
This metaphor of falconry is absolutely fascinating. To answer this question, I find it necessary to rely heavily on how I would direct this play as a whole. I do not see Kate as being broken by Petruchio. After reading the information on falconry, I'm not sure that the falcon was ever made to be tamed or broken. Yes, Petruchio does withhold food and sleep from Kate, but there is not sense that this continues forever or to the point of starvation. The next deprivation is of beautiful clothes, a less brutal depratvation, and the scene ends with Petruchio offering to take the blame if Kate feels ashamed of their clothes in front of her family at Bianca's wedding. Petruchio's insistence on control continues on the road, but now it is clear that he simply wants control of the game--it is not complete submission that he wants. And he seems as delighted as Kate when she not only obeys his "perception" about Vincentio, but makes the game a merry one.
Perhaps Mr. Booth's quote is best, that the falcon and man are to be partners in what is a mutually gratifying relationship. The fact is that the inherent talents of the falcon are superior to the human. In the same way, I see Kate's ability to maneuver herself in this male dominated community with wit and cunning as superior to Petruchio's attempts to "tame" her, particularly based on Kate's final speech in 5.2. Sure Kate responds to Petruchio as a falcon would return to its master who holds a piece of raw meat. This decision, whether by habit or by choice, is beneficial to the falcon as well as the master. I think that Kate is "Falconed", which is a far cry from being tamed. Petruchio, like the falconer, has succeeded in convincing this wild creature to be his partner, smoothing her rough edges, without forcing her to give up her inbred qualities of cunning and wit.
The weaving of the stories of Kate, Bianca and Sly shows a surprising difference in compliance. Kate and Sly look like social eccentrics. Sly is a drunkard who has trouble paying his bills, but when he awakens to treatment by the lord and his servants that represents an immense improvement to the dreary existence he had as a tinker. Sly is enthusiastic about the his new identity,
Am I a lord, and have I such a lady?
Or do I dream? Or have I dreamed till now?
I do not sleep: I see, I hear, I speak,
I smell sweet savors, and I feel soft things.
Upon my life, I am a lord indeed
And not a tinker, nor Christopher Sly (Ind.2.68-73).
Slightly suspicious at first, Sly quickly abandons his skepticism for the comfort and luxury suddenly afforded him. As far as the text shows, then, Sly goes along with the new social setting he finds himself in.
Kate initially looks as uncomplying in her upperclass sphere as Sly has been in his lowerclass tinkerdom. Kate's identity as a shrew comes from her frustration at patriarchal traditions, compounded by her strong will and assertiveness. Since she is atypical of most young women at that time, Kate is somewhat ostracized and excluded from developing the usual social relations expected of young women of marriageable age. Kate cites to her father how he treats Bianca preferentially,
What, will you not suffer me? Nay, now I see
She is your treasure, she must have a husband,
I must dance barefoot on her wedding day
And, for your love to her, lead apes in hell.
Talk not to me. I will go sit and weep
Till I can find occasion of revenge (2.1.34-39).
Bianca represents the ideal young female's roles and behavior in this society. Since she conforms to the expected standards, she is more appealing and admired than Kate.
By the end of the play, however, we see Kate's extreme compliance with Petruchio--identifying the sun as the moon, calling Vincentio a "budding virgin," and coming at Petruchio's demand at the wedding. They work together as a team, motivated by love and compatibility founded on trust. But Bianca has defied tradition--eloping with a man her father knows as Cambio the tutor. True, Tranio is making financial arrangements for the "wooing," but the potential for disaster is shown when Vincentio shows up and is almost thrown in jail in order to keep Tranio out of trouble. Bianca's willfulness shows up further at the feast when she declines her husband's request to come to him. And Bianca calls Kate a fool when she drops her hat at Petruchio's command. Perhaps a little spunk is welcome in Bianca, but it is the initial eccentrics Sly and Kate who win the compliance award in the play.
Petruchio, the young man who comes to Padua to improve his lot, starts out as a greedy young man who wants to marry a woman for no other reason than her wealth. His quote in Act 1, Scene 1, "I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;/ If wealthily, then happily in Padua" (1.2.74-5), proves that he has no interest in marrying for love. He says that it doesn't matter to him that the guys have told him Kate's a horrible shrew. "Think you a little din can daunt mine ears?" (1.2.203) He is confident that he can outlast and out-annoy any woman for the reward of wealth.
When he tells Baptista he is prepared to take on Kate, he says, "where two raging fires meet together/ They do consume the thing that feeds their fury"(2.1.132-33). He means that when Kate tries to fight with him, and he with her, eventually they will have nothing left to fight about, and will settle into a normal marriage. Petruchio definitely keeps this attitude for the rest of the play: his method of changing Kate by showing her how ridiculous she acts is effective to the end.
Petruchio expects Kate will be mean and hateful, but is surprised at her wit when she trades insults with him at their first meeting. I think at this point he becomes more interested in just the money aspect of the marriage to Kate; she is beautiful, but also as intelligent as Petruchio himself is. He begins to see her as a challenge. He has to be married to her--he has already committed himself--but before he didn't think he had to like it. Now he sees that marriage might be more than just a trade-off for money. Kate could make it much more interesting.
When Petruchio marries Kate in ridiculous clothes, he is showing her that her outward appearance is silly. When he insists that she leave with him after the wedding, he is showing her that she, just like any person, cannot always have her way. He abuses the servants who serve him to show Kate how abusive she is to her family. He witholds food and sleep from Kate to show her that she should not be too proud. And by Act 4, Scene5, he has accomplished his task. Kate now plays along with his jests, helping him tease Vincentio and joking about the sun and the moon. They have burned out the raging fires between them. Now Petruchio sees Kate not as a shrew, or even as a means to an end. She is his wife, and surprisingly a good one: she has intelligence, a sense of humor, and is gutsy.
Petruchio goes through many ordeals trying to change Kate from a shrew to a wife, but in his changing Kate he is changed also. From the first moment he sees Kate, he no longer cares about the material benefits of his marriage to her. By the end of the play, when Kate gives her speech about her duty to her husband, he has come to love and appreciate her for the wife she has become.
I agree with Bean's third view, how Kate is tamed because she finds love and "a discovery of the inward self." Taming of the Shrew more resembles a romantic comedy than a farce. A romantic comedy treats Kate like an active and dynamic character instead of a static and stock character type of figure in farce. Petruchio throws Kate into a chaotic whirlwind by treating her absurdly and outside of her expectations. Even in their first meeting, he calls her "mild" even though the text shows she clearly hits him. In 2.1.174-188, Petruchio states his intentions to "tame" (i.e., bewildering her with feedback that mirrors the ideal and not her actual behavior. His taming is done in a manner that ultimately brings out Kate's inward self rather than merely punishing her. At first, it's true that he does deprive her of sleep and food and then of fancy clothing. But, true to the genre of romantic comedy, the affectionate and playful banter between Kate and Petruchio is genuine in 4.5. At this point, she has been "tamed" and begins to spontaneously respond to Petruchio humorously and agreeably since there is a connection between them now. She plays along with Petruchio when he calls the sun the moon and identifies Vincentio first as a budding virgin and then a reverend old man. Kate enjoys the exchanges with her husband because she is more herself with him than with any other person. This newly found security is reconfirmed again in 5.2 when Petruchio tells Kate to throw her hat to the ground. She complies because she knows his request is not motivated by ridicule or humiliation. Rather, it is to show the cohesiveness of their marital bonds in front of the newlywed couples who previously doubted their ability to get along as husband and wife.
The meeting of Kate and Petruchio is important to establishing how the two characters will interact throughout the rest of the play. I think it would be interesting to have Kate listen in on Petruchio's speech that begins, "And woo her with some spirit when she comes!". I would want the audience to see Kate react to Petruchio's obviously arrogant speech of how he will be in control of the wooing. For staging purposes, a simple garden wall placed upstage would work well. I would have Kate seen by the audience as storming into the garden area and stopping abruptly when she hears the spouting Petruchio. As she goes into the meeting with Petruchio, she has thoughts of outsmarting this man as she has all others, but by the end of the meeting scene, Kate realizes that this may not be as easy as she thought. With lines like, "Asses are made to bear and so are you. . . "(210) Kate is trying to jab at this man with words, but instead of backing down, Petruchio stabs back with, "Women are made to bear, and so are you" (211).
Not only would this staging be helpful to strengthen the argument that Kate maintains her cunning and is not totally overrun by Petruchio, it also makes her "love" for Petruchio more understandable by allowing the audience to know that Kate has been in the know from the beginning, even though she winds up "obeying" Petruchio.
By the end of the meeting scene the once confident Kate is caught in a swirl of activity. She cannot dominate this man with words, and I would have Petruchio delivering his lines while walking around her. When she says she will see him hanged before marrying him, and when Gremio questions Petruchio about this response, Petruchio shifts the argument and says they have agreed she will remain cursed in front of others. The effect is of his tying her up, even though it is with words. This same swirl of activity visits her again at the wedding. The last thing Kate would have expected of a suitor would be for him to show up in rags. That seems to be the game between these two lovers. One person tries to do the most unexpected thing and then the other returns with something even more unexpected--for example, when he carries her off as his chattel despite her earlier refusal to leave. Finally, the game, as far as the play is concerned, culminates when Kate does the most unexpected thing. . . she "obeys" Petruchio. In directing this final scene, I would have Kate deliver her lines while walking around Petruchio, mimicing his earlier behavior. Like Kate, Petruchio would find himself being tied up by her words.
The video clips of Petruchio's behavior in deciding to woo Katherine, his first meeting with her and his wedding show Petruchio unchanged externally; he is still a bawdy, rude, outspoken, and uninhibited man with one goal: to marry Kate. In Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival production, Raul Julia plays a flamboyant Petruchio to a roaring Kate portrayed by Meryl Streep.
Raul Julia physically shows his avarice and interest in Kate in Act 1 Scene 2 when Hortensio mentions her wealth,
And yet I'll promise thee she shall be rich,
And very rich. But thou'rt too much my friend,
And I'll not wish thee to her (1.2.63-65).
The minute Petruchio hears the word "rich" he moves toward Hortensio in an excited pace and manner. He is rapt with attention and confirms his ambition to Hortensio by saying,
Petruchio: I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;
If wealthily, then wealthily in Padua (1.2.76-77).
With money on his mind and faced with a less-than-delicate lady as Kate, Petruchio fights fire with fire, or rather, wit with wit against Kate's anger and rage. Verbally and physically, Petruchio lustily engages in "battle" with Kate. Act 2 Scene 1 has Petruchio conversing (or rather, bantering) with Kate. As the tension and scathing remarks between the two intensify, Petruchio puts a "hold" onto Kate's mind and body. The Papp production has Raul Julia grab Meryl Streep who winds up on the floor with him tickling her feet. In doing so, Meryl's Kate is forced to laugh, as if she was enjoying this act, while she is infuriated even more! While Petruchio recites the following lines,
Why does the world report that Kate doth limp?
O sland'rous world! Kate like the hazel twig
Is straight, and slender, and as brown in hue (2.1.267-269) he holds one of Kate's leg with both of his hands as she stands upright during Line 267. The irony of this action coupled with the line containing the visual image of Kate having a "limp" incites the audience to laugh at the clever humor. Also, as Petruchio recites Line 268 to 269, he barely strokes the side of her body as he gives the analogy of "the hazel twig" (2.1.268). It was as if those stage actions were written accompanied with the text.
The third clip of the Papp-New York production centers around the wedding ceremony of Kate and Petruchio. Although Biondello describes what sort of outfit Petruchio is wearing (3.2.42-62), a verbal description cannot match the actual sight of it. The Papp-New York production has Petruchio in a garishly tacky and oversized hat (which resembles Santa Claus' cap) and a reddish-pink suit and pants. The mere sight of Petruchio in this outfit stimulates laughter from the audience, hence, a reaction to an individual interpretation of what Petruchio's outfit should look like. Petruchio's attitude seems to be just as loud and rowdy as the shirt screams out. He remains the same greedy and bold self when he shouts at Kate and the wedding guests,
Petruchio: I will be the master of what is mine own.
She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything (3.2.235-237). As Pertruchio shouts these words, he explicitly emphasizes the word "ass" which simultaneously embarrasses Kate and makes the audience laugh. Here is Petruchio, dressed like a Christmas pimp, talking unabashedly in front of all the wedding guests! If Petruchio had any sensitivity or love for Kate, he wouldn't have been so rude to her. However, his heart has not changed yet at Act 3 Scene 2. Part of his outrageous behavior throughout the entire first three acts is partly to counteract and compensate for Kate's personality. Another part of Petruchio's outlandish behavior really originates from himself. It is the commonalties that Petruchio and Kate share (their eccentricities, wit, intelligence and humor) that ultimately changes him internally. The change of Petruchio's external character does not happen until he begins to treat Kate as a partner and friend (beginning in Act 4 Scene 5 and more concretely in Act 5, Scene 2).
In the director's overview, one thing that is emphasized is that The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy. It is clear that these students sought to show the relationship between Petruchio and Kate as more of a playful partnership, rather than a man trying to dominate a "misbehaving" wife.
The director and actors carried through on this interpretation by constantly smiling and exchanging loving touches. During the scene, they even seem to walk with a spring in their step and they speak with a lilt in their voice. Though I thought the "singing" between Kate and Petruchio was more than was needed, it certainly shows that Kate and Petruchio are anything but serious. Petruchio seems to have his nose in the air, to show his arrogance and gestures with big arm movements, taking command of the scene. Kate seems to still be a little standoff-ish during this scene, but her smiles and playfulness let the audience know that she has acquired a taste for Petruchio. From this cast's interpretation, the audience sees a gentler and less abrasive Kate who has not lost her wit, but has discovered a way to rebel and still have fun.
This leaves the portrayal of Vincentio. This Vincentio was the most creative part of the scene. Not only is his costuming unexpected, but even his height (or lack of) adds to the hilarity. The costume shows a George Burns type, concerned with making it to Padua for a quick nine holes of golf. Being shorter than the other actors forces him to look up and around to see them. This natural behavior adds to the sense of bewilderment he portrays. In what could have been a strange and tense scene between the lovers, this Vincentio brings comic relief.
This student production chose their interpretation, decided on ways to convey their messages, and, I think, succeeded in carrying these ideas to their actual production.
In accordance with the theatricality of the production by Lunt and Fontanne, I would have the stage in Act Four set up so the audience can see both rooms on stage. A wall dividing the stage in half will act as a door between Kate and Petruchio during their first days of marriage. Since Petruchio is doing this out of love for Kate, he will smile and dote on her as he describes her as a falcon in 4.1.188. Being as exhausted and tortured by his roughness with her as Kate herself is, Petruchio can show his concern for her by conducting stage business while she sulks and rests in the other room. On stage, Petruchio can walk toward the door and listen for any noise from Kate and he can even pace about his side of the room, worried about her hunger and fatigue. Petruchio must also show his determination and purpose in treating her so roughly--he must be convincing in his bullying role because he believes it to be the only way to affect her initially. Of course, Petruchio is enjoying the humor from this situation too. He'll speak with various emotions ranging from enthusiasm, excitement, purposefulness, and when necessary, harshness.
Since theatrical productions tend to exaggerate gestures and emotions, Kate's resistance and anger will be intensified and demonstrated in a loud and expressive manner. She has no idea what is going on and why he threw away that perfectly good piece of meat!
The costumes will be colorful to suggest a festive and playful atmosphere while not being too cartoony. The actors playing Kate and Petruchio must be very energized and intense performers while having the range and ability to be serious and intimate toward each other.
The old ballad of wife taming is much more brutal physically and mentally than anything Petruchio inflicted on Kate. There is no bloodshed or torture with salty horse skins, nor are there any blatant threats on the part of the husband to the wife. Although in 2.1 Petruchio says he will hit her if she hits him again, it is clear that she has started the physical battle, and there is no clear textual evidence that Petruchio ever hits her in the course of the play. Petruchio merely gives Kate a taste of her own medicine by mirroring an exaggerated version of her behavior. When he came to the wedding late and wore embarrassing clothes on purpose, he wanted to elicit other feelings from Kate other than anger and rage. Petruchio provoked Kate on numerous occasions, but in the end she ceased to rage, not out of fear, but out of love. The old ballad is scary with images of submission, degradation, and inhuman treatment. As with most comedies, Taming of the Shrew, does not contain real danger or sadism.