William Shakespeare challenged the typical submissive female and expectations of women during his time period in his work The Taming of the Shrew. As portrayed by the two main characters, this storyline reflected the 16th and 17th century standards of marriage, which had certain limits and expectations between the two lovers. The journey the two main characters pursue reveal how the relationship between two opposite personalities can evolve over time.
The “slapstick” comedy of The Taming of the Shrew contains the underlying psychology of the “battle of the sexes” in 16th century Europe (Andrews). Petruchio, a suitor of Katherine, has the confidence to change her shrewish attitude. His trainer-like behavior towards Katherine may be viewed as immoral treatment of the opposite gender, but in context, it is his within his plan to tame her. His expectations of a wife are that of beauty, modesty, and mildness (Crocker 147). Petruchio takes these expectations and try to form Katherine into his ideal wife. Rather than a social issue, such as class or race, being a major setback in a relationship, Shakespeare exposes conflicting personalities that can evolve into a ‘happy ending’.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, around the time Shakespeare wrote this play, society underwent changes in political thought about marriage. In 1640, marriage was seen as “contractual”, and it was simply the “consent of each party to marry the other” (Shanley 79). The idea of “contracting” a marriage obsoleted the expected women’s role of subordination to the men. In the case of Petruchio and Katherine, their marriage can be interpreted as “contractual”. Katherine agreed to marry him, but was very resistant. Her actions throughout the play did not portray any subordination to Petruchio, until his taming process became effective while living in the house together.
In Mary Shanley’s article “Marriage Contract and Social Contract in Seventeenth Century English Political Thought”, she introduced John Locke, an English philosopher and an Enlightenment thinker. His views on contractual marriage directly apply to Petruchio and Katherine. Locke believed that when “people agreed to marry, they were free to set whatever terms to their relationship as they wished” and “the marriage contract was revocable, and its terms were negotiable”.
In their case, Petruchio effectively used his dominant role in the marriage and used it to his advantage to tame Katherine. Though the “marriage contract” was not a papered document, the idea was incorporated in marriages during the time. Petruchio set the standards of the marriage, which forced Katherine to abide to them.
Petruchio’s challenge to “tame” the shrew, Katherine, is the central action that clearly portrays the abnormal interaction of the time period. Not to say that Petruchio is seen to have “less power” than Katherine, but her assertiveness and demands test his ability to court a woman of her personality. For example, after the wedding of Petruchio and Katherine, it seems as if everything does not satisfy her. She is unhappy with the entire living situation, from having responsibilities around the house to something as insignificant as her dissatisfaction for the food.
Petruchio’s actions are portrayed as that of an animal trainer in order to satisfy Katherine. In an article entitled ““If I prove her haggard”: Shakespeare’s Application of Hawking Tropes to Marriage” by Sean Benson, he analyzes Shakespeare works and compares it to a similar concept that is proposed in other writings. It has been identified by many researchers that wife taming is similar to animal training, but specifically horse breaking.
In relevance to Petruchio, not giving her the expected living arrangements after their marriage is a part of the taming process. Like a horse, he forces her to eat, drink, and sleep on demand. The psychological outcome is that Katherine will eventually evolve into a tamed, obedient wife that Petruchio wanted. This transformation of Katherine may have been “disturbing to twentieth century readers” because of society’s beliefs during the time of interpretation. However, their interpretation makes one take a second look at men and women’s gender roles in a marriage.
However, interpreting the effectiveness of Petruchio’s taming can be determined through Katherine’s actions over time. Petruchio continued to form his ideal wife out of her through various everyday tasks, such as eating and sleeping. Katherine had to become passive towards Petruchio’s expectations. This “paradox of feminine virtue” was portrayed in distinguishing her separation from her former lifestyle of being a shrew to Petruchio’s ideal wife.
In Lynda Boose’s article about “Scolding Brides and Bridling Scolds”, she describes:
Kate is the archetypal scold whose crime against society is her refusal to accept the so-called natural order of patriarchal hierarchy. However, since Kate cannot be socially controlled by gender inversions that would treat her like a man, she, like her sister scolds of the era and the rebellious women in Datchet, instead treated to ritual humiliation inside the space of the feminine.
In other words, Katherine was treated properly as a woman in order for her to conform to Petruchio. Though she was familiar with relationship norms, her shrewish attitude intervened with following in line with society. Since a sense of feminine respect remained in Petruchio, he did not want to treat her like a man in his process of taming her. His taming process seemed acceptable to females, which avoided a strong moral judgment of mistreatment that could be placed upon their situation.
Petruchio’s methods of taming the shrew, Katherine, caused a significant behavior change throughout the plot. He taught her obedience and submissiveness that was expected of women in a marriage during the time. Shakespeare challenges society with this play by incorporating a stereotypical situation and transcends it into a practical setting. In other words, Shakespeare exaggerated a relatable situation with Katherine’s shrewish behavior.
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