Until this latest reading of the play, my strongest connection to it was acting in a production in high school. The actress that we had playing Kate played her very well, in my opinion, but mostly it seemed like she was humoring Petruchio the entire time. Especially in Act 4 Scene 5, when they are travelling and Petruchio calls the sun the moon and gets Kate to agree that it is the moon, only to ridicule her for her mistake. In our production of this scene, the actress playing Kate said the lines as they appear in the script:
"Then, God be bless'd, it is the blessed sun; But sun it is not, when you say it is not; And the moon changes even as your mind. What you will have it nam'd, even that it is, And so it shall be so for Katherine."But as she said these lines there was overt sarcasm in her voice. And later, as she apologizes to Vincentio for calling him a woman, she glared at Petruchio, blaming him silently for making her look foolish.
That is how I have always read this play, as Kate simply playing along with Petruchio and his madness, because she got tired of fighting him and suffering the consequences. Which I guess means that Petruchio did indeed tame her. But even as she recited the last speech, there was still a little hint of defiance. And maybe it helped that our Petruchio (one of the nicest, kindest guys I have ever met) did not play the part as mean or as angry as he could have, from the text alone. I have never seen this play as oppressive to women, but this latest reading I was struck by just how blatant the spousal abuse really is.
I have tried to justify Petruchio's behaviour in light of his line, "This is a way to kill a wife with kindness",
and I argued that Petruchio never says an cross word to her nor ever physically harms her. But he does almost starves her, and sleep deprives her as he keeps her awake, and he refuses to let her see her family. Petruchio really is mad. He comes into town and agrees to marry a shrewish woman simply because he has been told that she has money. And then he proceeds to abuse her until she is 'tame' and subservient and obedient to his commands, as evident in the last scene when she immediately responds to his call. I think Bianca had the right idea, "She says you have some goodly jest in hand: She will not come". But what really gets me is that everybody else seems to be okay with this. Kate's father even offers a second dowry for so 'transforming' his daughter into the dutiful, meek wife.
So how do we reconcile this play, which does seem to reflect Elizabethan standards on the role of women in society, with our modern beliefs? How is this play to be read from a feminist perspective? Should we completely dismiss it as offensive, inaccurate, false? Or can we learn from this play despite its flaws?
I would say that we can look at this play as a prime example of "What not to do". I cannot imagine treating my wife the way that Petruchio treats Katherine. Not only would she hurt me and leave me, but none of my friends would ever speak to me again if they found out I acted like that. As we read this play carefully we see a man, and a society, that expects a woman to be completely obedient to every whim of her husband. Does this play just point out how absurd this concept is by exaggerating this concept in Petruchio?
