The Taming of the Shrew Humbles Us All

Why would the modern audience find a four hundred year old play about taming wives appealing? The Taming of the Shrew written by William Shakespeare features how a woman must be tamed by her husband, but that is not the intent of the play. All the characters play against the expectations and play roles who they are not. Despite being known as a misogynistic play with antiquated morals and ethics, The Taming of the Shrew, can be modernized to appeal to the audience of today.

The play starts off with a scene of a young man named Lucentio arriving in Paudau with his manservant, Tranio. They are ahving a discussion as they are internurpted by a crowd mostly composed of Baptista Minola; his daughters, short-tempered, hot-headed Katherine and naive, soft-spoken Bianca; and Bianca’s two suitors, older men named Hortensio and Gremio. Hortensio and Gremio are both depicted as average people of their society, when they are indeed not. Gremio and Hortensio are the perfect example of a hypocritical role reversal when Gremio,pantaloon, is known as the crazy old man who is trying to woo young Bianca. When Baptista tells them that Katherine must be married before Bianca, Gremio replies, “To cart her rather. She’s too rough for me” (I. i. 55). Katherine’s rebellious attitude paints an image of a shrew, and, thus, she should be paraded around in a cart because she is not what society expects her to be. Hortensio earlier refuses to have anything to do with her “Unless [she was] of gentler, milder mold” (I. i. 61), again supporting the idea of taming of Katherine, the supposed shrew. Although Gremio and Hortensio appear to have similar morals, such as taming Katherine, they are the ones who need to be tamed. This can appeal to the modern audience by depicting this scene with Katherine shouting and yelling at her father. Also, we can show how Gremio and Hortensio are the actual shrews by having them yell at Katherine’s window and giggle at the side, but when she comes out to the balcony, they can step back and act as if they didn’t do anything. This will set the image that Hortensio and Gremio are two faced and are the ones who need to be tamed. 

While the shrew in the title is associated with Katherine in the play, the characters Bianca and Baptista display just as much, if not more, shrewiness than Katherine does. Baptista is shrewish in the way he is completely ambivalent about Katherine’s life: “Katherine, you may stay, For I have more to commune with Bianca” (1.1.102-103). Before Baptista says this, Katherine is being insulted by Gremio and Hortensio, to which Baptista disregards without so much as a glance. Baptista only cares about his younger daughter, Bianca, and even thinks of Katherine as a liability who cannot bring him any dowry. It could be said, however, that Bianca is the most shrewish character in the play.  Bianca, the sweet, obedient, and perfect girl, is merely a façade she constantly puts on in order to appeal to others. Bianca’s true self appears in a single line when she says, “Sister, content you in my discontent” (1.1.81). In the heat of the moment, Bianca, who had just been laughed at by Katherine, lashed back out at her. However, in remembering the environment she was in, which contained his father and some of her potential suitors, she calms down, and returns to sweetly and unquestioningly following Baptista’s orders. Additionally, in the very end of the play, where the three husbands, Hortensio, Petruchio, and Lucentio, are calling their wives, Bianca humiliates her new spouse by refusing to answer his call. After she is married and no longer needs to act like a perfect girl, she shows her true shrewish self.

Katherine learns to use her voice to her advantage and gains agency. At the beginning of the play, she throws tantrums and threatens to hit Hortensio and Gremio with a three-legged stool until their noses bleed, thus making herself look like a clown (I.i. 65-66). At a glance, Kate seems to be a shrew compared to her sister Bianca, and people around her believe that she needs to be tamed. After getting married, everyone believes that she is tamed since she listens and obeys to Petruchio’s commands. During the bet with Lucentio and Hortensio, Petruchio tells Grumio to get Katherine, but everyone do not believe that she will come. Petruchio trusts that she will submit herself to him at the banquet. Out of the three wives, Katherine is the only one that listens to her husband. Not only that, but she also gives a speech about how women should submit themselves to her husband. This shocks everyone at the wedding because Katherine kneels down and says, “place your hands below your husband’s foot; In token of which duty, if he please, My hand is ready, may it to him ease” (V. ii. 193-195). Katherine never plans on obeying Petruchio when she marries him, but she learns how to use her voice. At this point, she role plays a tamed wife and only says things that Petruchio wants to hear. The reciprocity in their relationship can be portrayed when Katherine puts her hand down for Petruchio to step on, but, instead, Petruchio lifts her up and takes her hand. Instead of being attacked with Petruchio’s tongue and temper, she is rewarded with a kiss. Katherine would walk out of the wedding before her husband after proven to everyone that she is “tamed”. This would make it very clear that Kate indeed is not actually tamed, but has her own voice and agency. This play is not misogynistic as Petruchio treats her equally and does not tame her. 

The modernization of the play, The Taming of the Shrew, can attract a large crowd. Although it is perceived as a misogynistic play, The Taming of the Shrew is actually the opposite of what the title states. The play shows that its main purpose is not to endorse the taming of a woman, but to have equal rights among all people. In light of recent social movements, especially the #MeToo movement, this play can definitely be one that is shown to a modern audience.