Taming of the Shrew Acts Four and Five - "... But that our soft conditions and our hearts should well agree with our external parts?"

Taming of the Shrew Acts Four and Five - "... But that our soft conditions and our hearts should well agree with our external parts?"

I don’t think anyone would like to fall in the mud, have your partner fly into a rage, lose your means of transportation and then arrive at a house in the middle of nowhere – all on your honeymoon. Of course, in good drama tradition, we only hear about this as it happens off stage. You would be hungry and tired by this time and in the story Petruchio even refuses to allow Katherine to eat as he claims the meal (which arrives quicker than a McDonald’s Happy Meal) at his country house is substandard. He does state that he is killing Katherine with kindness. Well that is truly cruel love. All Petruchio’s actions are meant to grind down Katherine. He even will deprive Katherine of sleep since all these antics he claims are the only way to “curb her mad and headstrong humour”.

And yet, given Kate’s obvious intelligence, it is remarkable that she does not see through Petruchio’s facade or at least call his bluff. It is the attraction between them despite Petruchio’s being a bastard that is comic in these scenes. The question does remain why a strong independent woman like Katherine doesn’t protest more. Perhaps Shakespeare is commenting on the way that a husband and the ‘role’ of a wife can stifle an independent spirit. Katherine’s actions and motivations do change so perhaps, the notion that marriage changes people is also important here.

Meanwhile, Bianca is still being wooed back in Mantua. This may seem a weak part of the plot but it provides the perfect contrast to Petruchio and Katherine’s relationship since Bianca and Lucentio are delusional lovers with no idea what married life is really like. They represent Romantic love and Lucentio will get a rude shock at the end of the play when she disobeys him.

The two plots come back together, Petruchio and Katherine come back to Mantua, meeting Vincentio (the real life father of Lucentio) on his way to visit his son. Petruchio tells Vincentio of Lucentio’s marriage to Bianca and further Katherine’s control but having her agree with him at every turn. Katherine seems to be ‘tamed’ and Lucentio and Tranio’s schemes are revealed. Katherine and Petruchio seem to genuinely be in love. She agrees to kiss him in the street, calls him “love” and he calls her “sweet Kate”.

Now comes the crucial end of the play Act V Scene 2. Katherine’s speech at the end of the play has always seemed contentious, perhaps this was even so in Shakespeare’s time and maybe that is the point. Katherine is the difficult woman who seemed too challenging for most, yet she and Petruchio find love and do know what is in store for them. The other lovers have been deluded and while the men are surprised that Katherine comes when Petruchio asks and voices (or ‘parrots’) the words he wants to hear about the role of a wife, they seem more shocked and perturbed by the way their own women do not come to them when asked. Reality has hit them, whereas Petruchio and Katherine have no illusion and can play the social games expected of them but enter into a genuine relationship with no illusions. Lucentio and Hortensio probably will have unhappy marriages because they are deluded by what love in marriage is. Hell, if they are put off by a little disobedience from their wives at the wedding reception, they don’t seem flexible enough to last the distance.

We have to remember also that Shakespeare is a man and ultimately he can only speculate from a man’s perspective. Katherine seems to see that happiness and independence can be found within the roles and relationships we are given and perhaps this is the message Shakespeare has for his primarily male audience and for himself as a man and breadwinner in London with a wife and family in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Henry VI Part 2 next. This was performed first so I guess it will feel a bit like the ‘Star Wars’ experience going forward in the story and then going back to Episode 1 for the cool backstory, political intrigue and special effects.