“My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break.”
Written during the 1500s, William Shakespeare's comedy Taming of the Shrew offers deep insight into the gender inequality between women and man during the time, especially through the tight bond of marriage. As a result, when Katherine - an outspoken, "shrewish" young woman - is married off to Petruchio, Shakespeare reveals that Katherine's wit may not be such a terrible thing, as the key to a successful marriage is a matched intelligence. The following essay analyzes this timeless concept of equality, which remains true within relationships even to this day.
The Intellectuals
By Giovanna Napoleone
The idea that opposites attract is one of the strongest misconceptions when it comes to building a human relationship like marriage. On the contrary, it is clear that in order for a couple to completely understand one other and maintain a strong connection as partners in a marriage, an equality of intelligence is required.
In The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare highlights Katherine’s fiery relationship with her husband Petruchio in order to show how similar their personalities are and to convey the idea that human relationships require intellectual equality. At the beginning of the play, when Katherine and Petruchio meet for the first time, Katherine openly retorts to Petruchio that “asses are made to bear, and so are you” when he asks her to “come, sit on me” (The Taming of the Shrew from Folger Digital Texts) because her awareness of his sexualizing language exemplifies how cunning and experienced she is as him. However, Katherine’s quick wit and easiness to outright say that a man is “like a buzzard” (The Taming of the Shrew from Folger Digital Texts) is not a concern to Petruchio, who humorously claims that “women are made to bear, and so [is Katherine]” (The Taming of the Shrew from Folger Digital Texts) only to infuriate her more. Therefore, because both Petruchio and Katherine are comfortable manipulating language to banter with each other back and forth to share their opinions, Katherine and Petruchio both display an equal amount of intelligence within their personalities which allows them to maintain a balanced marriage since they are not afraid of each other.
Although many individuals might believe that in order for a marriage to succeed there needs to be an imbalance or partner submission, such as when Katherine tells Petruchio that “[the moon is the] moon, or sun, or what[ever Petruchio] please[s]” (The Taming of the Shrew from Folger Digital Texts) in order to continue travelling, Katherine herself contradicts this idea because her obvious understanding that she must “[feign] the compliant wife” (Vianney-Benca, 61) in order to get what she wants displays her ability to rival Petruchio’s intelligence; Katherine’s intellectual ability to “[humor Petruchio], much as a parent would humor an argumentative child” (Vianney-Benca, 62) exemplifies how truly smart her intuitions are, since she knows not to argue with Petruchio but agree with him so that they can move on. Katherine’s comprehension of Petruchio’s dignity and sense of amusement towards trying to frustrate her demonstrates a moment of balanced perspicacity, because as Katherine recognizes that she needs to play along with her husband in order to keep on moving she strengthens the bond of their marriage. In fact, their newly shared ability to acknowledge each other’s comedy actually allows them to have a stronger connection.
This idea of balanced intellectuality and deep level of understanding in a relationship is furthered at the end of The Taming of the Shrew when Petruchio makes a bet on his wife’s obedience. When Katherine comes to Petruchio’s side when he calls on her, she not only “[enjoys] winning the wager for Petruchio just as Petruchio delighted in making (and raising) it” (Scott and Sandra, 310), but she also smartly recognizes that by doing so, Petruchio has created an opportunity for her to“[earn] bountiful respect” from the other betting husbands since she “fit the mold of the conventional woman better than their wives did” (Scott and Sandra, 311). Ironically, both Petruchio and Katherine’s ability to manipulate their situation together and have fun making Katherine seem like a docile, obedient wife highlights their shared intellectual cooperation because it allowed them to become victors in their society and in the eyes of the readers at the end of the story.
As a result, although two similar people may seem unfit for a marriage at first, it is clear that their mutual intellectuality would cause them to catch on to each other’s humor so cleverly that society must determine if it is better to “[live] up to the patriarchal ideals of their time” (Scott and Sandra, 311) by bonding through an imbalanced submission or “continue to be a strong opposition”(Scott and Sandra, 310) for their partners in life.
Bibliography
Vianney-Benca, Goretti. "A Performance Within a Performance: The Roles Katherine
and Petruchio Assume in William Shakespeare's Play." Review of The Taming of
the Shrew. Ed. Daniel Kempton et al. Shawangunk Review, vol. XVIII, 2007, pp. 59-
63.
Scott, Mark W. and Williamson, Sandra L., et al., ed. Shakespearean Criticism. Detroit:
Gale Research, Inc., 1989. 310-311.
Folger Shakespeare Library. The Taming of the Shrew from Folger Digital Texts. Ed.
Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine. Folger Shakespeare Library, 20 March, 2020.
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