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Sami Rodriguez

Ms. Borden

Advanced English 10

2 March 2024

Taming of the Shrew Opinion Prompt

Katherine from Shakespeare’s, “Taming of the Shrew” Is not a changed woman, and her

actions. At the beginning of the play, Katherine’s actions and words are aggressive and harsh

towards everyone around her including her family. She states things such as “Call you me

daughter? Now I promise you, You have show'd a tender fatherly regard…” (Shakespeare 305).

This quote shows the reader that Katherine’s violent behavior stems from the fact that she never

had her father treat her as well as he treated her sister. Katherine's frustrations are evident when

she rebels against her suitor and later husband, Petruchio. Her rebellions could be shown in

quotes such as when she says, “I'll see thee hang'd on Sunday first.” (Shakespeare 315), this

quote is a response to Petruchio telling Katherine’s father, Baptista, that they plan on getting wed

on Sunday, which Katerine would rather hang herself than get married. Katherine’s actions

continue throughout the play but slowly get less violent as time goes on. Some may say this is

due to Petruchio’s “taming” being successful, but this is most likely due to Katherine's fearing

the consequences Petruchio may inflict on her if she continues to not obey him. Petruchio was

seen to starve Kathrine, not allow her to sleep, and refuse to travel anywhere until Katherine

gave in. All though Katherine was seen to be a strong-willed independent woman, if one was put

through such torture she endured, anyone would be fearful of what was to come if she continued
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to disobey. Her fear is what led Katherine to act more submissive, and even ramble about how a

woman should be obedient to her husband. (Shakespeare 152-195) Overall, the only logical

reason why Katherine’s behavior evolved from aggressive to docile is due to her fear of harsh

consequences by Petruchio.