Katherine's Final Monologue In Taming Of The Shrew

One of the most wildly debated monologues in Shakespeare’s work is Katherine’s’ ending one from The Taming of the Shrew. Many have understood the final speech to be one of genuine submission while others read it as Katherine having control over the women in the room. It’s my belief, however, that this final speech is just Katherine getting in her two-cents in a way that won’t cause her to be tortured by her husband. Katherine hasn’t been wooed or changed into submission and in my opinion isn’t trying to get the upper-hand with the women in the room. She has been broken and is tired but not changed. Thus, she masks her true intentions with wit and subtext. This theory is supposed by many direct examples from the monologue itself.

Petruchio married Katherine to “tame” her as the title suggests. He subjects her to a series of torturous punishments until she

breaks into tired submission. Her final speech is one of, I believe, worn out, sub-textual criticism because of this. The first example shown is when she says: “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee” (5-2, 146-147). This quote could be read as genuine, however looking deeper and looking at the subtext I believe it’s Katherine making a dig at Petruchio. Katherine is referred to as a shrew which is a type of rodent. Thus, she is compared to an animal. Katherine using the word “keeper” appears to be a sub-textual prod at how she was treated like an animal by her husband. In her referring to Petruchio as a “keeper” she is hiding her true feelings and intentions with the clever wit and word play she is known for. In addition, she refers to her husband as “one that cares for thee.” This could be another clever crack at how Petruchio did anything but care for her.

Another example we see is when Katherine says: “And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour, and not obedient to his honest will, what is she but a foul contending rebel and graceless traitor to her loving lord?” (5.2, 157-160).

This, once more, reads as a sarcastic remark at the way Katherine was treated. She speaks of how women are deemed “foul” when they act out against their husbands. This very incident happened to Katherine when she was labeled as a crabby shrew for acting out. She is wittily commenting on her situation here and bringing up a valid point by masking. It appears as though she is saying something along the lines of “if a woman acts out, why she is nothing more than a villain to her husband.” But looking at the subtext I see that it could possibly read as “I acted out and this is how you (Petruchio) treated me for it.” To me, this reads as a masked, witty prod and not a genuine statement, establishment of power, or even a warning. Katherine has been broken but not changed so she still maintains her original ideology. She just doesn’t want to receive more grief by being

shrewish.

Overall, I believe that if you look at the subtext of Katherine’s final speech you can clearly see that it’s all a witty, mocking, and sort of cynical dig. It’s Katherine’s final say- her last two-cents. She’s been broken by her husband she is tired and done, however she hasn’t changed. She still feels how she did before and, I believe, would still be acting shrewish had Petruchio not did what he did. This speech is her final input on her situation masked by genuineness. Sub-textually, Katherine is digging and insulting her husband for his actions and is cynically commenting on the assumed role of a married couple. She is just using her wit and clever subtext to skillfully hide the brashness and shrewishness of what she really wants to say.