Taming Of The Shrew Katharina Quotes

In Shakespeare's taming of the shrew there is an array of complicated themes, characters, and plots but none might be as noticeable as the arch Katharina Minola complets throughout the play. From the very beginning of the story the audience is introduced to a seemingly horrid and foul mouthed woman named Katharina who is the eldest daughter of a nobleman named baptista. From various pieces of text evidence we can see that the people around Katharina do not think very highly of her such as when Grimio states “Any man is so very a fool to be married to hell” (I, i, 126-127) when he is referring to the prospect of someone marrying Katharina. In other parts of the text it can be seen that Katharina is a very foul mouthed, hot-tempered, ill-mannered, and stubborn person, for example when she states “I'faith, sir, you shall never need to fear: I wis it is not halfway to her heart; But if it were, doubt not her care should be To comb your noddle with a three-legg'd stool And paint your face and use you like a fool.” (I, i, 61-65) from this straightforward insult directed at the suitors it is very clearly shown what kind of person Katharina is.

From both these quotes Katharina can be seen as a rude and all round unlikable and nasty person, for instance when the suitors are talking about Katharina they mention several times how rough and horrible she is going far as to comparing her to hell. Furthermore when Katharina first meets them she clearly expresses her intention of hitting them on the head with a stool and turning them into fools for no apparent reason. However later on in the story after she is subjected to unusual punishments by her newlywed husband Petruchio she very quickly adjusts into a much more submissive and polite manner. One of the most obvious examples of this is when they are making there way back to Paudu for a dinner and they have a conversation about the sky, here after Petruchio clearly lies about the sun being the moon Katharina simply replies “Forward, I pray, since we have come so far, And be it moon, or sun, or what you please: And if you please to call it a rush-candle, Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me. Another example of this is when at the party Petruchio and several other men place a bet on whose wife is more submissive and who would comply to their orders of coming to them, only Petruchio's wife Katharina comes and upon arriving completes the following speech on the duties of women to her husband, specifically she states “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee, And for thy maintenance commits his body To painful labour both by sea and land,” (V, ii, 155-158). From both these piece of evidence we can see how submissive Katharina becomes and how at least her outward attitude to Males and specifically husbands change, this is an almost 180 degree switch to what she believed at the start of the play. After analysing Katharina as a character throughout the play it is clearly evident that she undergoes a massive metamorphoses and becomes a lot more obedient and calm, ultimately Katharina was successfully tamed.