Blog #3- Taming of the Shrew, Act III
Act
III: Characterization
Choose one of the following questions
and provide a detailed response. Use
cited evidence to build a stronger answer.
- · How does Petruchio “tame” Kate? Consider how he seems to define their roles. What message does this carry?
- · Within the first page of Act III you notice something very interesting about Bianca’s interaction with her lesson. What does she do, and what does this say about her character?
- · After Baptista and the others express their disapproval of Petruchio, Petruchio says, “To me she’s married, not unto my clothes.” What does he mean? Explain with DETAIL.
- · Describe Petruchio’s behavior during the wedding. What is significant about his behavior? WHY does he do what he does?
- · What conflict arises between Petruchio and Kate at the reception immediately following their wedding? How is the conflict resolved?
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sign your post with your first initial, last name, and class period.
Pertruchio's way of "taming" Kate is similar to negligence and psychological abuse. He speaks of how tricking her and messing with her would help whip her into place of the role she should be holding. Keeping her from eating, going back on his word, and fooling her were all methods of showing her how to "behave" ideally. As I said before "taming" is a word used for animals; and this "taming" he conducts isn't something humane. In general this would be a harsh way of taming anyone and/or anything especially a human, its actually rather sociopathic; him telling her everything he does for her is only out of love and care. I believe men during this time held themselves to a higher status thinking that this was acceptable.
ReplyDelete(B. Brown)
I agree that during this time men have a way of thinking they're higher than the women and above them. That does not give men the right to treat women the way they do. Not only was the way Pertruchio "tames" Kate is mean, but it is outrageous. If any one did that in today's time they would be severely frowned upon. (1.A.McIntyre)
DeleteYes, he definitely does abuse her in more ways than one, but he does it to give her a taste of her own medicine. I definitely think that Shakespeare was trying to make that part funny because he was doing that to get under her skin like she does to him, but the audience makes it seem like he is being rude to her and abusing her just because he wants to. Shakespeare knew what he was writing, but the audience misinterprets his comedy.
Delete-A. May 1
Pertruchio's taming to Kate can create depression and create thoughts of suicide. Like when Kate strikes Pertruchio an he states "I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again", indicating he will lock her up like a caged animal. He already calls her names too so the list of abuse just continues to grow. He does not let her eat or sleep, an if she questions, apparently she is in the wrong. He considers this as "taming" her but its just disrespecting her in more ways than one. This message carries that men did not respect women at all around this time. It makes me think, did they learn these characteristics from their fathers and mothers. Most children mock and learn from their parents so maybe them seeing their fathers do the same thing to their mothers has them thinking this is okay and it is not. (C. Grant 2)
ReplyDeletecuff means hit j.disario.1
DeleteI agree with all of this but readers need to take in to consideration that in the time period this is set in this was natural it would be disapproved and unlikely to see a wife doing what she wants to when she wanted to and not being bossed around by her husband. It's all a matter of time period in Shakespeare's plays and pretty much any writer. (A. Phillips 2)
DeleteTo Jackson, I think to cuff has a double meaning in this context. It could mean hit, but could also mean to lock her up. Either way, I wouldn't put it past him to do either one of them. I agree that it's not "taming", it is abuse.
Delete(D. Elliott 1)
First off, "taming" her should not have been happening. "Taming" is used for animals and she, in fact, is not one. I think this is Shakespeare's humor though. Kate's role in the play is she is the "shrew" and petruchio wants to court her sister, which he cannot till kate does first. Petruchio , in response, wants to tame her so she will be marriage material, he does so in a terrible way though. He did things such as starve her, threaten to cage her like an animal, and even tricking or fooling her. (1. S. Rice)
ReplyDeleteI agree! She shouldn't have been treated like that. That made her feel worse and that didn't help her at all. He should have "tamed" her in a different way. The way he acted showed that in that time period men had no respect for women and they "controlled" them. (1 D.Bonea)
DeleteI absolutely agree 100%! Since when is not respecting a woman and their opinions and thoughts not okay? If a woman is not acting appropriately their are many other ways you can help changed someone. Abuse is not the right answer. Yes, it did work in the end because she changed but I feel this just made her scared of him not truly knowing her true self. It seemed she changed who she was more for him rather than herself. (C. Grant 2)
DeletePertruchio's behavior at the wedding was shameful. He was extremely late and made Kate think she was being stood up which caused her to leave. When he did arrive he was dressed with worn out clothes and refused to change into better looking clothes. After the wedding was over, the reception had another lovely scene by Pertruchio. He said that everyone will go to the reception without him and Kate. That made Kate mad and she said that she was staying; but they both ended up leaving the wedding reception while everyone was still there. Pertruchio actions were meant to show her that the way he acted that day was how she acted all the time. He was trying to make her change her attitude.
ReplyDelete(1 D.Bonea)
Unfortunately they went through with the wedding even after what Pertruchio had done. As we all know what would've been best for Kate was if he never showed up at all, Because after that the treatment of her is poor.
Delete(B. Brown 6)
In the first pages of Act 3, Bianca is being taught lessons by "Cambio" and "Litio". Even though they are trying to woo her over, she is bossy and rude to them. She says that she'll take her lessons in the order and manner that she prefers. Cambio tries to suggest to Bianca that he is Lucentio in disguise, and she rejects him. Litio tries to say how much he loves her in a harmony, and Bianca flat out tells him she doesn't like it. I believe that Bianca's true character is being shown here. Earlier she is shown as the innocent counterpart to Kate's evil, but in this scene she is not as innocent as she seems.
ReplyDelete(H. Craig 6)
I completely agree with you. Before seeing this, I had not really thought of this showing Kate's true colors but now I see it. Everyone always discounts Kate as being awful and Bianca being nice and genuine. However, both sides exaggerated the sisters' attributes. Kate was awful but she was not as bad as everyone made her out to be. Bianca was not as nice as everyone made her out to be either. (R. Luxemburger 7)
DeletePertruchio shows up to the wedding late looking a mess and asking for Kate. Pertruchio excuse was he wasn't feeling well. Pertruchio even goes to saying " It's me she's marrying not my clothes.". Everyone wanted him to change his clothes into something more appropriate and he basically says that Kate isn't marrying him for what he is wearing or what he has she is marrying him. Then at the dinner him and Kate get into a disagreement about leaving or staying he tried to call everyone out and told Kate she is leaving with him. (S.Hyacinth 6)
ReplyDeleteImmediately after the wedding, Petruchio announces that he will not go to the reception. He tries to drag Kate with him, before she can even spend a moment with her friends and family. In response to Petruchio, Kate gets fed up with his behavior that day and says that she will not go until she wants to. However, this did not matter to Petruchio. He proceeds to say that she is his wife now and that he owns her as property. With that demand, Kate leaves with him and the problem is "resolved" as everyone at the wedding stands there in shock.
ReplyDelete-A. May 1
Kate is the only thing standing in the way of Petruchio getting to court Bianca so he does his best to make her "wife" material. The way he does it, in my opinion, was very hard and cruel. Even though you can see he has won her hand in marriage his efforts to tame her were slim. He embraced her, had terrible behavior in a church, and robbed her of her dignity making her regret the agreement to marry him. (A.McIntyre 1)
ReplyDeletePetruchio basically "tames" Kate by breaking her down almost as a drill sergeant would do to a soldier. However, there is a big difference separating these. Being that Petruchio wants to tame Kate for a marriage sake, which is extremely harsh. He treated her like she was a piece of garbage on the side of the road and gave her no self worth, which nobody should have to go through. (1 Z. Plemons)
ReplyDeleteAt the reception, immediately following the wedding, Petruchio insists that they leave as soon as they arrive. Katherine even tries to be nice in order to make him stay but he is not having any of it. She then tells him that she will leave when she wants to, not when he tells her to. However, this does not work for Petruchio he insists that they leave immediately. When she still disagrees he results to saying "I will be master of what is mine own. She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house, My household stuff, my field, my barn," (Act III, Scene ii, 202-204). He is essentially saying that it doesn't matter what she thinks because she is now his property and he will do what he wants with her. After what he said, the conflict is over and they leave. I think this shows a step forward in the "taming" of Katherine because she does resist his orders a little but eventually gives into what she said. Before they were married she would not have done this, but now the taming is working and he is changing her. (R. Luxemburger 7)
ReplyDeleteI think Petruchio does what he does during the wedding as a way to show Kate that he is the boss and she is gonna listen to what he says. Wearing what he wants, arriving when he wants, and saying that they weren't gonna stay for the dinner an even after she insisted showed that no matter how much of a brat she is he is still gonna be the one to make the decisions. i think it was like his first step in his plan to tame her. (A.Phillips 2)
ReplyDeleteThe conflict after the wedding is that Petruchio wants to leave immediately rather than stay even the night. Everyone wants him to stay a while, but he won't have it. Even when his friends and his wife ask him to stay, he is stubborn and insists on leaving. The conflict is "resolved" by Petruchio saying he is the master of his wife and he can do whatever he wishes. "I will be master of what is mine own.
ReplyDeleteShe is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything."
This is to imply that she is just another possession. He is "taming" her through being even nastier than she is and subjecting her to mental and emotional abuse by himself.
(D.Elliott 1)
Yes Petruchio is taming Kate, and he does treat her like a worthless person. However, when he was taming her, he wasn't treating her like that because she was a woman, he was saying things like "this bed is too good for you" or "this food is too good for you to eat" and was tricking her into thinking that all of the common luxuries of life were not necessary for her, and that all she had to do in life was to be a good wife.
ReplyDelete(H. Craig 6)
In my opinion i think Petruchio shows out at the wedding because it is a way of him letting Kate know he is the boss and she will listen and respect what he says. He showed up late, was not in proper attire, and he refused to stay for dinner even when Kate acted like a complete brat he didn't budge he held his foot down. In my opinion it was one step of taming her. (S.Maughon 2nd)
ReplyDelete