MovieChat Forums > The Taming of the Shrew (1967) Discussion > Important question about Katherine. Help...

Important question about Katherine. Help?

posted 17 years ago by hellyeah_chemical
25 replies | jump to latest

I'm playing the part of Katherine in the play 'Taming of the Shrew' by William Shakespeare for my audition and I am going to be doing Katherine's final speech, I was wondering if any of you might be able to help me and give your opinions on how you think Katherine should be played in her final speech.

Do you believe that Katherine drastically changed and was infact 'tamed', learning that men have the authority and that women should bow down to them? Or do you believe that Petruchio was harsh in his taming methods and now she is a broken women, saying all in her final speech to hide her pain and the humiliation? Or do you believe what she said was insincere and that she is just being sarcastic in what she says?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

Did you seriously just stamp your foot?
I thought girls only did that on tv-Jacob
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[–] dlbach1 10 years ago

I know this was posted more than six years ago, however, I must say a couple things. First, I hope you did well in the play and made Katherina your own. Second, I am not a fan of the movie, but do have a copy as I am a fan of Shakespeare. The one part I do love in the movie is Ms. Taylor's rendition of Katherina's final speech. If you watch you can see the glint in her eye, she was not entirely "tamed". Read the play and you see that the character is a strong willed women who would fit well in our day and age.

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[–] Techto (1375) 7 days ago

A lot of things are going on. I think that Katherine is smitten by Petruchio despite herself and is happy to be out of her father”s household. She was trapped in a bad situation at home and Petruchio freed her from this prison that was partly of her own making. So she is grateful to him even as she is still frustrated by him.

Katherine wants her marriage to be a success and overcome her fear that Petruchio married her only for money. She has come around to the idea that she must give a little to get a little in her marriage -- so her submission is only partial and conditional. It isn’t as noticeable, perhaps, but she managed to “tame” Petruchio a bit, too. He went to her sister’s wedding as she wished and he dressed and behaved more like a gentleman than we had seen him is his earlier guises of bum and clown. Also, he had provided her with fine clothes (and bed sheets). By appearing to submit fully to her husband at her sister’s wedding banquet, she is having fun at her family’s and the townspeople's’ expense by subverting their expectations and putting them to shame.

I don’t think Petruchio and Katherine had consummated their marriage by Bianca and Lucentio’s wedding day, but one certainly gets the impression that they did so immediately following the play/film’s end.