The Taming of the Shrew (idea)

In the comedy, “The Taming of the Shrew,” Shakespeare creates two contrasting marriage plotlines that comment on each other. The first is Petruchio’s courtship and “taming” of Katherina. The second, which is shorter but deserves plenty of attention, is the romance between Lucentio and Bianca. On the surface, it seems like Petruchio and Katherina’s relationship is purely about Petruchio’s desire for riches and that, in contrast, Lucentio and Bianca’s love is pure and true. However, a closer look at the two plots reveals that Petruchio and Katherina’s marriage is more likely to endure happily than Lucentio and Bianca’s. The two marriage plot lines demonstrate the need both for meeting social requirements and finding love in forging a successful marriage.

In both the plots, money is an important prerequisite for marriage. Hortensio barely has time to mention Katherina’s name and the fact that she’s rich before Petruchio swears that he will marry her. His goal is to “wive it wealthily in Padua; / If wealthily then happily in Padua” (I.ii.76-77). Enticed by Katherina’s fortune, he disregards all warnings about her disagreeable temper. Lucentio’s vow to marry is nearly as quick as Petruchio’s, except his comes from seeing Bianca’s face instead of hearing about her fortune. Although Lucentio’s love seems like pure “love at first sight,” financial motives are still present in the set-up. Before Lucentio can marry Bianca, his servant Tranio, disguised as Lucentio, must convince Baptista that he is wealthier than the other suitors. Although he isn’t the one desiring money, Lucentio isn’t allowed to marry Bianca without being the heir to his father’s fortune.

In the same way that money affects marriage at the interpersonal level in “The Taming of the Shrew,” it also plays a vital role in determining how socially acceptable a marriage is. It is unthinkable to most of the characters in the play to marry outside their own class. For example, Hortensio is put off when he realizes that Bianca loves Lucentio more than him, but he is equally astounded that a noblewoman like herself would be interested in mere Latin teacher (III.i.96-101). The characters marry within their own class, which makes it possible for them to secure a parental blessing, a social necessity in Elizabethan society. Baptista makes it clear that money is needed to win his daughter’s hand when he tells Tranio, disguised as Lucentio, “I must confess your offer is the best; / And, let your father make her the assurance, / She is your own” (II.i.431-433). If children decide to ignore their families and get married anyway, they face ostracism from their social class. And while feuding classes aren’t quite as dramatic as feuding families, the results could be nearly as dangerous for the couple caught in the middle.

In addition to highlighting money as a prerequisite for a successful marriage, Shakespeare examines the need for practical love. Lucentio and Bianca’s courtship fails at the practical level. After one glimpse of Bianca on the street, Lucentio declares that he will burn, pine, and perish unless he can wed the young, modest girl (I.i.158-159). Their only other meeting on stage is while Lucentio is disguised as Bianca’s teacher. This meeting is largely flirtatious and mostly consists of Lucentio repeating his poorly articulated but burning love for Bianca. Though the end up marrying, they’re not happy together and there is no indication that their relationship will improve. As Petruchio points out Hortensio and Lucentio in the play’s last scene, “We three are married, but you two are sped” (V.ii.208). No one can disagree.

In contrast to Lucentio and Bianca’s romance, Petrucio and Katherina’s “courtship” is a drawn-out argument. While Katherina and Petruchio are “flirting,” they begin to understand that the other is a complex person instead of a caricature of a lover. Later, during the “taming” process, they also get a look at the worst side of the other’s personality. Katherina laments over how Petruchio takes pleasure in her suffering: “The more my wrong, the more his spite appears” (V.iii.2). Yet the opportunity to see each other’s faults is what most sets them apart from Lucentio and Bianca. Early in their marriage, Katherina and Petruchio lay all their cards on the table and prepare themselves for the inevitable conflicts of marriage. The “taming” process functions like modern pre-marital counseling by teaching the couple how they can work together more effectively.

Despite his unromantic view of marriage, Shakespeare leaves the audience with the impression that Katherina and Petruchio love each other and are happy to be married. Even when they are arguing at their initial meeting, they seem to be enjoying themselves. They’ve each found their match in intelligence and intensity. Katherina’s final assessment of the marriage, craftily delivered in a reprimand to the other women, is that what started out as battle has turned into pleasure: “My mind hath been as big as one of yours, / My heart as great, my reason haply more, / To bandy word for word and frown for frown; / But now I see our lances are but straws” (V.ii.192-195). Though they lack the burning passion that Lucentio often talks about, their appreciation of each other is more likely to keep the relationship alive after their initial lust dies down.

The need for balance between love and practicality in marriage is a timeless truth. Current high divorce rates are an indicator that relationships are sometimes forged unrealistically. While class and social requirements for marriage are only loosely defined in modern America, marriage between radically different classes, and without the blessing of families, can still cause trouble. Although Petruchio’s “taming process” is questionable by today’s standards, it does put Katherina in a more powerful position than her sister by the end of the play. Petruchio has learned to respect her as an individual. Even if he’s hesitant to share power, Katherina’s ironic ending speech proves that she’s wise enough to take it. On the surface, she reinforces the notion that husbands should always dominate a marriage. But her exaggerations and the reality of her own marriage push the point to parody (V.ii.158-201). Shakespeare’s central message, that relationships need practical things like open communication, as well as impractical things like love, holds just as true today as it did four hundred years ago.