SO THERE'S THAT…

" a phrase said after describing something strange, awkward, ironic, hilarious, crazy, or otherwise profound." -Urban Dic The Taming of the Shrew: Tough Love or Domestic Violence? MAY 24, 2015 / ROSEMARIE KEENE William Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the Shrew features the marriage and relationship of Petruchio and Katherine.

Although the couple reaches an understanding at the play’s end, the two begin with a bit of a rocky start.

To compare their interactions with today’s society, their marriage certainly contains elements of severe domestic abuse.

When Petruchio and Katherine meet in Act 2, Scene 1, there is an immediate personality clash (as expected)………..despite a possible immediate attraction for one another.

From the beginning, Katherine has been labeled by everyone as “the shrew” with an extremely bad temper. She willingly slaps and verbally abuses people, including her father Baptista Minola and her sister Bianca Minola.

Katherine is a bold, intelligent woman who freely speaks her mind in a time when such behavior is quite unacceptable, improper, and unbecoming of a lady of her standing.

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Petruchio, an arrogant and greedy man, arrives in Padua to seek a wife with a large dowry.

Once Petruchio learns of Katherine’s large dowry and “availability” for marriage, he desires to have her as his bride. When Baptista informs the suitor that Katherine has an undesirable personality and Petruchio will not receive the twenty thousand crowns until “the special thing is well obtained,/That is, her love, for that is all in all” (Shakespeare 83), Petruchio is determined to “tame” Katherine like one would a hawk.

Petruchio has no intentions of “wooing” Katherine during their short courtship to win her over; he is more concerned with having an obedient wife rather than a loving woman. His taming tactics can be seen as abusive or detrimental to her psychological health.

Petruchio’s first attempt to tame Katherine is to contradict and argue with everything she says. When he greets Katherine for the first time, Petruchio addresses her as “Kate.” “Kate” corrects him, and Petruchio immediately disagrees, claiming everyone knows her as “plain Kate,/And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst. But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom, Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate/for dainties are all Kate.”

They continue to banter back and forth for the remainder of Act 2, Scene 1 until Petruchio declares to everyone that they will be married on Sunday. At this point in the play it would seem their relationship borders on feisty-but-friendly banter rather than eventual domestic abuse.

Their insults towards each other can be seen, at most, as a form of emotional abuse. Regardless of viewpoint, their relationship is far from a healthy one. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, a healthy relationship is one where partners listen to each other and treat each other with respect.

Act 2 leaves us fairly certain that Petruchio and Kate are unwilling to compromise and form understandings with one another. They surely constantly criticize and are disrespectful towards one other.

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The pair’s interactions also contradict the Elizabethan era’s ideals of courtship. In this way, their relationship is unconventional and should be looked down upon by the eyes of society.

Petruchio has only just met Baptista Minola; Baptista has heard of Petruchio’s father, Antonio of Verona. Although Antonio is “A man well known throughout all Italy” (Shakespeare 79), it is implied that Baptista has never encountered Antonio of Verona in person.

If Baptista had an intimate acquaintanceship or friendship with Antonio, Baptista would have known Petruchio either by sight or by name.

Petruchio only knows Kate for one scene in Act 2 before the decision is made that the two shall marry.

Baptista, unlike some other Elizabethan father, seems to be not concerned about the possible political, social, or financial connections Katherine’s marriage with Petruchio might well bring along with it. He seems oddly blind-sighted in his desire for his eldest daughter to marry so that his highly-desirable and eager younger daughter may follow suit.

Katherine and Petruchio’s physical and verbal interactions in Act 2 both reflect early signs of potential physical abuse and even illegal actions in the rules of Elizabethan courting. It is very typical in a performance of The Taming of the Shrew for the two “lovers” to wrestle and even physically strike each other during their verbal battle of wits.

The couple has even been left to conduct an initial conversation unsupervised, without the presence of a male family relative. Touching, even holding hands, was quite unacceptable in Elizabethan courtship. This inappropriate contact also radiates the physical component of domestic violence, which includes actions such as “pulling your hair, punching, slapping, kicking, biting, or choking you.” During this time, Kate and Petruchio seem to be having a fun battle on all fronts. Or, are they?

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By Act 4, Petruchio finds ways to “tame” Katherine without touching her even after she has taken on the role of his wife. Petruchio frequently forbids Kate to eat and even to sleep until she submits to him. Petruchio disguises his abuse with concern (emotional abuse) and by making excuses for why Kate cannot partake in drinking and eating.

For example, in Act 4, Scene 1, Petruchio does not allow her to consume mutton because “‘Tis burnt, and so is all the meat” He starves her until she grovels at his feet and becomes grateful that she is married to him.

Katherine becomes desperate enough where she asks Grumio, Petruchio’s servant, to bring any food he can find; when Grumio tells her “I fear it is too choleric a meat,” she does not care. Kate stoops so low that she is willing to eat rotten food, food that could potentially make her ill, in order to sustain her body.

Act 4 continues to provide the pivotal moments of examples of Petruchio’s abusive behavior. Besides keeping Katherine sleep-deprived and hungry, Petruchio is emotionally manipulative in controlling her appearance.

Leaving immediately after the wedding and before the reception in Act 3, Petruchio forces Kate to depart without properly saying goodbye to her family or even packing for the trip. When in Act 4, the couple returns to the stage Katherine remains in her old filthy wedding gown having been dirtied and nearly ruined from the journey to and fro.

In Act 4, Scene 3, Petruchio has a Tailor fashion her a new dress. Katherine likes the look of the gown, saying “I never saw a better-fashioned gown,/More quaint, more pleasing, nor more commendable” .

Yet, with Katherine’s reluctantapproval, Petruchio demands that the dress is unworthy of his bride and his expectations; he sends the dress back with the Tailor, commanding him to make changes. Petruchio has tempted Katherine with a new dress and yet he continues to force her to remain in her wedding dress.

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Petruchio furthers his physical and emotional abuse when it concerns Kate’s family. From the moment the two wed in Act 3, Petruchio segregates Katherine from her family. He continues to isolate her by taking her to his house in the country, a place that is at least unfamiliar and at most dirty and so, so far below that to which she is accustomed.

Having traveled by night, Katherine does not even know the exact location of Petruchio’s home, and she surely does not have any personal connections in the area who might help her.

In her alienation, Katherine gathers the desire to return to the family she argued with frequently and at times, despised. Petruchio at first denies her request but alas yields to her wishes leading into Act 5.

The exhausting journey back to Padua with no evidence in the text of eating or drinking further weakens Katherine and could well prove dangerous to her overall health.

Whenever Katherine disobeys her lord husband or disagrees with his declamations or opinions, Petruchio threatens to redirect the odyssey and return back to his country home.

For example, when Petruchio names the sun in the sky as the moon, Katherine agrees with “I know it is the moon”. He further tests her obedience by quickly retorting, “Nay, then you lie. It is the blessed sun”. Katherine finally concedes and they are able to continue.

When Katherine and Petruchio meet old Vincentio on the road, he has Katherine identify the elder as “Young budding virgin, fair and fresh and sweet”. Petruchio then corrects her and makes her seem like a mad fool when he educates her with the obvious fact that Vincentio is actually “a man–old, wrinkled, faded, withered– /And not a maiden, as thou sayst he is”. Katherine readily agrees with her husband and apologizes for her stupidity, blaming it on the sun.

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Does Katherine actually begin to conclude that her own behavior is to blame for her punishment? Audience members could surely wonder if indeed SHE feels she is somehow deserving of the abuse.

To most modern audiences, all elements of this relationship are undoubtedly abusive.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, when a man begins to “isolate, intimidate, and control” his partner, he is a sadistic, domestic abuser. To her family, Petruchio acts attentive and affectionate to Katherine but his sole purpose seems to be to humiliate her enough to tame her into submission, so that he may take full control over her dowry promised by Baptista.

Petruchio’s forms of humiliation include name-calling, insults, “rough-housing”, and an overall determination to put her in her place.

Does Katherine ultimately submit to Petruchio’s will and demands because he is her key to survival as provider of food, water, clothing, and shelter.

Could Katherine’s behavior and acceptance of all forms of abuse in the relationship follow one classic clinical pattern of an intense attraction to the partner as often shown in the first moments of their first meeting?

Whether it is newly discovered admiration or an admitted defeat over dominance, Katherine and Petruchio’s action are simply not normal. Could both possibly think that they are acceptable?

There are no boundaries as they pressure each other into doing things they do not wish to do; Petruchio succeeds in this task more often than Kate. Both are resistant to compromise; it is Petruchio’s way or no way - an option Katherine does not have available to her.

William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is not a romantic comedy.

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In my opinion, The Taming of the Shrew is more the tragedy of a woman losing her natural freedom and her personal identity against her will to her husband.

Tough love or domestic violence?????????????

Rosemarie Keene University of Toronto Press May 24, 2015