The Taming of the Shrew Katherine Minola Quotes

We've seen how a wife's reputation can influence and determine her husband's reputation and credit, but here, it's clear that Katherine fears marriage is yet another institute that will cause her public embarrassment and pain.

In this scene, where Petruchio breaks Katherine, we note that Kate has learned to be an actor. Here, as she pretends that Vincentio is a lovely young woman, she demonstrates his newly acquired skill and also hones her impromptu acting chops. The term "Petruchio's taming school," applies not only to Hortensio's so-called apprenticeship but also to Katherine's role as a student to Petruchio.

When Kate complains that Petruchio starves her, she suggests she's treated worse than those who begged for food at her father's door. Kate is treated like a beggar, not simply because she's denied food, but because she's powerless to do anything about it. Despite her social rank, she is just as helpless here as Christopher Sly. Or is she? We're struck by her seeming lack of awareness when she reveals that her father's household often turned away beggars, who had to find charity "elsewhere." Does this make the audience feel less sorry for Kate? Or, does it merely draw out attention to the way women are seen as second class citizens? What's this speech doing here?