Time For Change
Everybody in his or her life goes through changes. The character Kate in the play, The Taming of the Shrew, goes through personality changes, as do we. Kate goes from cursed and shrewish to loving and caring. Kate lives in Padua, Italy with her lovely sister Bianca and her father, Baptista. Bianca is always surrounded by men, but cannot be married until Kate is married. Bianca thinks she is doomed, for nobody even comes close to Kate until Petruchio comes along and sweeps her off her feet. Kate takes a while to tame, but Petruchio keeps making mistakes and hopes that Kate will agree with him, right or wrong.
When Kate first meets Petruchio he has to chase her around before he can talk to her. To get Kate?s hand in marriage he has to lie to her father. ?That she shall still be cursed in company.?(p.97)
This is really smart because if she is really mad at Petruchio (which she normally is) everybody will think it will just be an act. Before Kate meets Petruchio she is so violent to her sister and many times Baptista has to rescue Bianca. ?Why dost thou wrong her that did ne?er wrong thee?? (p.75) Baptista is trying to tell Kate that she shouldn?t be mean to Bianca because she didn?t do anything to her. Baptista and Petruchio both try to make Kate be a nice person and a nice person to other people.
After the marriage Kate and Petruchio go to live at Petruchio?s home just outside of Padua. When they arrive and begin to eat Petruchio goes into a rage, screaming that the food is not good enough. ?Here take away this dish.? (p.169) This is all part of Petruchio?s plan to tame Kate. He next...