The Shrews Illusion :: essays research papers

The Shrews IllusionHORTENSIO Now go thy ways, thou hast tamd a curst shrow.LUCENTIO Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tamd so.Indeed, Hortentios assurance in the taming of the curst shrow Katerina seems a wonder to all the audience in the last(a) scene of The Taming of the Shrew. After hurling furniture, pitching fits and assaulting her baby, Katerina delivers a speech that lauds regard and censures rough behavior. Allegedly, this speech demonstrates Katerinas obedience to her husband, Petruchio, who has forced her to realize the hallucination of her former behavior. Genuine submission, however, is an unlikely disposition for Katerina to adopt. A complete renewal becomes more improbable after an examination of the scenes surrounding her taming. Several of these episodes indorse to excellence of her acting ability. This evidence suggests her ability to impersonate the character of a dulld shrew. Her dialogue during these moments of obedience seems to mirror the language P etruchio uses earlier to tame her, suggesting that Katerina employs Petruchios own dissembling devices against him. Even the nuances of her language, filled with double meanings, wangle her supposed transformation.Katerina first reveals her aptitude for deception as she and Petruchio head toward Padua for her sisters wedding. When her husband falsely labels the daylight as the bright and estimable shining of the moon, she immediately protests (4.5.2). However, the moment Petruchio threatens her journey home, she begins to act. In order that she foregather her desire to return home, she pleads that they continue and vows that be it moon, or sun, or what you cheer / And if you please it be a rush-candle, / Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me (4.5.13-15). In saying this, Katerina promises to vow, or claim to believe, the truth of anything Petruchio alleges. However, she never promises to actually believe him. Instead, she agrees to act according to his game, a game that he himse lf qualifies. When contented by Katerinas yielding, Petruchio declares thus the bowl shall run, invoking the image of a ball in the game of bowling (4.5.24). This image parallels to the game he stages in which Katerina is played toward at target of a woman tamed. However, she does not submit blindly to his intentions she plays toward achieving her own goal of returning home.Continuing to parent her aptitude for dissembling, Katerina plays along with Petruchios labeling of Vincentio as a maid in the following scene.