The general view of the public at the time of the play was chauvinistic, and men were generally seen as the ultimate power in any family. This is reflected in the play quite heavily, especially between Petruchio and Katherina.

Petruchio and Katherina are the main characters in the primary plot of the play (for it has more than one), and both of them provide the same view on what marriage should be like. The first main view is that Petruchio thinks that the husband should always be the ‘head’ of the family and in control of his wife, who does exactly what he asks her to do. He spends the vast majority of the play trying to ‘tame’ Katherina, changing her into a more stereotypical woman. This act culminates in the final scene where Katherina gives a speech to the reception party after the wedding between Horte

Katherina takes this revenge in both a verbal and physical way. She verbally abuses her sister by saying such things as “Minion, thou liest.” Katherina also binds Bianca’s hands and hits her away from Baptista, who will obviously defend Bianca if he finds out. Bianca does nothing back to Katherina, and this is probably through fear. This relationship in the play is a good example of favouritism within a family and shows what it can do to certain people. Katherina despises her sister for being the favourite and seeks her revenge on her for being so.

“Keeper,” however, can mean a different thing altogether. It probably means that a woman’s husband has to protect his wife. “Head” is the same as “lord” in terms of meaning: the husband should have say over what his wife does. Finally, “sovereign” means that the wife should treat her husband as if he were a member of royalty: a very important person. It also portrays the idea that the husband should have a lot of power within the family; much like a monarch has power of his or her country.

Marriage should not be just for the status or for the benefits that it may bring. The Bianca and Lucentio marriage, and the Hortensio and the Widow marriage are both good examples of this. Bianca and Lucentio are not perfectly happy in their relationship, and it was part arranged by Baptista in order for him to become slightly more powerful. Hortensio only married the Widow so that he did not seem ‘left out’ after everyone else was.

The relationship between Baptista and Bianca is in direct contrast to this. Bianca, as said before, is Baptista’s favourite out of the two sisters, and because of this, she is treated in a fairer, kinder way. Baptista wants Bianca to be educated using the finest teachers he can find, and educated in subjects recognised as ones of intelligence: Latin and music.

There are several messages in the Lucentio and Bianca marriage and the Bianca and Baptista relationship. Baptista wishes Bianca to marry a wealthy man so that he can benefit from it, which shows that he does not necessarily care for his daughter’s welfare in marrying the ‘right’ man; he is only interested in the money. The second message is that Lucentio may not actually love Bianca, but feels lust for her. At Hortensio and the Widow’s

Some topics in this essay:
Hortensio Widow, Katherina Bianca, Bianca Katherina, Bianca Lucentio, Petruchio Katherina, Lucentio Bianca, Bianca Baptista’s, Bianca Baptista, Baptista Bianca, Shrew Shakespeare, hortensio widow, katherina bianca, baptista’s favourite, relationship baptista, petruchio katherina, bianca lucentio, bianca baptista’s favourite, relationship play, katherina main, power family, ultimate power, katherina’s speech play,