Petruchio
Katherina (Kate) Minola

Petruchio marries Katharine to gain wealth. However, he is not content with her shrewish behaviour and he goes through great measures to assert his dominance over her and tame her.

Summary: Act III, scene ii On Sunday, outside Baptista’s house, everyone has gathered for the wedding of Kate and Petruchio.

Katherine Minola was never tamed in the play, but she was brainwashed and manipulated to act in a manner that was socially acceptable in the 16th century. Petruchio used cruel and exploitative methods to tame Kate, which was unmoral and unethical.

In The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio is up for the challenge of marrying Katherine, a daughter of a wealthy man because of the dowry that goes along with Katherine. The dowry was either a piece of land or money or both that the father would give to the husband to ensure that he would stay with the wife.

In her long, final speech, Katherine summarizes this idea of marriage, telling Bianca and the widow that “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, / Thy head, thy sovereign,” (v.2.162-163).

As a romantic comedy, The Taming of the Shrew focuses mainly on the romantic relationships between men and women as they develop from initial interest into marriage. In this respect, the play is a typical romantic comedy.

Lucentio wins Bianca’s heart, but he is given permission to marry her only after he is able to convince Baptista that he is fabulously rich. Had Hortensio offered more money, Hortensio would have married Bianca, regardless of whether she loved Lucentio. We also can find insight into Lucentio and Bianca’s relationship.

As Baptista negotiates dowries and dowers (what the wife is entitled to if the husband dies), he appears to be almost selling off his daughters, rather than marrying them away. While he approves of the match between Lucentio and Bianca, he will not let the marriage happen until he is guaranteed of Lucentio’s financial status.