Do you agree with the taming of the shrew and why?

Answer 1

From a revisionist-history perspective, definitely: husbands are not the boss of their wives anymore; wives are no longer "chattel". But in the mid-17th century, Shakespear's era, "The Taming of the Shrew" was an accurate play reflecting and commenting on the typical situations in a well-to-do family of the day, just as some movies and other media reflect the present time. It wasn't really until the 1960s-'70s that women began to change the status quo and enter the serious work-world with men in greater numbers and with professional goals that were now actually possible to achieve. But "the women's movement" has a long history, and women are constantly under threat of having their ability to control their reproduction taken away or restricted; the ability to control her reproduction is the single most empowering thing for women--without it, well, potentially a baby a year, a high mortality rate and dependence on a mate to provide for and protect "his" brood.

Answer 2

The Taming of the Shrew is a play not a philosophical tract. It does not state a proposition you can agree or disagree with. Whether you respond positively or negatively to the change in Katherina depends on a) whether and to what extent you think that change is more apparent than real, b) what you think has actually caused Kate's change of behaviour, and c) what you think is appropriate behaviour for people in society, especially women.

Many productions of the play have Kate pretending to go along with Petruchio, but with tongue in cheek. Many Petruchios are quite ok with this, since all Petruchio requires is for Kate to behave properly in a social setting. Check out the famous Mary Pickford movie for an example of this.

Some productions show Kate adopting the line Petruchio sets for her to attain some other objective. Liz Taylor's Kate was clearly motivated by her desire for the life of wife and mother, for which she was prepared to sacrifice some dignity. The BBC version shows Kate as frustrated that lying sneaky Bianca always gets her way when Kate does not; Petruchio teaches Kate how she can get her way through lying and sneakiness also.

Other productions, it is true, have a very dark ending, where the battered Kate recites her last speech like a zombie, all independent thought having been beaten out of her.

Clearly, to ask whether you "agree" with the play without specifying the particular way in which the director and actors handle it boils down to asking question c) "What do you think is appropriate behaviour for people in society, especially women?" which is not a question about Shakespeare at all.

Answer 3

The whole plot of The Taming of the Shrew revolves around "the battle of the sexes". At first nobody wants anything to do with Kate because she would be impossible for any guy to live with. However, the methods Petruchio uses to make her easier to deal with seem cruel and inhumane to some people. The power struggle between them often sets off similar struggles in the audience.