Taming of the Shrew, a comedy by William Shakespeare, is the story of a woman named Katharine, who is tamed by a man named Petruchio. Katherine, or Kate as she is sometimes called, is a shrew. Then a man comes along and claims he can “tame” her but Kate is too strong-willed to be “tamed.” By the end of the play, Kate might be slightly more submissive and no longer a shrew, but she is definitely not tamed.
When the audience is first introduced to Kate, she is yelling at her father for wanting to marry her off to some older gentlemen. She is upset that he is trying to marry her off to these men who really want to marry her younger sister Bianca. Her father actually does care that the man who marries her loves her. He tells the men,
BAPTISTA
Gentlemen, importune me no farther,
For how I firmly am resolved you know;
That is, not bestow my youngest daughter
Before I have a husband for the elder:
If either of you both love Katharina,
Because I know you well and love you well,
Leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure
Baptista says this because he does truly care about Kate even though she acts out and yells at him. He wants her to get married and be happy. The reason he even gives these men leave to court Kate is because he cares for them as well. He does not want Kate to be married to someone he does not like. Kate does not see this part of her father. Instead of trying to understand where her father is coming from Kate accuses him of loving Bianca more. She says
What, will you not suffer me? Nay, now I see
She is your treasure, she must have a husband;
I must dance bare-foot on her wedding day
And for your love to her lead apes in hell.
Talk not to me: I will go sit and weep
Till I can find occasion of revenge.
She is saying that her father is treating her like a child and he cares more for Bianca than he does for her. She puts up a tough exterior and acts like shrew instead of calmly explaining herself to her father.
Kate...