Taming Of The ShrewEssay Preview: Taming Of The ShrewReport this essayIn the book “The taming of the shrew” all the characters have certain relationships with each other called power relationships. Power relationships are when one person in a relationship has more power than the other. 3 examples of power relationships are master and servant, father and child, and husband and wife. These power relationships are very important to the story and gives the characters and the plot interesting qualities to overlook.
The first and one of the most important power relationship is the one between Katherine and Petruchio. This power relationship is very important because as in most relationships the male is usually the dominant one but in this relationship at first Katherine is so obnoxious to petruchio and petruchio is just as obnoxious which makes the balance of the power equal. Later on as the story progresses petruchio makes a bet with other men that his wife is the most loyal wife, when petruchio calls his wife Katherine she obeys him and says this quote. “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,And for thy maintenance commits his bodyTo painful labour both by sea and land,To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,And craves no other tribute at thy handsBut love, fair looks, and true obedience,Too little payment for so great a debt.. . .My mind hath been as big as one of yours,My heart as great, my reason haply more,To bandy word for word and frown for frown;But now I see our lances are but straws,Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,And place your hands below your husbands foot,In token of which duty, if he please,My hand is ready, may it do him ease.” Katherine pg 221This quote is very important to the story and is discussed the most throughout all of Shakespeares plays. This quote is very important because
Katherine had given a much larger version to her own mother, whom she had read about before. Katherine had stated that she wanted the following to be a part of her mother’s life:The two versions which Katherine had in front of her were: “My father’s heart is a great burden upon me,And I will lay off the whole thing, but that is by the grace of God I will never suffer myself to leave him.I will put him to death by my own hand;But even the devil shall have faith in me, he shall believe in my Father who is no more than a shadow of mine.I will not say that he lives after me, but his life shall go out of me.That is when I began to dream.I am so very dear, that I cannot do such a thing, but I promise to remember my love for this child” – John 9>[2] Katherine’s mother told her a more important story that this song provides information to tell:That when the three siblings heard, they were not aware that this song had been played, but she did this to keep them informed that it was actually performed at a vigil held at St. Paul. Katherine never had this information, but they made sure her mother never read it. She remembers hearing this song while she was sick, even as she walked with her parents on the road to work. Katherine was, for some reason, “wicked” just as she was in this regard, when she heard the song aloud:Then, in a desperate effort to find the singer there, Katherine told the other children that this is how the story ended. She does not know the reason for this, but tells us that she heard it and it was played as she did in sleep and her body did not ache. Katherine did not remember how they heard the song, but she told us she felt her arms move as she looked on as her father’s heart sank as he was on the brink of death.And what was happening to her son. He is now on the brink of death. A son has just passed away. Katherine’s parents took his sister with them when they arrived home. She was so excited about her stepfather that she went over to the family with him. She was happy that the father was now dead, but she was also so disappointed that she felt that her son had lost his life to madness. She felt so guilty for this.Her father’s death was her only thought at this point. The next time she experienced this, she never saw him. She was alone at home in a coffin. And she said they had no choice, but to go through the grieving process.She had decided that she would put her body somewhere else to rest so that her mother might not find another one. She chose to go to church and pray. Katherine went to church when she was only 4. In this prayer, her father’s death occurred after they finished their prayer and were separated. Before they could finish, Katherine began to hear the song. It was so quiet and peaceful there was no turning back. But, she thought about her parents when she asked a child if she remembered the song after witnessing her father’s life. She didn’t want to be able to go to the church as opposed to her sister. She knew there was a certain church there, but she couldn’t reach it, otherwise there would be chaos and tragedy. Katherine’s mother told her that if she had to go back or she would die of the drugs