4-9-07

It is so hard trying to get into Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.” I had to read slowly at first in order to comprehend each character’s situation. There are so many characters and so many relationships with connects the characters it is hard to keep it all straight. The one relationship I think is humorous is the relationship between Katharina and Bianca. Katharina is abusive both verbally and physically to her younger sister. This parallels many sibling relationships still today. My brother and I fought frequently when we were younger. If he would not give me something I wanted or a toy, or if he ate the last of the ice cream, I would call him names. If he did not respond to the verbal, I took it to the physical level of kicking. Usually that did the trick, he would cave and I would end up getting what I wanted as long as my parents did not interrupt the intervention. I really like Katharina, she says and does what she wants. So when Pertruchio comes into the mix with comments that compete with hers, it makes me want to read on to see which one comes out victorious in the verbal bashing, Katharina or Pertruchio.

The humor generated through Katharina and Pertruchio’s relationship is purely romantic on Pertruchio’s end. Their first interactive verbal bashing of each other at the end of Act 2 scene I reveals how Pertruchio plans to get inside Katharina’s head. As he “flirts” with her, she tries to shut him down at every chance she gets. The thing is Katharina has finally found her match. Pertruchio can come right back at her with comments that are cruder than she can imagine. As he makes his boastful comments, he alludes to sexual innuendos. He tries to get under her skin by saying that he is too young for her. He tells her that he is going to marry her no matter what she says. He explains he is going to tame her and compliment her saying she is beautiful. When Baptista and Gremio and Tranio enter, and Pertruchio tells them he is going to marry Katharina, she does not say anything in her defense. I feel that she this is the point in the play where she first falls for Pertruchio during this conversation of wit battling. However, she is not about to let Pertruchio know that she has fallen in love with him anytime soon. She will keep backing away from him as he gets closer.