Week 5: Taming the Shrew (Franko Zeffrelli 1967)



The Taming of the Shrew poster & movie trailer link


The Taming of the Shrew was originally written as a comedy, but as a modern day woman, I found the public humiliation of Kate disturbing to watch, and the resulting taming and submission a bit sad. Kate was spirited and intelligent, and had resisted the taming throughout the whole movie; even taking charge of the household was a fight back in the power battle between the newlyweds. Kate’s last speech is on husbands being thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, and that obedience to your husband is too little payment for the debt incurred of being cared for, for safety and security. She even finally kisses her husband, and passionately, proving that she has finally been tamed into submission as an obedient wife. Apparently in previous stage performances Kate gives the audience a little wink at this, suggesting that she has not truly been tamed, that her obedient demure is just a mask. I almost wish that this had been done in the movie, as it would have left my feminist heart unbroken and me cheering for Kate being true to herself in the end. However this brings me to the context of the movie. It was produced in 1967, right around the time of the women’s liberation movement, and I can only imagine the stir this movie would have caused among women who were fighting for women’s rights and gender equality. Zeffrelli promotes a feeling of empathy for Kate’s taming by presenting her as misunderstood and imprisoned for the greater good; looking out from behind windows and through metal bars. He focuses on themes of women as property, and the taming of a wife by a husband who does not want love, but obedience. I like to think that Zeffrelli’s purpose of making this film was to bring to the forefront, through Hollywood film and two of the biggest actors of the time, past issues in our society in a hope that we can learn from them. Perhaps there is a cautionary moral value to the play, the lesson being on how not to behave.

Women as property:

·         It is self interest that has made Petrucchio come to Padua for a wife, not love. He has inherited an estate and needs a woman to help manage it. He agrees to marry Kate, without even seeing her, for the attractive dowry that is offered.

·         After being warned of her temperament, he responds ‘Think you a little din can daunt mine ears? Have I not in my time heard lions roar, the sea, puffed up with winds, rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat? And do you tell me of a woman's tongue, that gives not half so great a blow to hear as will a chestnut in a farmer's fire? Tush, tush, fear boys with bugs.’

·         I believe he is taking up the challenge of taming Kate as added sport to his new found wealth. He even tells her so: ‘Thou must be married to no man but me. For I am he am born to tame you, Kate, and bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate, conformable as other household Kates.’

·         Also is evident in Petrucchio’s speech: ‘I will be master of what is mine own. She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house, my household stuff, my field, my barn, my horse, my ax, my ass, my anything.’

·         The wager which Petrucchio proposes is an example of the women are property theme. Whichever wife comes most obediently will win the wager for her husband. Kate is the only wife who obediently comes to her husband’s call, dragging the other wives with her.

The Taming:

·         Kate is publically humiliated repeatedly by Petrucchio. On their wedding day he arrives late and in filthy garb, he swears in the church, and kisses her with eagerness. He then publicly drags her away from the wedding feast to his country home. Through reverse psychology, Petrucchio finally tames Kate, who is too weary to resist his taunts anymore. He tells her how sweet she is, and that everyone must be wrong to have told him otherwise. He pretends that nothing is good enough for her.

·         The other men, and I think Petruchio himself, are surprised at how tamed Kate has become when she is the only wife to obediently come to her husband’s call.

Discussion Question: Kate's final speech is frequently played ironically, yet Elizabeth Taylor chose to play it straight in Zeffirelli's film. Explore the significance of the straight/ironic possibilities of the play (e.g. are we meant to take Kate's conversion seriously? Or is she 'playing along' to keep the peace/ dupe Petruchio?)

The Taming of the Shrew was originally written as a comedy, but as a modern day woman, I found the public humiliation of Kate disturbing to watch, and the resulting taming and submission a bit sad. Kate was spirited and intelligent, and had resisted the taming throughout the whole movie; even taking charge of the household was a fight back in the power battle between the newlyweds. Kate’s last speech is on husbands being thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, and that obedience to your husband is too little payment for the debt incurred of being cared for, for safety and security. She even finally kisses her husband, and passionately, proving that she has finally been tamed into submission as an obedient wife. Apparently in previous stage performances Kate gives the audience a little wink at this, suggesting that she has not truly been tamed, that her obedient demure is just a mask. I almost wish that this had been done in the movie, as it would have left my feminist heart unbroken and me cheering for Kate being true to herself in the end.