Abstract
Katherine, also called Kate, is the shrew in the play The taming of the shrew, one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies. She first appears in the play as a young woman who insists on saying whatever she thinks and expressing freely whatever she feels. Her words are regularly abusive and angry, and her actions are often violent. More seriously, she is not respectful or obedient towards her father Baptista, who she thinks favors her younger sister, Bianca. In contrast to Kate, she appears to be sweet, soft-spoken and obedient, an image of a good girl. Furthermore, no sooner does Kate meet her sole suitor, Petruchio, than they engage in a battle of wordplay and threaten each other’s face. Owing to these “unruly” behaviors, Kate inescapably establishes a reputation of a shrew in a patriarchal society, where women are expected to be obedient to man. Living in a patriarchal society, Kate is talkative and disobedient to the males who are supposed to have authority over her. This leads to her being labeled as a shrew, as women in that period were expected to be silent and obedient. Kate’s shrewish disposition is revealed in the way in which she talks to her male counterparts such as suitors of Bianca, her father, and her sole suitor, who later becomes her husband. That is, although Kate is violent and not respectful to people around her, it is the talkativeness that makes Kate a shrew, as it clearly posts the greatest challenge to the male supremacy.