Katherina: Sweet and Subservient
Ah, so it is! Dear and handsome Petrucio has
Tamed the beast! Ne'er a more cunning intellect
May been found, in all of Italia. He used nought
But a sharp tongue and quick wit to defeat the
Infamous Kate. Once a tempestuous beast,
To be sure, but now a docile young bride, same
As any true woman of now! Nay, better, even!
What a gentlewoman, her submissive nature
Is sure to be envied. For who else could place
A single, delicate hand under her master's boot,
Her Lord's boot, with a smile in her eyes and
Gratitude in her heart? Ha! Surely they jest?
For who but a fool could expect a servant
In a wife? Well, Katherina, it seems every man
Demands this! Is that so? Indeed! Well I
Shall not stand for this, I will not stand for this!
They tell us to blush and simper, they tell
Us to kiss their boots and obey their every whim.
They demand love and in return, what do we get?
Nothing, methinks. Nothing. Nothing but the
Expectation of subservience. No matter the
Idiocy we are presented with, we must stay
Silent. Of course the Shrew, when handsome
Petrucio came to beg her favour, she would
Be the exception. For what would a Shrew do
But return witticisms in kind? Petrucio calls
Day and night, or night and day as he would
Contend, to harass his beloved Kate with his
Honeyed words. But are gentle deceits not intended
To entrap the simple? Perhaps dear Petrucio
Has forgotten…I am not simple, not a pretty
Face and an empty mind, but a cunning beast!
The Shrew of Padua. The clever Kate waits
Under her pretty guise, pauses 'til the brute of
Verona turns its back. Then she will strike.
Then I will strike. For, the brute had forgotten
the claws, hadn't he? Did he not tear those from
The Shrew? Nay, for all his intellect, the brute
Remains a brute. And this brute, loving Petrucio,
Will be the victim of its Bride, sweet servant Kate,
And revenge will be had. Alas, I must wait.
For now I will play the sweet, doting bride.
Petrucio and Katherina, a marriage for the ages,
They will say! For who could compare? Surely not
The liar Lucentio and his conquest Bianca.
Nor hesitant Hortensio and his wealthy Widow.
Such a title, the 'Widow'! May it foretell what is
To come? Perhaps Hortensio is to beware of
His widow, I hear 'tis a title that does so persist.
And dear Bianca. Such a simple young thing,
Taken in by secret promises whispered in what
Is named love, but I know to be infatuation. Perhaps
My strength will be their strength? Sweet Bianca
And the dear Widow will see, Katherina does
Not need her Lord, in fact I say she has defeated
Him! No more is she a slave to what men call
'Obligation', when they are not deserved.
The Shrew is not tamed, and nor am I, they shout!
Ah, but perhaps they will remain as they always have.
They will see my revolution as rebellion and I
Will be persecuted, as ever. For some are created
To slave. But not I. Not Katherina. Dear husband
Will not see this in his playbook. His board of
Manipulations. The queen turns to the stagnant
King, she knocks him down and takes her place.
