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.