Thesis:  Although at first The Taming of the Shrew might appear to advocate coercive male authority over women, it actually attempts more subtly to combine male authority with the mutual love of husband and wife.

I.  Perhaps the greatest instance of coercive male authority in Taming occurs in the actual "taming" of Katherine at Petruchio's home.

II.  Petruchio's "taming, however, only is only the last and most obvious attempt in the play by coercive men to make Katherine into a "modest" woman like her sister Bianca.

III.  Nonetheless, the play does not simply side with its coercive males, a point that can be seen in the passage that most strongly asserts male authority. 

A.  Petruchio claims absolute authority over Katherine in 3.3.98-110

1. has to go with him and miss marriage feast

2. describes has an his object/property (e.g. barn)

B.  Yet there are many signs that we are not to take this passage fully straight.

1.  so over-the-top is laughable ("Homily" does not say your wife is your barn, but your "fellow")

2.  speech said not to Katherine, but to offended men (the proudest "he")

3.  Language becomes one of chivalric protection, as if earlier property language is ill-mannered

a.  pretends to defend Katherine like a chivalric knight with chivalric language

1. "buckler"

2. "rescue they mistress"

3." fear not, sweet wench"

4. "action" (legal) > "action" (war)

IV.  The end of the play similarly mutes or renders ironic Katherine's absolutesubmission

A. It mixes obedience with kisses

B.  It gives Katherine with women a force that implies she remains unbroken/Petruchio's equal

C. "over the top" submission also suggests she might be acting

Conclusion:  If Taming seems more pro-woman than first appears, it's not because Shakespeare was a man ahead of him times, but because he was a man of his times.

A.  Homily also tries to balance love and authority in  marriage

B.  Shakespeare has to satisfy all his customers, including women