RM's note--this paper responded to a question about whether Katherine had really been tamed at the end of Taming of the Shrew.  It is particular strong in its establishment of two key terms--force and cleverness.  It shows the importance of these terms throughout the play, and develops their changing relationships to one another.  In general, effective theses explore the relationships between a limited number of key terms.  The paper also does an excellent job developing an argument step-by-step through the explication of related examples, and of employing textual evident to subtantiate its points.

The Growth of Katherina
 

Although Katherina's final speech in The Taming of the Shrew may sound subservient on the surface, it actually reflects her growth and development into a stronger and more complex character. Without losing the forcefulness that she displayed earlier in the play, the delivery of her final speech exhibits the cleverness and deceptiveness that she has learned from Petruchio throughout the "taming" process.

At the beginning of the play, Katherina is seen as the forceful sister and Bianca as the clever one. Katherina is described by Grumio as the "fiend of hell" (I.i.88) and by Tranio as "curst and shrewd" (I.i.180). In contrast, Lucentio sees in Bianca's silence "mild behavior and sobriety" (I.i.71). Early in the play, Katherina forcefully binds Bianca's hands and beats her and a weeping Bianca resorts to her father to get away from Katherina (II.i.1-25). Bianca does not use force but instead relies on cleverness to get her way. As part of her cleverness, Bianca displays a gentle and subservient nature that she knows is pleasing to her father. For example, even though Baptista tells Bianca that she cannot marry until Katherina has taken a husband, he asks that she let this "not displease [her]" (I.i.77) and tells her to go inside. Bianca willingly obeys her father's wishes, telling him: "Sir, to your pleasure humbly I subscribe;/My books and instruments shall be my company" (I.i.81-82). Conversely, when Baptista then tells Katherina to stay, she forcefully ignores his wishes and leaves after responding: "What, shall I be appointed hours, as though (belike)/I knew not what to take and what to leave? Ha!" (I.i.103-04).

Lucentio is very much like Bianca. He uses clever disguises and strategies to obtain his ends. While Lucentio disguises himself as a schoolmaster "t'achieve that maid/Whose sudden sight hath thrall'd [his] wounded eye" (I.i.219-20), Tranio takes on his master's identity. After he wins Bianca's love with his cleverness, he assumes that she will remain silent and obedient when she becomes his wife. He doesn't realize that Bianca is also very clever and that her earlier mild behavior has been a pose. Lucentio is so sure of Bianca's subservience that he wagers a hundred crowns with Petruchio that Bianca will come when he sends for her. However, the cleverness he used to win Bianca's love did not ensure her obedience as his wife and he loses the wager.

Petruchio--like Katherina--is very strong and forceful. However, his forcefulness is viewed as a positive masculine attribute, whereas Katherina's forcefulness is seen as a negative, "shrewish" trait. But Petruchio is not only forceful; he--like Bianca and Lucentio--is also quite clever. He seems to relish the challenge of taming Katherina, both for the sport of it as well as the monetary rewards that she will bring to their marriage. In order to "tame" Katherina, Petruchio freely uses both force and cleverness. At their first meeting, he cleverly sings her praises: "Hearing thy mildness prais'd in every town,/Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded,/Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs" (II.i.191-93). While he proceeds with witty praise, Katherina responds with insults and at one point strikes Petruchio (II.i.219). Petruchio is unfazed and warns Katherina that he will also use force if she strikes again. After they exchange a few more insults, Petruchio cleverly continues with his praise: "I find you passing gentle:/…thou art pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous,/…sweet as spring-time flowers" (II.i.242-46). Even though Katherina returns Petruchio's praises by hurling insults, one senses that she may be enjoying this playful bickering and war of wits when she asks him: "Where did you study all this goodly speech?" to which he responds: "It is extempore, from my mother-wit" (II.i.262-63). Petruchio's clever use of praise and wit seems to be working.

Petruchio's ability to combine force with cleverness is apparent throughout the play. For example, he convinces Baptista that Katherina has consented to their marriage even though she is saying no. Petruchio tells him that if Katherina "be curst, it is for policy" (II.i.292), adding that "we have 'greed so well together/That upon Sunday is the wedding-day" (II.i.297-98). Although Katherina's response is that she'll see him "hang'd on Sunday first" (II.i.299), Petruchio explains away her reaction by saying that "'Tis bargain'd twixt us twain, being alone,/That she shall still be curst in company"

(II.i.304-05). When Baptista remarks "…'tis a match" (II.i.319), we realize that Petruchio has deceived Baptista into thinking that Katherina's love and consent have been obtained.

As Petruchio cleverly mirrors and exaggerates Katherina's unpredictable and shrewish behavior, he allows her to see herself as others see her. He begins his unpredictable behavior by leaving her waiting at the altar and then showing up for the wedding in "unreverent robes" (III.ii.112). During the wedding, he swears so loudly that the priest drops his book and as he picks it up, Petruchio strikes him (III.ii.161-63).

Although Katherina protests, he forces her to leave the wedding feast and come with him to his country house. Grumio's description of Petruchio's behavior during the grueling trip from the wedding to the house causes Curtis to rightly observe that "[b]y this reck'ning he is more shrew than she" (IV.i.85-86). Petruchio continues his shrewish behavior by seeing that Katherina is "starv'd for meat, giddy for lack of sleep,/With oaths kept waking, and with brawling fed" (IV.iii.9-10). In Katherina's presence, he berates his servants, calling them "loggerheaded and unpolish'd grooms…peasant swain…whoreson malt-horse drudge" (IV.i.125-29). He strikes one servant who has not removed Petruchio's boots to his satisfaction (IV.i.148) and when another servant accidentally spills some water, Petruchio calls him a "whoreson villain" (IV.i.155) and strikes him also. After observing Petruchio's behavior, even shrewish Katherina is now defending the servant, telling Petruchio "Patience, I pray you, 'twas a fault unwilling" (IV.i.156). Katherina's reaction shows that Petruchio's exaggerated use of force and shrewish behavior is having the effect on her that he desires.

During this taming process, Katherina carefully observes Petruchio's methods. She learns that force alone will only alienate others. She sees that it is possible to use force but that it must be used in a publicly acceptable way. She must be clever as well as forceful. In other words, she must be the consummate politician. She may not be sincere in all that she espouses--but she must sound sincere. The turning point for Katherina occurs on the way back to her father's house when Petruchio insists that the sun is the moon. After disagreeing with him, Katherina relents and lets him have his way:
 

Katherina has learned from Petruchio how to obtain her ends by using cleverness in addition to force. This lesson culminates in the final scene where Katherina uses force to bring the reluctant women before their husbands and then delivers her clever speech. Her speech is an argument based on beliefs that would have been readily understood by an audience in Shakespeare's time. Women were expected to be subservient to their husbands, just as all subjects were expected to be subservient to the crown: "Such duty as the subject owes the prince/Even such a woman oweth to her husband" (V.ii.155-56). If a woman chose not to follow these precepts, she poisoned the well for the rest of society:
  To convince others that she has been "tamed" and is ready to conform to the norms of society, she acknowledges:
  Katherina's final speech may be ironical but it is exactly what society expects to hear. The tone of her speech is dignified and aristocratic and it is delivered with style and persuasion. It is by far the most noble and eloquent speech included in the play. Katherina's ability to effectively deliver this speech exhibits her growth into a stronger character--one that now possesses both forcefulness and cleverness. Compared with Bianca and Lucentio, who remain one-sided (clever-only) characters, Katherina and Petruchio together form a formidable pair--as characters that are bothclever and forceful.