To Tame a Shrew

• There are a couple of quotes that I have been looking at that have spurred me into writing about my research paper. The first one is from the Taming of the Shrew and it is Katherina and Petruchio. I find the back and forth dialogue between these two characters to be witty and jarring. It shows the remarkable wit and strength of Katherina as a character. She is quick thinking, intelligent, not afraid of holding her own and what's most impressive is that she isn't afraid to speak her mind. A trait that seems uncharacteristic for the time period and especially between strangers. She does not hide her disdain of Petruchio. Oh there is also foreshadowing in the end when Petruchio says that he will tame Kate.
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• ACT II Scene I:
• Katherina. Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing:
  They call me Katherine that do talk of me.1030

• Petruchio. You lie, in faith, for you are call'd plain Kate,
  And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst;
  But, Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom,
  Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate,
  For dainties are all Kates, and therefore, Kate, 1035
  Take this of me, Kate of my consolation-
  Hearing thy mildness prais'd in every town,
  Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded,
  Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs,
  Myself am mov'd to woo thee for my wife.1040

• Katherina. Mov'd! in good time! Let him that mov'd you hither
  Remove you hence. I knew you at the first
  You were a moveable.

• Petruchio. Why, what's a moveable?

• Katherina. A join'd-stool.1045

• Petruchio. Thou hast hit it. Come, sit on me.

• Katherina. Asses are made to bear, and so are you.

• Petruchio. Women are made to bear, and so are you.

• Katherina. No such jade as you, if me you mean.

• Petruchio. Alas, good Kate, I will not burden thee! 1050
  For, knowing thee to be but young and light-

• Katherina. Too light for such a swain as you to catch;
  And yet as heavy as my weight should be.

• Petruchio. Should be! should- buzz!

• Katherina. Well ta'en, and like a buzzard.1055

• Petruchio. O, slow-wing'd turtle, shall a buzzard take thee?

• Katherina. Ay, for a turtle, as he takes a buzzard.

• Petruchio. Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, you are too angry.

• Katherina. If I be waspish, best beware my sting.

• Petruchio. My remedy is then to pluck it out.1060

• Katherina. Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies.

• Petruchio. Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting?
  In his tail.

• Katherina. In his tongue.

• Petruchio. Whose tongue?1065

• Katherina. Yours, if you talk of tales; and so farewell.

• Petruchio. What, with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again,
  Good Kate; I am a gentleman.

• Katherina. That I'll try. [She strikes him]

• Petruchio. I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again.1070

• Katherina. So may you lose your arms.
  If you strike me, you are no gentleman;
  And if no gentleman, why then no arms.

• Petruchio. A herald, Kate? O, put me in thy books!

• Katherina. What is your crest- a coxcomb?1075

• Petruchio. A combless cock, so Kate will be my hen.

• Katherina. No cock of mine: you crow too like a craven.

• Petruchio. Nay, come, Kate, come; you must not look so sour.

• Katherina. It is my fashion, when I see a crab.

• Petruchio. Why, here's no crab; and therefore look not sour.1080

• ...

• Petruchio. Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed.
  And therefore, setting all this chat aside,
  Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented
  That you shall be my wife your dowry greed on; 1120
  And will you, nill you, I will marry you.
  Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn;
  For, by this light, whereby I see thy beauty,
  Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well,
  Thou must be married to no man but me; 1125
  For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,
  And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate
  Conformable as other household Kates. 
  [Re-enter BAPTISTA, GREMIO, and TRANIO]
  Here comes your father. Never make denial; 1130
  I must and will have Katherine to my wife.

Another quote that I have found was pointed out to me by a Shakespeare enthusiast/ old friend/ English Masters Graduate. I asked him about my topic and he gave me the name of a professor that I should talk to as well as some insight into more female characters. This quote is from Macbeth and it is Lady Macbeth speaking: 

She is calling on the evil spirits to "unsex" her or take away her feminine qualities that give her feelings and would stop her/Macbeth from killing the King. I know that this doesn't seem to fit with what I have been talking about earlier, but in order to become a conspirator in murder, she must get rid of her femininity, which makes me think that Shakespeare did not view women to be evil or capable of such corruption as they are. He reveres the woman figure for her powers of persuasion and intelligence, but he doesn't make them capable of what a man can do. He recognizes the separate spheres of manhood and womanhood that they have importance and two different purposes. He also says with characters like Portia and Viola, that they would be capable of being great 'men' but that is not their intended purpose in the world. Portia saving Bassanio in the court shows she is quite capable of handling herself in the public, but what she is really intended to do is reform Bassanio through their marriage (possibly the significance of the ring that she gives to Bassanio and demands as payment as the doctor)

 HEY! RELIGION! I just found a religious connection between the gospel and Shakespeare...now that was cool.

II've got way too many ideas again...I will have to narrow it down further...