I've been trying to feel out what focus I would like to use for my final project. Because I did a post earlier on archetypal criticism I decided to take another look into archetypal criticism, I read an article called, “Bewitching The Shrew,” by Robert M. Schuler. He writes that the view of women as witches is a myth that is found in many of Shakespeare’s plays. One of his earlier plays that shows this archetype is “The Taming of the Shrew”. Schuler writes that this play, “exploits these linkages by representing Katherina through the Elizabethan cultural practices, the popular literary and dramatic types, and the political and theological discourses that identified scolds or shrews with witches” (387). In Shakespeare’s time witches became equated with ‘unruly housewives’ or unruly women, thus Kate becomes considered ‘demonic.’
Unlike many comparisons made at the time, with the woman as witch or shrew, and the man as “godlike king” or “godlike husband” (390), Shakespeare compares the two (Kate and Petruchio) both as ‘bewitched.’ Petruchio and Kate are both portrayed as demonic. Such statements are made of Kate as, “this fiend of hell” or “devilish spirit” associating her with witchery from the very beginning of the play. Petruchio is likewise described by Gremio as “a devil.” Shakespeare pairs the shrew with Petruchio, giving Petruchio many demonic types, such as his being imperious and violent, and his use of contraries. One example of his use of contraries would be Petruchio’s monologue, “say that she rail, why then I’ll tell her plain she sings as sweetly as a nightingale. Say that she frown, I’ll say she looks as clear as morning roses newly washed with dew . . .” (394). The pairing and marriage of a shrew to the devil is a deep archetype within society. - I've included a YouTube vidio of Petrucio's monologue just to show how ironic it is that he's saying all of this . . . while she's having a tantrum.
Petruchio beats Kate at her own game. By being devilish himself, he shows her what she is or could become. He “fights fire with fire” (395). Petruchio also reverses roles when he arrives late to the wedding, instead of allowing Kate that bridal tradition of delayed entry. After the wedding Petruchio is described as “the devil” while Kate becomes “a lamb, a dove, a fool.”
At the same time, Petruchio’s role becomes “paradoxical” as he evades social rules, coming late to the wedding and under dressed. He both shows his superiority to social rules, as well as his inferiority, as he forfeits his patriarchal standing. So too does he use contraries at his house where it is turned into a ‘hell.’ He beats obedient servants and commands food to be brought to him and Kate only to throw it on the ground. Petruchio’s plan is to, “kill [Kate] with kindness.”
In the end Shakespeare asks more questions of this archetype than solidifies them. The reader is left uncertain as Kate is tamed by a devil himself. Petruchio and Kate complete each other at the end of the play both seem civil and ‘tamed.’
Bibliography
Schuler, Robert M. “Bewitching The Shrew." Texas Studies in Literature and Language 46:4 (2004): 387-431. Print. 