But I, -- who never knew how to entreat,
Nor
never needed that I should entreat, --
Am
starved for meat, giddy for lack of sleep;
-Katharina
The Taming of the Shrew Act
IV, Scene iii, Line 7
It’s great when
we pick a line early in the scene because then the context is usually pretty
easy to pick up (assuming you have some familiarity with the play) by reading
from the beginning of the scene. Here, I’ll give it to you from line one:
Grumio.
No, no, forsooth; I dare not, for my
life.
Katherina.
The more my wrong, the more his spite
appears:
What, did he marry me to famish me?
Beggars that come unto my father’s door,
Upon entreaty have a present alms;
If not, elsewhere they meet with
charity:
But I, -- who never knew how to entreat,
Nor never needed that I should entreat, --
Am starved for meat, giddy for lack of sleep;
With oaths kept waking, and with brawling fed:
And that which spites me more than all these wants,
He does it under the name of perfect love;
So, what’s going
on here? Well, just as in the Merchant line from last week, the first
line from this play is the middle of the conversation. It’s clear from what’s
being said that Kathrina has been begging Grumio to give her some food before
the scene begins, but he doesn’t want to go against his master’s (Kathrina’s
husband’s) orders. As far as why not? Well, do you have any familiarity with
this play? If you do, you would know that Katharina’s husband Petruchio is taming
her. Yes, that’s right, taming her. After all, there’s a reason why this play
is called The Taming of the Shrew.
Oh boy. Before you
have me cancelled for subjecting you to this senseless bit of jingoism, can we
talk about this? No? Okay, cancel away.
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