Today’s Totally Random
Lines
Come, come, you froward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great; my reason, haply, more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown:
But now I see our lances are but straws;
Our strength as weak, our weakness past
compare,-
That seeming to be, most , which we indeed
least are.
Katharina
The Taming Of The Shrew Act V, Scene ii, Line 76
Katharina is the titular shrew in the play. We are at the very end of the play, and it certainly appears that she has been tamed. But has she?
I think that this is a much more complicated play than it appears to be. Taken on face value it appears that Kate has become completely subservient to her husband. Today’s Line is taken from Kate’s speech, here near the very end of the play. I might say that you should read the whole speech before passing judgement, but in fact I think you’d have to read/hear/see the entire play.
And I don’t see that happening right now. Even so, I’m tempted to give you Katharina’s whole speech, because it might open your mind a little bit. Oh, what the heck; here you go.
There are three couples in this scene and Petruchio, Katharina’s husband, has bade her tell the other two women what duty they owe their lords and husbands. Katharina is addressing the women when she speaks.
Fie, fie! Unknit that threatening and unkind brow:
And dart not scornful glances from those
eyes,
To wound thy lord, thy kind, thy
governor:
(okay, this isn’t sounding good)
It blots thy beauty, as frosts do bite
the meads;
Confounds thy fame, as whirlwinds shake
fair buds;
And in no sense is meet or amiable.
(that’s a little better?)
A woman moved is like a fountain
troubled,
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of
beauty;
And while it is so, none so dry or
thirsty
Will deign to sip, or touch one drop of
it.
(interesting)
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy
keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares
for thee,
And for thy maintenance, commits his
body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in
cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure
and safe;
(sounding a little better, a little more reasonable)
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks, and true
obedience,-
Too little for such great a debt.
(again, not too unreasonable; you can’t forget the times that
this takes place in)
Such duty as the subject owes the
prince,
Even such a woman oweth to her husband;
And when she is forward, peevish,
sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,
What is she but a contending rebel,
And graceless traitor to his loving
lord?
I am ashamed that women are so simple
To offer war, where they should kneel
for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love, and
obey.
Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions and our
hearts
Should well agree with our external
parts?
Come, come, you froward and unable
worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of
yours,
My heart as great; my reason, haply,
more,
To bandy word for word and frown for
frown:
But now I see our lances are but straws;
Our strength as weak, our weakness past
compare,-
That seeming to be, most , which we
indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no
boot,
And place your hands below your husbands
foot:
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.
And Petruchio’s response to Katharina’s speech?
Why, there’s a wench!- Come on and kiss me, Kate.
So, is your mind open enough to view this as something deserving of discussion, or am I just a jingoistic rogue to think that it even deserves a second look?
You tell me.
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