Act II Scene I
Petruchio
Good morrow, Kate- for that's your name, I hear. (128)
Katherina
Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing:
They call me Katherine that do talk of me.
Petruchio
You lie, in faith, for you are call'd plain Kate, (131)
Romeo and Juliet
Act II Scene II 991
Juliet
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose (991)
By any other name would smell as sweet. (992)
Taming of the Shrew is considered one of Shakespeare's earliest plays and the piece set us up for some interesting motifs that pop up in other places. This scene with Katherina and Petruchio seems like a mild annoyance at first. Petruchio refuses to call Katherina by her preferred name and makes a huge show of gaslighting to tell her that he is going to call her Kate. Katherina has not given up by this point so she is willing to argue a bit for the sake of her name. It seems so simple but this scene is important for acknowledging the power of personal identity. Petruchio is there to "tame" her but what he is really doing is forcing a women against her will to confirm to his wishes. By the end of the play Katherina is "tamed" and I do not believe this is Stockholm syndrome. She has just completely given up but I argue that Katherina would have played the long game. The tactical agency game, at least she would have played had Fletcher not killed her off for the sake of his sequel The Tamer Tamed.
Just to jump ahead for a moment, I wanted to mention Romeo and Juliet because of the whole name thing in Taming. Juliet makes a valid point when she comments on the essence of being. She says, /by any other nam would smell as sweet/ (992) which leads me to believe that Shakespeare has been thinking about the whole meaning of a name for a while. Is this an attempt to add to the discussion about taking away Katherina's name in Taming? We, sadly, do not get to find out. But it is fun to think about it.
They call me Katherine that do talk of me.
Petruchio
You lie, in faith, for you are call'd plain Kate, (131)
Romeo and Juliet
Act II Scene II 991
Juliet
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose (991)
By any other name would smell as sweet. (992)
Taming of the Shrew is considered one of Shakespeare's earliest plays and the piece set us up for some interesting motifs that pop up in other places. This scene with Katherina and Petruchio seems like a mild annoyance at first. Petruchio refuses to call Katherina by her preferred name and makes a huge show of gaslighting to tell her that he is going to call her Kate. Katherina has not given up by this point so she is willing to argue a bit for the sake of her name. It seems so simple but this scene is important for acknowledging the power of personal identity. Petruchio is there to "tame" her but what he is really doing is forcing a women against her will to confirm to his wishes. By the end of the play Katherina is "tamed" and I do not believe this is Stockholm syndrome. She has just completely given up but I argue that Katherina would have played the long game. The tactical agency game, at least she would have played had Fletcher not killed her off for the sake of his sequel The Tamer Tamed.
Just to jump ahead for a moment, I wanted to mention Romeo and Juliet because of the whole name thing in Taming. Juliet makes a valid point when she comments on the essence of being. She says, /by any other nam would smell as sweet/ (992) which leads me to believe that Shakespeare has been thinking about the whole meaning of a name for a while. Is this an attempt to add to the discussion about taking away Katherina's name in Taming? We, sadly, do not get to find out. But it is fun to think about it.
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