Katherina

Play

The Taming of the Shrew

Summary

Katherina Minola is the elder daughter of Baptista, labeled the "shrew" of Padua for her fierce temper and sharp tongue. Whether her famous final speech on wifely obedience represents genuine transformation, ironic performance, or a form of tactical accommodation remains the play's most debated interpretive question. Her intelligence and verbal energy make her the most vivid presence in the play.

Notable Quotations

"I am no breeching scholar in the schools; / I'll not be tied to hours nor 'pointed times, / But learn my lessons as I please myself." *(3.1)*

"Why, sir, I trust I may have leave to speak, / And speak I will. I am no child, no babe." *(4.3)*

"A woman moved is like a fountain troubled, / Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty." *(5.2)*

Cross-references

• The Taming of the Shrew — the play
• Comedies
• character_petruchio — her husband and tamer/sparring partner
• character_baptista — her father
• character_lucentio — suitor to her sister Bianca