Essential Question 8

In "The Taming of the Shrew," there is a recurring theme of love. From the beginning, Katherine is described as being harsh and tough to deal with. That is also the reason why she is not married at the beginning. She is too bothersome for any man. It was believed that it would be impossible to find a man for Katherine, until Petruchio came along. In the beginning, all he wanted was the dowry. However, he also wanted a food wife. The other men thought Petruchio was crazy to pursue Katherine, considering the dowry of twenty thousand crowns. he did marry Katherine later on, and treated her badly. This was all a part of his plan, though. He planned to make Katherine a good wife by giving her a taste of her own medicine. By the end, it seems that the "medicine" has worked, since Katherine now obeys Petruchio's orders, and even has to lecture the other ladies on their etiquette. Petruchio loved Kate so much that he decided to put her though all kinds of trouble, since he knew that she would be a better person in the end. That is how Petruchio and Katherine are in love.