Essential #8

Are Katherine and Petruchio in love?

True love is the ability to look past the imperfections in your partner and see a beautiful person inside. While everyone saw Katherine as rude, unpleasant, and insolent, Petruchio was able to look past these obstacles. He continually complimented her and was the only one willing to marry her. Her disrespectful behavior was most directly linked to her unhappiness due to jealousy of her sister and fear of never fitting into society. When two people are in love, they are willing to make sacrifices and will do whatever it takes to make the other person happy. By conforming to her new role as a wife, Katherine was forced to obey the difficult wishes of her husband. Even though Petruchio kept Katherine hungry and tired, he did this to help her. Katherine submitted herself entirely to Petruchio when she claimed, “what you will have it be named, even that it is, and so it shall be so for Katherine” (187). By the end of the play, Petruchio gave Katherine what she ultimately wanted. She was able to gain a social position in which she could command respect and consideration from others. Petruchio’s commitment to Katherine’s transformation demonstrated his desire to make a happy marriage. Love cannot exist without trust and loyalty. When the men decided to test the loyalty of their wives, Petruchio demonstrated his trust in Katherine when he raised the wager from twenty to one hundred crowns. His decision to raise the wager proved beneficial when Katherine was the only woman to obey her husband.