Lashing Out Against Disobedient Wives: Domestic Violence and The Taming of the Shrew

In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the intent of domestic violence was to control the scolding and shrewd woman.  In Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, Kate represents the early modern “scold,” and her taming by Petruchio mirrors the practices of public shaming used by husbands during the novel’s time period.  Along with the historical context of violence against wives, which reveals that early modern audiences were familiar with domestic abuse and would not have been shocked by its representation in the play, the comedic nature of the play undercuts the seriousness of Kate’s abuse, and her apparent subordination at the play’s end.  Contextualizing domestic violence in early modern England thus reveals that Shakespeare’s Shrew was a farcical portrayal of abuse in the household, specifically directed at the figure of the disruptive and disobeying wife, rather than a serious social commentary on the violence against women and gender inequality