Katherina's Last Speech! *WARNING "SHREW" HYPE ALERT*
Fri, 28 Nov 2008, 02:43 amGarreth11 posts in thread
Katherina's Last Speech! *WARNING "SHREW" HYPE ALERT*
Fri, 28 Nov 2008, 02:43 amSo? That speech... for those of you who are unfamiliar here it is:
Fie, fie! unknit that threatening unkind brow,
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor.
It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads,
Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds,
And in no sense is meet or amiable.
A woman mov'd is like a fountain troubled-
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty;
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks, and true obedience-
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such a woman oweth to her husband;
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,
What is she but a foul contending rebel
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
I am asham'd that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.
Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,
Unapt to toll and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions and our hearts
Should well agree with our external parts?
Come, come, you froward and unable worins!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown;
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband's foot;
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.
Does it go too far? Is it Ironic? Is it Sexist How would you handle it? I have just finished nutting this one out with my Katherina in Upstart Theatre Company's FREE production of "The Taming of the Shrew" and was interested to hear your opinions!
If you want to see how we worked to make this speech then I encourage you to come to the show and have a good night out under the stars at Woodlake amphitheatre Ellenbrook. You can find all the details here:
http://www.theatre.asn.au/production/2008/shakespeare_on_the_lake_the_taming_of_the_shrew
I hope to hear from you all soon!
The only time I've ever
Fri, 28 Nov 2008, 06:09 pmThe only time I've ever seen this performed was in the BBC 'Shakespeare Retold' series. They modernised the language so there wasn't much of the original wording, but the sentiment was the same. The only bit they really stuck to was 'place your hands below your husband's foot'. Which focused the speech to some extent on love. It seemed more that she was showing her love to him by putting him first, but not necessarily that he was completely in charge.
I think that's different to the original. Katherina is chastising her sister for being ungrateful. It could be a simple reminder to be happy for what you have and willing to share it (in the retold version the speech comes about because Katherina's sister is upset that her husband-to-be won't sign a pre-nup.. lol) but there is a lot of discussion of the roles of men and women.
Perhaps, by today's standards, it's a sexist speeching and clearly places men above women ('Such duty as the subject owes the prince, Even such a woman oweth to her husband;'). But for the Elizabethan era it is quite forward-thinking to question and explore the roles of men and women, even though the conclusion places men in a position of more importance.
I have no idea how I would go about performing it. Shakespeare always stumps me the first time I look at a piece. I have to read it about 20 times before I have any ideas. (But I'm guessing I'm not alone there.) Last time I did Shakespeare was 2 years ago for a school thing and it was terrible... I have attempted to avoid it since. :)
- Frellis -
"I have two giraffes... the State requires me to learn the Harmonica..."