She physically attacks her and also abuses her verbally. But this works just fine for Bianca because it plays into her role as the long-suffering and virtuous innocent, which she isn't, and Kate knows it, and it drives her nuts.
In Act 1 we are introduced to the characters in the play. Lucentio wants to court Bianca and resolves to impersonate a scholar to gain access to her. Meanwhile his servant Tranio will impersonate him. Hortensio, another suitor to Bianca, intends to try the same trick. Petruchio, newly arrived in Padua, is persuaded by Hortensio to woo Katherina.
She learns to control herself, and to be able to say what is expected of her even if she doesn't believe it. Petruchio and Bianca demonstrate early in the play that they are capable of this amount of self-restraint, but Katherine shows that she is not. It is a painful process, but she gets it in the end.
Speaking your mind was not only contemptible but actually dangerous in the eyes of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Walking out in the street and saying, "I think the Queen is doing a terrible job" or "I think the Catholics have got it right" was a sure-fire way to end up in a torture chamber, dying, no matter how much a person believed it. So, what Kate learns changes her into a socially acceptable person and not an outcast.
Superficially, she becomes more compliant to Petruchio's commands. Exactly what is going on psychologically is, however, a matter of debate. Some think that her compliance is only tongue in cheek and for the benefit of the general public, but that she is still the same feisty Kate underneath. Some think that she has actually learned a more convenient modus vivendi than being argumentative and violent all of the time: she, like her sister, has learned the value of discretion. Others believe that her personality has been totally squashed, and that she is now a soulless zombie slave to her master Petruchio. Take your pick.
Petruchio
The musical Kiss Me Kate with songs by Cole Porter was based on The Taming of the Shrew which contains the line "Kiss me, Kate!"
Kiss Me Kate.
The Taming of the Shrew
In this play Bianca and Katharina (Kate) are sisters.
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedic play.
The climax of "The Taming of the Shrew" is often considered the scene where Kate (Katherina) gives her final speech on a wife's duty to her husband, expressing obedience and submission. This moment symbolizes Kate's transformation and acceptance of her new role in her marriage, marking a pivotal point in the play.
"Kiss me, Kate!"
Katherina Minola, sometimes known as Kate.
calls her a shrew
The musical Kiss Me Kate with songs by Cole Porter was based on The Taming of the Shrew which contains the line "Kiss me, Kate!"
Kiss Me Kate.
Petruchio and Kate.
Petruchio and Kate.
Petruchio and Kate.
The Taming of the Shrew
Kiss Me Kate
In this play Bianca and Katharina (Kate) are sisters.