Response to Katherine’s Last Speech from
The Taming of the Shrew
Michael S.

Act V, scene II

[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.]

Katherine, yes I, declare
My husband decides my style of hair
How have I learned; be good to my master
Else ruin my life, void of purpose, a disaster

How unkind the keen smile
Is placed upon your face,
How have I been improper, what say you?
What has that man of a man done of to play you?

How has he been without reason, if not to love, and rhyme
In what way does he not devote, a lesson, his time
How can you want more of man’s right to power
When he does everything to best his delicate fruit from sour?

A fractious woman is like a volcano on foreign isle,
Whose cursed beauty is her fiery smile,
Other than ash, burnt, charred,
The beauty is the fire, lest it leaves you scarred.

Be not like the woman I have been, curst shrew
For my horrible loss of civility, do you not know?
My life has been all but decent
Till good Petruchio made his appearance recent

A man, let all be example
Have worked for you, just to be trampled
Is he not worthy, or you, could it be?
And his worship of you, you are too blind to see?

[Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that care for thee
And for thy maintenance; commits his body
To painful labor both land and sea]

You lord is wanting, not of hardship, but love
And loyalty. Be not raptor, but kind and careful dove
Your fight is none but that with lack of eyes
For love and devotion is not blind nor with disguise

Your minds are dead with the same thought
When the word free touches your ears you are bought
It took me harsh and unforgiving years
Till happiness of service gave me tears

[I am asham’d that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace
Or seek rule, supremacy, and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love and obey]

The men of the world, collective
Are wiser in your ways, and more effective
Trust them on matters of love and service
For men are higher, closer to God, farther from vice

Do not let the men toil for none
For their troubles give them some
Whether it be credit or a bow of the head
Or a: [come, we’ll to bed]

[In token of which duty, if he please
My hand is ready, may it do him ease]

A shame that all women cannot be toward
And learned as I that to man be not froward