Work Text:
“The shrew, the shrew!” The cries, they were never ending; it was all I heard night and day. Day and night, it never stopped. To tame the shrew, they said it was impossible; that the man I married never stood a chance. Yet, here I am married and perfectly obedient. But, did they ever wonder why I acted the way I did? Why I screamed and raged, why I beat those who insulted me, why I never respected my father nor my sister. For his love for her and not for me was what started it. She was always the beautiful one, the most treasured. She got the suitors and the friendships from whomever she met. I was always pressured to marry, for thy dear Bianca could not until I was wed. I remember my father always fending off the men at the door, but they were never for me, and so the pressure continued. The pressure to marry was so great. I was never the likeable one, never father’s favorite, so instead I became the shrew. The shrew who no one could tame! The shrew that was feared by all, so feared that my father married me off to the first man that could handle me.
Those first days I was cross and acted out. It was how I protected myself. The mask that had always stayed in place and had worked against many, but never for him. My husband. My dear Petruchio, he was savage and bore no respect for anyone, at least at first. However, as the days passed, I learned that fighting and lashing out did nothing to achieve what I wanted. He would get me excited with the thought of feast or fine clothes, and would then ruin it. I knew why he did it, each time he saw through my mask, through the screams and rage that resulted from his actions. It was because he saw my insecurity and wouldn’t tolerate it. It was then when I realized that I need not protect myself from him, fore he would protect me instead. My mask was slipping and so was the anxiety, the pressures and the insecurities that had always hounded me. I was married now. The man didn’t marry me because of love, but because of money. And I, Katherine, had been indignant, filled with such an anger that I tried to say I wouldn’t marry him. However, he never gave up and treated me the same as I had treated everyone else. I was given the respect of being his wife when I respected him for being my husband.
Now here I am, at my sister Bianca’s wedding, standing in front of those who hadn’t believed that I had been tamed. Though, it wasn’t true. I hadn’t been tamed; I had been freed. Freed from all the stares, the harsh words, the pressures of finding and keeping a husband. It was finally over; I was married; my sister was married, and I need not keep this mask in place. This mask that had once protected me, now stood in my way. I didn’t need protecting any longer, fore I had grown stronger now that I am married. I kept my pride and wit, but gave up what had been hindering me all this time. The mask of hate and anger was gone and now all the villagers need see is my respect and trust in my husband. For my husband didn’t tame me, he freed me, and helped me face the world in a new light. Now as the words come out of me, I know I speak nothing but the truth.