Petruchio No Love (Tyler Damerell)
Most,
if not all, marriages in Shakespeare’s time were arranged, and not based on
love or passion between partners.
Marriage used to be a purely economic exchange: trade the woman and some
other goods (land, cattle, etc.) for a tie to wealth or power. In the case of The Taming of the Shrew, when we are first introduced to Petruccio
in 1.2 he says that his goal is to “wive and thrive” (54), or rather, to seek a
wife and his fortune. He is steadfast in
his goal as he asks Baptista about his dowry in 2.1. In this scene it is clear
that Petruccio is most interested in his potential gains from his marriage, and
not at all interested in winning Katherina’s love.
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