Petruchio’s cruel, abusive, and manipulative language continues throughout the play, evident again through his strange language following his marriage. Everyone else, including his new wife Katherine, expect to enjoy a marriage feast; Petruchio’s language indicates he has other plans for the new couple:
I will be master of what is mine own.
She is my goods, my chattels, she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing. (III.ii.229-32)
Though Katherine asks Petruchio to stay at the feast, Petruchio uses language to indicate that her own wishes and desires, little as they mattered before, matter not at all anymore. She is “his own,” an object over which he will be master. She is his goods, as …show more content…
He refers to her as a “falcon,” another pet description he thrusts upon her. Like falconers will starve their birds so that their birds come to depend upon them for food, Petruchio keeps her “sharp” and “passing empty” so that she cannot and does not experience any satiation for her physical hunger or emotional needs. His purpose is to keep her dependent upon him as a bird is on its falconer; she needs to stoop, i.e., recognize his authority, to see her lure, the bait the falconer uses to call her back and satisfy the bird just enough to keep the bird dependent. He further confirms his purpose in stating he needs to man, or tame, his haggard, another word for a wild female hawk. He needs to control when and where she comes and goes, and he needs her to recognize his superiority over her. He says that Katherine requires watching as bating, beating (flapping, fluttering), disobedient kites do. His use of “kites” as a synonym for birds, somewhat homophonous with his preferred nickname for Katherine, ensures that his use of the bird metaphor is to indicate the power he will exact over his new bride. His cruelty, manipulation, and abuse are undeniable here, even when she is not present in the scene to be aware of his intentions, and as he sheds metaphor in favor of explicit language that leaves no doubt as to his plans for controlling
I will be master of what is mine own.
She is my goods, my chattels, she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing. (III.ii.229-32)
Though Katherine asks Petruchio to stay at the feast, Petruchio uses language to indicate that her own wishes and desires, little as they mattered before, matter not at all anymore. She is “his own,” an object over which he will be master. She is his goods, as …show more content…
He refers to her as a “falcon,” another pet description he thrusts upon her. Like falconers will starve their birds so that their birds come to depend upon them for food, Petruchio keeps her “sharp” and “passing empty” so that she cannot and does not experience any satiation for her physical hunger or emotional needs. His purpose is to keep her dependent upon him as a bird is on its falconer; she needs to stoop, i.e., recognize his authority, to see her lure, the bait the falconer uses to call her back and satisfy the bird just enough to keep the bird dependent. He further confirms his purpose in stating he needs to man, or tame, his haggard, another word for a wild female hawk. He needs to control when and where she comes and goes, and he needs her to recognize his superiority over her. He says that Katherine requires watching as bating, beating (flapping, fluttering), disobedient kites do. His use of “kites” as a synonym for birds, somewhat homophonous with his preferred nickname for Katherine, ensures that his use of the bird metaphor is to indicate the power he will exact over his new bride. His cruelty, manipulation, and abuse are undeniable here, even when she is not present in the scene to be aware of his intentions, and as he sheds metaphor in favor of explicit language that leaves no doubt as to his plans for controlling