For those of you who don't know this about me yet, I should tell you that I am an insane Shakespeare nut. I love all of his writings whether plays, sonnets, or poems. My favorite of his plays is the comedy "Much Ado About Nothing," which tells of the constant duel between Benedick and Beatrice and of the undying love of Claudio and Hero. But the bit of Shakespeare I want to share with you today is from his play "Taming of the Shrew."
Taming of the Shrew tells the story of a shrew by the name of Katherine, or Kate, who is an absolute pain to her father, her sister, and her community. Her younger sister is fair and virtuous, and sought after by many young men, but not allowed to marry until the elder shrew is out of the nest. Finally there comes a day where a man by the name of Petruchio comes to the town of Padua, and upon meeting Kate decides to wed her.
The entirety of the rest of the play is spent with Petruchio working to tame his wife, the shrew. At the end of the play Petruchio brings Kate back to Padua, and while at the dinner table with many other married couples, Kate gives a speech. A speech that shocks all the people at the table, as it clearly shows her change of heart. This is the speech that she gives:
Fie, fie! unknit that threatening unkind brow,
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes,
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor:
It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads,
Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds,
And in no sense is meet or amiable.
A woman moved 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.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks and true obedience;
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince
Even such a woman oweth to her husband;
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,
What is she but a foul contending rebel
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
I am ashamed that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love and obey.
Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions and our hearts
Should well agree with our external parts?
Come, come, you froward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown;
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband's foot:
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready; may it do him ease.
This is a beautiful speech that I memorized years ago, and strive often to keep in memory. There are so many good pieces in here. "I am ashamed that women are so simple,to offer war where they should kneel for peace; or seek for rule, supremacy and sway, when they are bound to serve, love and obey. Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth, unapt to toil and trouble in the world, but that our soft conditions and our hearts should well agree with our external parts?"
Is this not exactly what we are seeing in the actions of women today. We think that we have the right ti insist on conflict. To try to rule, have power, command battles. But God created women different for a reason. Not only is our body softer, weaker, and smoother than a male's, but our inward hearts are meant to be the same. God created women to have a softer heart than men, and thus not one that should hunger after war, power, or rule.
"My mind hath been as one of yours, my heart as great, my reason haply more. To bandy word for word, and frown for frown; but now I see our lances are but straws. Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare. That seeming to be most which we indeed least are."
This is very true of me. I have always had a hard time controlling my tongue, and when I was younger I didn't really try. I was the kind to brandy word for word, and frown for frown. In fact I played the part of the same Kate in a play that was a spoof on many Shakespeare plays when I was 13, and the guy I played opposite of got more then his fair share of the sharp side of my tongue. In fact, I acted the part of Kate so well, that particular young man thought that I really was a shrew at heart.
So my mind "hath been as one of yours." But I have now seen through multiple different scenarios that those harsh comments that seem strong are actually weak. That our shrewish comments are but straws, and they aren't at all what God made us to be. In essence "seeming to be most which we indeed least are."
"Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot, and place your hands below your husband's foot; in token of which duty, if he please, my hand is ready, may it do him ease."
This phrase is a great picture of what submission looks like. We should, as women, set our own interests aside "vail our stomachs," because it really is best "for it is no boot." And then in service to the men God has placed us under, whether father, brother, or husband, we should always be ready and happy to serve and please him.
I really love this speech, and overall it is a wonderful speech of submission and of both the duties and joys involved in wife-hood.
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