TOTS Act 5

1.

Analyze Kate's final speech. Is she sincere or ironic? Should we take her at her word? Or should we imagine a gap between what she says and what she means? Does the context of her words change their meanings? What are different possibilities in performing this scene? Kate's final speech speaks loudly to how she has been "tamed" and is actually very sincere when delivering her message to Bianca and the widow. As an audience, we should take Kate at her word because she speaks of her husband as her Lord and slanders the women for not being more obedient and thankful to their husbands, who in that time period were considered the better half of  relationship. I do not think the context of her words changes the overall central meaning, because she speaks as a woman who knows her place in marriage and simply wants to get on with her life; I believe she is actually trying to advise the other women about this to make sure they too can become happy like she has become by accepting her role in life/marriage.

2.

What happens to the power dynamics in this scene–between mem and men, women and women, men and women? In this scene many dynamics between genders are depicted. For example, the men bet upon the women as if they were nothing but a possession to them and thought no more of it. On the other hand, the women found no wrong doing in this act because they know that the men are their superior and if they want to do that they can. Surprisingly the women have no objection, but thanks to the time period there isn't much they could do about it anyway. The woman to woman interaction n this last scene surprised me because I expected to see amore unified, common house issue that the women together unite to fight for a solution. However, this was not the case, in fact, Kate even scolded the other women for not being obedient and "loving" to their husbands.