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Katherina, Lines 136-180
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Act 5,
Scene 2
Lines 136-180

Katherina performs lines 136-180 of Act 5, Scene 2 of myShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. 

myShakespeare | Taming of the Shrew 5.2 Performance: Katherina, Lines 136-180

Petruchio

I say she shall, and first begin with her.

Katherina

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 labor 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.