Essential Question 8

Are Petruchio and Katherine in love?

Petruchio and Katherine are not in love. Their relationship did not start with love. Petruchio was used as a tool for Hortensio so that he could try and woo Bianca. Petruchio did not pursue Katherine on the basis of love. It was more of a challenge for Petruchio. He was paid to woo Katherine and that is what it seems to be. He does not show that he loves her. He is trying to tame her. Katherine does not seem to have much love for Petruchio either. She does things to please him, but there does not seem to be much love between the two. She disagrees with him as he tries to tame her, and only agrees with him so that they do not argue. Their relationship lacks love. This does not mean that love is impossible for them to attain. It is just not existent at this point in their relationship.