About Relationships

In the Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio forces Katherine into marriage with him. They basically skip the part where they’re supposed to get to know each other. This shows how relationships were different then vs. now. In About Last Night, Bernie and Joan meet and hit it off instantly, they rushed things and consequently, their relationship suffered temporarily. They go from have sex occasionally to arguing out of spite every time they see each other. The Taming of the Shrew and About Last night are similar in their message which is love has happy endings and that the road to happiness isn’t always easy. However in contrast, Katherine has no say in whether or not if she wants to be with Petruchio, and Bernie doesn’t take the time to get to really know Joan before he makes her his girlfriend, all he wanted was sex.

In this scene, Bernie is explaining to his best friend Danny about last night. He tells him that he met Joan at a bar and the only reason they really wound up in the bed is because of the fact the he dated a woman Joan hated. This is the good part of their relationship but because they didn’t take the time to get to actually know each other, their relationship eventually wasn’t so great.

Both relationships reach a point where all they do is argue and someone eventually just gives in. In this particular part of the book, Petruchio is arguing with Katherine telling her to say that the sun is actually the moon. In Act 4, Scene 5, lines 21-22, Katherine submits to Petruchio by saying,“Then God be blest, it is the blessed sun. But sun it is not, when you say it is not.” Katherine is realizing that she just has to give in to Petruchio, and maybe in her mind things will get better.

In this scene, Bernie is explaining to Danny the complexity of him and Joan’s relationship. While they were constantly arguing with each other, they got to know more about each other. Bernie is thankful that they can put the bickering behind them and is so happy to have a genuine relationship with Joan. If he had never given in to Joan by telling her how much he missed and loved her, they wouldn’t be in this happy place.

The last stage of the relationships are the part where they basically start over. They forget the previous animosity that they had in their hearts for one another and move on to be happy with each other. In Act 5, Scene 2, lines 162-163, Katherine is talking about what a husband’s job is and accepting the love they provide. She says, “Thy husband is thy Lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee.” At this point Katherine realizes that her and Petruchio may have gotten off on the wrong foot, Petruchio will truly care for her. At the end of her speech, she kisses him and you can imagine the smiles on their faces as the finally reached true happiness together.