Download Disobedient Daughters in Cymbeline and The

Jody Walshe
Disobedient Daughters and Loyal Wives in Cymbeline and The Taming of the
Shrew
Both Cymbeline and The Taming of the Shrew are concerned with daughters who
defy their fathers. This concept is an interesting one when compared to their marital
relationships and loyalty they show to their husbands. Both Imogen and Kate, then,
rebel against their fathers and a large source of the conflict between parent and child
is the issue of marriage. Imogen’s father is horrified that she has ignored his choice
of husband (Cloten) and has married “a beggar” (Posthumus). In The Taming of the
Shrew Kate’s unwillingness to marry the men suggested by her father has wider
ramifications since her younger sister Bianca cannot marry until her elder sister does
so. Interestingly though, both Imogen and Kate end their respective dramas as loyal
and devoted wives.
In Cymbeline the idea of the family as a microcosm of the state is explored with the
disruption in the family between Cymbeline and Imogen spreading throughout the
nation. Britain, from the outset of the play, is presented as being in a state of disorder,
with the King’s only surviving child and heir, Imogen, being married against the royal
will to a man not her social equal, who has been banished as a result. This presents
the problem of lineage since if Cymbeline will not accept the union between his
daughter and Posthumus then his line of descent will end at Imogen. The conflict
between Cymbeline and Imogen creates disturbance and disruption throughout the
court and society, which is instantly indicated by the confused syntax of the play’s
opening speech:
“You do not meet a man but frowns: our bloods
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No more obey the heavens than our courtiers
Still seem as does the king’s” (I.i.1-3)
Nosworthy1 notes that these lines are “rather incoherently” delivered and that this is
reflect the “strange tale” the First Gentleman has to tell. More than this, an immediate
tension is created by the syntactic disorder, a sense of disarray in the state manifesting
itself in the language. This disturbance in Cymbeline’s court is explicitly referred to
later in the scene:
“But not a Courtier,
Although they wear their faces to the bent
If the Kings looks, hath a heart that is not
Glad at the thing they scowl at.” (I.i.12-15)
This makes it unequivocally clear that the courtiers’ support of the King’s rejection of
Posthumus is only superficial and they are inwardly supportive of Imogen’s rejection
of Cloten. It also indicates that the feeling within the court is unanimous against
Cymbeline’s judgement. The popular opinion is shown to be one the side of Imogen
and her “poor but worthy gentleman” (I.i.7) and against Cymbeline. There is also
tension in this speech since the courtiers are deceiving their King: they only “wear”
the expressions required of them but do not genuinely hold the opinion they claim to.
This expression of sentiments which contradict the wishes of the King is in itself
symptomatic of disorder.
Cymbeline’s rejection of his daughter and her new husband equates with a rejection
of fertility and prosperity when considering that he believes that Imogen is his only
1
‘Introduction’ Cymbeline J M Nosworthy (1995)
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heir. The First Gentleman’s account of Posthumus uses an image of fertility to
describe him:
“And in’s spring became a harvest” (I.i.46)
When this is taken in conjunction with the First Gentleman’s praise (which G Wilson
Knight2 remarks is the estimation of Posthumus’ virtue which we are supposed to
accept) it is clear that Cymbeline’s conflict with his daughter puts the King in
opposition with the forces of youth and growth within the drama. It appears at the
beginning of the play that father and daughter must reconcile their differences for the
good of Britain.
The issue is reiterated in the next scene, when Imogen likens her separation from her
husband to death:
“There cannot be a pinch in death
More sharp than this is” (I.ii.61-2)
The mention of death is made more striking when paralleled with the image of
fertility used in the First Gentleman’s description of Posthumus. This is also
emphasised by Cymbeline in his response:
“O disloyal thing
That should’st repair my youth, thou heap’st
A year’s age on me!” (I.ii.63-4)
This is a clear recognition of Imogen’s regenerative power as a young woman despite
ironically denying her this role and claiming that she ages him. In addition to this, the
threat of death hangs over the banished husband should he return to court: the natural
regenerative function of fertility is violently denied, since any attempt at procreation
2
The Crown of Life G Wilson Knight (1946)
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will be met with death. Cymbeline’s accusation of Imogen as a “disloyal thing” rings
of injured paternal feeling and gives an obvious sense that there is an expected part
for Imogen to play as the daughter of the King of Britain and that in disobeying her
father’s wishes and marrying Posthumus she has deviated from this role. This is also
emphasised by his assertion that she “should’st” repair his youth, since it implies that
this is her expected task to undertake there is a sense of reproach that she has not done
so.
The opening scene of The Taming of the Shrew portrays a similarly tempestuous
relationship between father and daughter. Unlike in Cymbeline where the royal
family and its disorder have outward effects on the nation, in The Taming of the
Shrew the mercantile society is reflected in the bargaining for daughters. This
bargaining on the part of Baptista to attempt to get a husband for Kate sparks their
first argument, which takes place within seconds of them entering the stage. Not only
does Kate show her father a compete lack of respect but she also shows contempt for
those around her, threatening to:
“comb your noodle with a three-legged stool” (I.i.64)
In addition to publicly being embarrassed by how his daughter treats him, Baptista is
shamed by association when Kate threatens to beat Hortensio over the head. She
clearly abhors the traditional social notions that she should obey her father and show
gratitude to her suitors.
The sense of a daughter’s duty to a father is also brought up in Cymbeline where the
King is annoyed at Imogen’s absence:
“She hath not appear’d
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Before the Roman, nor to us hath tender’d
The duty of the day. She looks us like
A thing more made of malice than of duty,
We have noted it.” (III.v.30-4)
The importance of “duty” is stressed by its repetition twice in two lines and the claim
that “she look us like / a thing more made of malice than of duty” the implication is
clear that Imogen, in her role as daughter and heir to the throne of Britain should be a
“thing of” duty.
Kate’s disregard for her duty to her father can be seen in striking contrast to her
eventual devotion to her husband. Much of what we know about Kate initially comes
from what other people say about her. In Act I, for instance, we see her only briefly
and hear her speak even less, yet our view of her is fairly well established. She is
introduced to the audience with comments such as: “she is too rough for me” (I.i.54)
and “though her father be very rich, any man is so very a fool to be married to hell?”
(I.i.124) and it is made clear from the play’s first scene that her father wants to be
“rid” of her:
“Her elder sister is so curst and shrewd
That till the father rid his hands of her…” (I.i.180-1)
Kate has already shown herself to be fiery and determined in arguing with her father
and the suitors to her sister and this speech indicates that she is in a world where the
men have no idea what to do with her; her father is desperate to marry her off
(offering an enticingly large dowry) and the men of Padua are horrified at the concept
of a her as a wife.
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This horror on their part seems unfair: despite the opening images of Kate as
inherently “shrewish” it is more than possible to see this as a natural response to her
“dreadful father”3 and his clear favouritism of her “insipid”4 sister. There is a strong
underlying notion that Kate's shrewish behaviour is a consequence of the
mistreatment by her sister and father. Her father continually humiliates her in public
and his decision that Bianca may not marry until Kate has is degrading in itself. This
is most apparent in Act II when Baptista enters and comes to Bianca’s rescue after she
has been tied up by her sister; Kate’s jealousy is clear in her claim that Bianca is her
father’s “treasure” who “must have a husband.” Kate’s feeling of humiliation is made
explicit in the accompanying image of her being forced to “dance barefoot on her
wedding day” (II.i.33) using a phrase which became proverbial for remaining
unmarried.
When looking at Kate’s behaviour in the light of this treatment perhaps it is less
surprising that she is “renown’d in Padua for her scolding tongue” (I.ii.99) and
frequently striking whoever she is arguing with. Her transformation from disobedient
daughter to loyal wife is fascinating, as although it may seem that she has lost her
independence and been “tamed” in fact she has just matured. Perhaps there is
nowhere in the play when Kate is seen as more enigmatic than in her final speech.
Although it is possible to read this at face-value, what we know of Kate’s character
makes this impossible. What has been termed ‘the Elizabethan world picture’5
asserted a hierarchy which descended from God to inanimate nature and on this ladder
a wife stands on the rung below her husband. Kate’s speech accepts this notion and
reiterates it:
3
Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human H Bloom (1998)
ibid
5
‘Introduction’ The Taming of the Shrew B Morris (1981)
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“Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper
Thy head, thy sovereign.” (V.ii.147-8)
Her language is excessive and she gives Petruchio more than he bargained for when
he charged her with informing the Widow and Bianca “what duty they owe their lords
and husbands” (V.ii.132). Kate’s speech does not reflect a tamed shrew but a more
mature woman than she was in the play’s first scene with an ability to control herself
and what goes on around her. Kate’s later lines would have had a particular
resonance with the Elizabethan audience since they would all have been familiar with
the ‘Homily Against Wilful Rebellion’ from what they would have heard in their
parish churches:
“What is she but a foul contending rebel,
And graceless traitor to her loving lord.” (V.ii.160-1)
Morris6 notes that this would also have been more powerful for Shakespearian
audience since they would have witnessed the heads of rebels exposed in public
places. This is made more powerful because “graceless” does not only mean
‘unpleasing’ but also carried religious overtones in terms of ‘lacking the grace of
god.’ In stressing the importance of a wife’s duty, “to serve, love and obey” Kate
alludes to the well-known phraseology of the Book of Common Prayer, where in the
Marriage Service the Priest asks the woman:
“Wilt thou obey him, and serue him, loue, honor and kepe him in sickenes and
in health?”7
She shows that she is her husband’s equal by giving as good as she gets and goes
beyond this, showing that despite his “taming” she still has a degree of control which
she can exercise, in this case giving such an exaggerated view of the conventional
‘Introduction’ The Taming of the Shrew B Morris (1981)
In ‘The Forme of Solemnizacion of Matrimonie’ The First and Second Prayer-Books of Edward VI
(1910)
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opinion of women that it could even be seen as embarrassing to Pertruchio. Despite
this possibility, by using a speech imbued with religious references Kate makes her
understanding of duty clear; she is a far cry from the “a devilish spirit” (II.i.26)
described by her father in the second act of the play.
The conclusion of Cymbeline is also intriguing in its happy resolution. Shakespeare’s
use of Jupiter in the final act is an interesting choice since there is no external
evidence of direct intervention by the god and it would have been possible to
conclude the play without him. Despite this, Jupiter’s presence has a fundamental
role in giving his approval to the establishment of peace and harmony at the dramas
conclusion. His appearance gives a sense that the happiness of the play’s end will be
long lasting and gives it a sense of certainty. The Soothsayer takes advantage of this
by presenting a new interpretation of his vision of the eagle, as confirming for all that
the heavens have arranged and condone the final state:
“The fingers of the Powres aboue, do tune
The harmony of this Peace” (V.v.467-8)
This supports Nosworthy’s8 claim that without the deus ex machina, the restoration of
order would have been impossible, such was the state of disorder and violence before
it: “the situation is so fantastically chaotic that no mere human being could be
expected to control it. Such disorder can only be remedied only by god.” The
concept of the family as a microcosm of the state can be seen at the end of the play
where “the final acceptance of Posthumus’ marriage with Imogen typifies the
matrimonial peace of the individual, the social integrity of the nation.”9
8
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‘Introduction’ Cymbeline J M Nosworthy (1995)
ibid
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Both the disobedience of Imogen and Kate to their fathers, then, is understandable.
Kate “shrewish” behaviour stems from the unfair treatment given to her when
compared to Bianca and Imogen’s rebellion against her father is because she does not
want to marry man whose first mention in Cymbeline is as “a thing / too bad for bad
report” (I.i.16-17). Kate’s final acceptance of her marriage and role as dutiful wife in
her final speech illustrates her understanding of the importance of compromise in a
marital relationship, and that she considers Petruchio a husband worthy of her love
and service. Imogen’s disobedience is to her father in showing allegiance to
Posthumus above him comes from the acknowledgement that she and Posthumus are
figures of youth and fertility. Nosworthy10 asserts that “national and sexual
degeneration are concurrent, but Imogen [is] a regenerative force and the
circumstances of the play yield a massive union.” Her disobedience is necessary for
her to be obedient to her husband and her correct judgement is proven by the deus ex
machina in the penultimate scene of the play.
10
‘Introduction’ Cymbeline J M Nosworthy (1995)
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