A woman lived a majority of her life as an unlikeable and unpleasant shrew. Over time, it appeared as though a man succeeded in his quest of taming the shrew. Kate ultimately “transformed” into a submissive wife who strived to please her husband. At a first glance, this transformation seems genuine and thus her final speech appeared to be a tribute to her husband whom she loved; however, it is clear throughout the details of the play that Shakespeare meant for the speech to be interpreted sarcastically rather than sincere in terms of describing Kate at the end of the play. Through the use of literary devices such as puns and hyperboles, as well as a comical tone, Shakespeare provided an amusing storyline to his play that would have otherwise…show more content… Most of the remarks made in the speech mock the other true events of the play, which is a meaning of the term “sarcasm”. Kate’s statement for example, “And craves no other tribute at thy hands but love, fair looks, and true obedience,” (Act 5 Scene 2 Line 17-18), mocks Pertruchio’s true intentions for coming to Padua. Pertruchio told Kate in Act 2 during their first meeting that he was after her money and not just a pretty wife. When Kate says, “I am ashamed that women are so simple to offer war where they should kneel for peace,” (Act 5 Scene 2 Line 26-27) she is contradicting her true feelings. The language in this comment indicates sarcasm because Kate never stopped being ashamed for arguing with other people. The only conclusive reason why Kate stopped arguing was because she was getting herself hurt, not because she embarrassed…show more content… The concept of including a single sincere speech at the very end of an otherwise comical play would be very inconsistent with the light-hearted tone of the other scenes. The characters and the way Shakespeare developed them also indicate that the speech was meant to be sarcastic. Upon reviewing previous events in the play, Kate did not change her personality, but adapted it to protect herself from her abusive husband. She therefore would be unlikely to whole-heartedly support the comments made in her speech. In addition Pertruchio’s consistently abusive personality especially proved the sarcasm present in the speech at the end because all of his true qualities were the exact opposite of what Kate described. It is evident that Shakespeare included the speech for comedic effect rather than to signify the taming of Kate. If he wanted the speech to be interpreted as sincere representation of a tamed personality, he would have altered Pertruchio to fit the speech’s description or would have written the speech to fit Pertruchio’s true character. The only way Shakespeare could have dropped the comedic effect in favor of seriousness for this speech alone was if he had written the speech as truthful as possible. It is likely that Shakespeare simply included this monologue to represent what Kate has learned from her “game” of pleasing Pertruchio to get her