Petruchio is the male romantic lead in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...

(c. 1590–1594). Petruchio is a fortune seeker who enters into a marriage with a strong-willed young woman named Kate

Kate (The Taming of the Shrew)

Katherina Minola is a fictional character and the female romantic lead in the comedy The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. Kate is the elder outspoken daughter of Baptista Minola and the sister of apparently sweet-tempered Bianca...

 and then proceeds to "tame" her temperamental spirit. The character, the play, Petruchio's methods, and Kate's fifth act soliloquy have excited controversy among feminists and modern critics. However, a close reading of Kate's final soliloquy actually implies a much deeper equality between the sexes than is commonly given credence by conventional criticism.