Theming of the Shrew

In the play, The Taming of The Shrew, a major theme that can be found is that marriage is an economic institution. This theme can be found in multiple places throughout the play such as the marriage choices of Petruchio and Hortensio. Petruchio marries Kate for her father's money, and Hortensio also marries a rich widow. Another example that emphasizes this theme is when Baptista wants to make sure that Lucentio has enough money to keep Bianca alive if he was to die. These two examples convey the themeby showing that Petruchio, Hortensio, and Baptista were all looking for people that had money for their marriage. This theme does not connect to any other piece of literature that we have read because in none of these pieces of literature is marriage shown to help be an economic gain.