Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor 98
BIANCA . Fie ! what a foolish duty call you this ?
LUCENTIO . I would your duty were as foolish too ; The wisdom of your duty , fair Bianca , Hath cost me a hundred crowns since supper-time !
BIANCA . The more fool you for laying on my duty .
PETRUCHIO . Katherine , I charge thee , tell these headstrong women What duty they do owe their lords and husbands .
WIDOW . Come , come , you ' re mocking ; we will have no telling . PETRUCHIO . Come on , I say ; and first begin with her . WIDOW . She shall not . PETRUCHIO . I say she shall : and first begin with her .
KATHERINA . Fie , fie ! unknit that threatening unkind brow , And dart not scornful glances from those eyes To wound thy lord , thy king , thy governor : It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads , Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds , And in no sense is meet or amiable . A woman mov ' d is like a fountain troubled , Muddy , ill-seeming , thick , bereft of beauty ; And while it is so , none so dry or thirsty Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it . Thy husband is thy lord , thy life , thy keeper , Thy head , thy sovereign ; one that cares for thee , And for thy maintenance commits his body To painful labour both by sea and land , To watch the night in storms , the day in cold , Whilst thou liest warm at home , secure and safe ; And craves no other tribute at thy hands But love , fair looks , and true obedience ; Too little payment for so great a debt . Such duty as the subject owes the prince , Even such a woman oweth to her husband ; And when she is froward , peevish , sullen , sour , And not obedient to his honest will , What is she but a foul contending rebel And graceless traitor to her loving lord ? -- I am asham ' d that women are so simple To offer war where they should kneel for peace , Or seek for rule , supremacy , and sway , When they are bound to serve , love , and obey . Why are our bodies soft and weak and