Petruchio wagers he can marry and tame the shrewish Katherine, and proceeds to do so through starvation, sleep deprivation, and relentless psychological manipulation. Shakespeare wrote this early, and audiences have been arguing about it ever since. Is Katherine broken, or does she find freedom through surrender? Is the final speech ironic or sincere? Productions have tried every interpretation. The discomfort the play produces is part of its power; it forces us to confront our assumptions about gender, power, and love.