Kate's course of humiliation in Taming of a Shrew isn't so much a punishment as a cure for a pattern of behaviour that is seen as making her as miserable as those around her. As with Othello and the Merchant of Venice it's a bit hard to spin in a way that is too acceptable these days, probably even more so. Outside certain cultures, such as Saudi Arabia and some parts of the US, that is.

Some modern productions try to adjust things so that it's seen as a strange kind of feminine empowerment, which is a bit difficult. I went the other day to a screening of the Globe production, which stuck strictly to Shakespeare's line, which felt equally strange.