Induction and Act 1
Describe each character:
- Katherine - She is a "shrew," meaning she is a strong minded, stubborn woman who doesn't let the men around her walk all over her. She's the more outspoken of the sisters, the one who speaks her mind without a filter and refuses to let her father pass her off as a whore regardless of whether she's married or not. She has no interest in marriage or men and would rather beat them for the way they treat women.
- Bianca - She is the softer of the two sisters. She is a "perfect" lady, raised to be gentle and loyal and quiet. She seems to be the more beautiful of the two as well, as she is followed around by several different suitors. Bianca likes to be off by herself playing music and reading, but she isn't adverse to marriage. She's just waiting for her sister to find someone first then she can find her person.
- Gremio - An older man and suitor of Bianca. He is stubborn and determined to win Bianca's hand in marriage. He devises a plan with Hortensio to find a suitor for Katherine so they can have Bianca.
- Hortensio - Another older man and also another suitor of Bianca. He, too, is determined to win her hand in marriage and devises a plan with Gremio to find Katherine a suitor so they can have Bianca.
- Petruchio - A wealthy man from Verona, he has been left with his deceased father's fortune and wants to find a rich wife, money being his only concern in life. Katherine fits this description, considering she is rich, so Petruchio sets his sights on Katherine.
- Lucentio - A young nobleman who comes to Padua to study philosophy but is side tracked when he falls in love with Bianca at first sight. He then dresses up and passes himself off as a tutor, intending to win Bianca's heart as he gets to gradually spend more time alone with her.
- Compare Katherine and Bianca to modern day people - Katherine certainly relates to a lot of modern day women that I know in the aspect that she refuses to let the men label her and would rather put them down for their ill treatment of women than let them chase after her all the time. I don't really know anyone like Bianca who isn't simply playing a part to attract men. It seems like the dainty, gentle, noblewoman routine is more of an act than a real personality.
| 1. | The
Induction portrays role-playing. Who acts the part of whom? Why? How
does such role-playing address issues of gender and class? What effects
might these representations have on the play? In the Induction, Sly is unknowingly playing the role of a Lord, Page is playing Sly's wife, and Lucentio is playing the role of a tutor. Sly is having a joke played on him, which Page is being a part of. Luciento is trying to win over Bianca's heart. A drunkard playing a Lord shows that social class is really a mental thing; by just being given lavish things, Sly is placed in the mindset of being a noble Lord. Page playing a woman shows that there really isn't much different between the genders. He is able to successfully pass himself off as both male and female, which is apparently an easier task than most people think it would be. These representations could change the focus of the play; nobody is really who they say they are, so people could focus more on that storyline than the Katherin storyline. |
| 2. | From
the outset, we learn from Bianca's suitors that Katherine is the less
desirable of the two sisters. Examine and question this claim. How are
Biance and Katherine different? What makes Katherine rather than Bianca
the shrew? This claim is directly made by Bianca's suitors, who are obviously biased since they favor Bianca more. What gives them the right to make such claims? Bianca and Katherine seem to be polar opposites. Bianca is a gentle, quiet, proper young woman raised to be a model wife someday. Katherine is a violent, stubborn, strong minded woman who has no problem voicing her thoughts or shutting down the authority of men. Katherine refuses to let men label her or let her own father pass her off as a whore because she is unmarried. She honestly has no interest in love or marriage, unlike her sister who is waiting patiently to get married someday. This makes Katherine the shrew simply because she is seen as undesirable because of her temper, personality, and her actions. I personally like Katherine more than Bianca. c: |
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