Father daughter relationships are displayed all throughout history, some more prominent than others. Some father daughter relationships become stronger from the lack of a mother figure in the picture, other’s weaken from the female influence being a strong one. The Taming of the Shrew portrays father daughter relationships well. Baptista, a wealthy man of Padua, has two daughters; Katherina and Bianca. Bianca, who is beautiful and fair, as well as kind and gentle falls prey to the eyes of many men throughout the city. Yet Katherina does not, for she is wild and untamed, rude and often obnoxious. Therefore, Katherine does not acquire the attention of men, she merely scares them away. In order to ensure both of his daughters marry, he makes a rule.
“Gentlemen, importune me no farther,
For how I firmly am resolved you know—
That is, not to bestow my youngest daughter
Before I have a husband for the elder.
If either of you both love Katherina,
Because I know you well and love you well
Leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure.”
He directs this statement to Lucentio and Tranio. Baptista is obviously desperate to have a suitor for his older daughter, wanting to make her happy. By this Baptista may be hampering his youngest daughters chances at marrying. It makes me speculate if he was truly thought through what the best for his daughters would be. By setting this limitation for his youngest daughter, in order for his oldest daughter to be happy, he may hurt Bianca. Although his knowledge of the dowry men will receive if they marry Katarina may influence his decision.
Baptista is obviously dealing with raising two daughters without the help of a dominant female influence. Lacking this female influence makes his decision making process one-sided and therefore he has no one to argue on whether or not his decisions are just. The lack of a mother figure for the girls must be difficult and may influence their choices in men as well. Katherina asks:
“Why, and I trust I may go too, may I not? What, shall I be appointed hours as though, belike, I knew not what to take and what to leave, ha?”
This could give us insight into how Baptista raised his daughters. Perhaps he did not have a firm hand with his daughter’s upbringing. She obviously has become accustomed to coming and going from their house as she pleases, with no reprimand from her father. This makes me wonder if she was spoiled as a child, but then also makes me wonder why Bianca turned out as sweet and kind-natured as she did. You could speculate as far as to say that perhaps Katherina and Bianca’s mother was only in the picture to assist Baptista with Katherina, and perhaps then she was a bad mother anyways, and Baptista ended up doing a good job with his girls in spite of the lack of her in the picture.
"No Fear Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew." No Fear Shakespeare: Shakespeare's Plays plus a Modern Translation You Can Understand. Web. 03 Nov. 2010. <http://nfs.sparknotes.com/shrew/>.
Sasha,
ReplyDeleteI love speculating. I think that is probably one of the most fun qualities that derives from literature; it gives us the ability to come up with our own stories from what is given.
This pairing (or trio) sounds very interesting in comparison to other Shakespearean examples. I know in my play, I only have two examples who live in extremely different circumstances, and neither of them have mothers around. (I hadn't thought of that before. Coincidence?) It seems like Mothers are really only in the picture if the play involves a son...Hamlet for example. Gertrude is majorly involved in the play, while Hamlet's father is gone (physically). I wonder if good ole Will wrote this way on purpose. Another speculation perhaps?
Great job.
Kyle
Sasha,
ReplyDeleteI thought of Ten Things I Hate About You the entire time I read this post. I tried not to, but just could not help it. What happened to the mother here? Is there any evidence in the play that the girls resent their father for their upbringing? I too am very curious as to why Bianca turned out so sweet and Katerina quite the opposite. Depending on how much older Katerina was than her sister at the time of their mother’s death may have altered her perception of the world quite drastically.
And in response to Kyle here, I had never noticed the absence of mothers before in Shakespeare, but now realize how many plays this occurs in. There are definitely many similarities to be drawn between Shakespeare’s plays.
Good job!
Sasha,
ReplyDeleteYou really got me thinking about how the family is different without the maternal portion...I know my family would be incredibly different without my mother. (Aside: Wasn't Julee talking about something like this in American Lit too? ...It's amazing how many of these themes overlap in literature...)
You did well with bringing in the thought of how a family without a maternal figure would run. A father who has two girls would be overwhelmed. Everything *should* be fair, but rarely is, for it's hard to keep two women under control when you don't have the maternal instinct and the bond that goes with it to help you.
Really, Shakespeare does seem to write about a variety of relationships and topics throughout his plays, doesn't he?
Good Job! :)
Sasha,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post i got a better idea of this play. I have never read it so it's interesting to learn about it. It seems that only you and Nicole are the only ones that have a father and more than one daughter that need to fit into the relationship. With the differences between his two daughters i kind of pictured my sister and i because she is more the one that believes she "needs" a man while I am more laid back and if it happens it happens. Although thinking about it now a days a father tends to want to hold on to his daughter/s longer not wanting them to move on and love another man more than their father. I find it an interesting contrast. Good job!
I posted on Kyle's blog just before reading yours, so I have the same thought in mind. Bianca is the obedient daughter, and Katherine is disobedient. As such, are they treated differently by the men in their lives? If I remember correctly (it's been a long time since I've read this), Katherine isn't treated very well because of her truculent demeanor. Poor treatment from her father is likely to have perpetuated and increased her attitude, and life was difficult for her until she began to behave obediently. What is Shakespeare trying to tell us?
ReplyDelete