The Taming of the Shrew-Kate and Bianca

1295 Words6 Pages
William Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright of all time. His gift for developing characters is one major aspect that accounts for this high acknowledgement. Shakespeare created various characters ranging from drunks and fools to kings and generals. The complexity of his characters is a perfect reflection of human nature thus allowing the audience to relate to them and to understand what they themselves are capable of. As a result of Shakespeare's true-to-life characters, the relationship between Katherine and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew is completely realistic, reflective of every aspect of the ever-present experience of sibling rivalry. Some people believe that sibling rivalry is nothing more than a series of petty disputes between restless youths, a childhood trauma that most people outgrow. However, sibling rivalry also includes much more serious cases, like the permanent hostility between adult siblings. This phenomenon was studied extensively in the nineteenth century, when Charles Darwin presented his theory of evolution. At that time, he said that one of the major causes of sibling rivalry is natural, and it occurs in nature when the competition is usually for food. Specifically, whenever two individuals that consume the same type of food co-exist in the same area, they fight with each other until one of them manages to kill or drive the other out, leaving the winner with the exclusive use of the food resources available in that area. In the case of the play, clearly Kate and Bianca compete for their father's attention and Kate's perceived lack of it prompts much of her unattractive personality. This is first demonstrated in the first scene of the first act, wherein the main predicament of the play sets off the action: Katherine must have plans to marry before Bianca can even be seriously courted, and Katherine has no
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