Baptista Minola in the Taming of the Shrew Is a Bad Father Essay Example

now dame whence grows this insolence? -Bianca, stand aside. Poor girl, she weeps.

Go ply thy needle. Meddle not with her.

For shame, thou hilding of a Devilish spirit,

Why dost thou wrong her that did ne’er wrong thee?

When did she cross thee with a bitter word? (2.1.23-28).

While saying this quote, Baptista is showing that he feels bad for Bianca and thinks Kate is a “devilish spirit.” Lastly, throughout the play we can see that Baptista views Kate as the shrew that he doesn’t care about and Bianca as the sweet daughter who he cares much about. At one point in the play, Baptista says to Bianca, “ Bianca, get you in, and let it not displease thee, good Bianca, for I will love thee ne’er the less, my girl.” (1.1.75-77). This quote shows the care and love that Baptista has for Bianca.

He does not want to displease her which shows how much he adores her. And when he calls her “my girl” he shows his fatherly love for Bianca. On the other hand, Baptista portrays how he thinks of Kate as a shrew, in front of everyone. During the wedding reception, he says to Petruchio, “... I think thou has the veriest shrew of all.” (5.2.64). Because he is talking to Petruchio (Kate’s husband), he is calling Kate a shrew. Calling your daughter a shrew does not show very fatherly attributes but shows, once again, how he thinks of Kate negatively. From what Baptista has said throughout the play, one can see that he definitely struggles with keeping a fair relationship between his daughters. He favourites Bianca which makes him a bad father.