Setting the Stage

In Act II, Scene I, Shakespeare does a very good job of introducing a troubling situation where Bianca has been tied up by Katherine. The wording of the scene shows Bianca’s confusion and desperation to get away from Katherine. Likewise, the wording for when Baptista arrives further shows the overwhelming confusion of the scene. As the story states: “ ‘Good sister, wrong me not, nor wrong yourself, to make a bondmaid and a slave of me…unbind my hands…Why, how now, dame, whence grows this insolence?…Why dost thou wrong her that did ne’er wrong thee? When did she cross thee with a bitter word?(Act II, Scene I, Lines 1-27). The wording in this scene demonstrates to the reader the sheer confusion of the whole situation. Both Bianca and Baptista are seeking reasonable explanations for Bianca’s behavior while trying to be compassionate at the same time.

The Shakespeare does a good job in this specific scene of a creating a image of a confused Bianca and an even more confused Baptista. When I first read this scene in the play, I imagined a crazed and wide-eyed Katherine tying a helpless looking Bianca to a chair. Furthermore, I imagined Baptista to be both confused and disappointed by his oldest daughters actions.