Bianca

Bianca, KatherineÂ’s younger sister, pretends to be gentle, kind, helpless, and selfless. In truth, she is a hypocrite and a manipulator who manages to conceal her true self until the end of the play. Throughout the drama, she turns on her charm and seems to be loving and thoughtful in order to ingratiate herself with others, particularly her father. She convinces Baptista that she is self-sacrificing and suffers greatly because of KatherineÂ’s nature. Because of her sweetness, Baptista is definitely partial to Bianca over the shrewish Katherine. As a result, she usually gets her way.

Because she is beautiful and witty, Bianca has many suitors. She is independent enough not to follow her fatherÂ’s advice about a husband. Instead, she chooses on her own and falls in love with Lucentio. She openly defies her father by eloping with him. Bianca, however, is never an obedient wife. When Lucentio calls to her, she says she is too busy to come to him. She also calls him a fool, appearing to be more of a shrew than the reformed Katherine.

Baptista, a rich old man from Padua, has two daughters, Katherine and Bianca. He considers Bianca his favorite and always patronizes her. In contrast, he treats Kate very badly, even humiliating her in public. The more he mistreats her, the more unpleasant she becomes, in order to hide her hurt. In order to be out from under the burden of her shrewish ways, Bianca offers a very large dowry for Katherine. He does not care about the quality of her husband or where he comes from. As if she were a commodity, he bargains with Petruchio to have BiancaÂ’s hand in marriage, even though she protests. Bianca is definitely not a good father, for he pampers and spoils Bianca and mistreats Katherine, who is hungry for his attention.

Christopher Sly

The drunken tinker is only a character in the induction, but because of him, the play is put into motion. The traveling actors, at the request of the Lord, perform The Taming of the Shrew for SlyÂ’s benefit, for he has never seen a dramatic presentation.

Sly is a simple man who drinks too much and boasts too often. He tells the others in the alehouse that he is a descendent of "Richard Conqueror." He tries to be dignified, as if he were royalty; but his actions and language show that he is unrefined and rowdy. The disparity is quite humorous. When the Lord and his men tell Sly that he is a nobleman with a wife, he does not question the story for long, proving that he is gullible. Once he believes he is noble, his behavior becomes even more exaggerated and his speaking attempts loftiness. Sly, however, cannot rise above his humble beginnings. When he can have any drink that he might desire, he orders a small pot of the cheapest ale. Through Sly, Shakespeare has a reason for the play, establishes the theme of appearance vs reality, and creates a wonderful comic character.

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