In Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, the author uses a variety of characters portraying all different types of mankind to show a general view of life. The reader directly relates to the conflicts in the plot, and using a mixture of both comedy and irony, Shakespeare is able to obtain an emotional, not critical, response from the audience. G. B. Harrison summarized this writing style by Shakespeare by stating, “When we try to analyze the universality of Shakespeare, we find that he is not particularly original as a thinker, nor is he the only English writer. Others, in various ways, have written poetry as memorable. But he is the most universal of all, because he is the wisest; that is, he can understand and sympathize more than any other men. He can see the whole picture of humanity and re-create it so that men of every kind, country, creed, and generation understand. Knowing humanity as no one else ever did, he is nevertheless neither a mocking nor a weeping philosopher. He views life with zest, and he is so great that he can refrain from moral judgements.”When Harrison states that Shakespeare is “the most universal of all,” he means that the characters represented in Shakespeare’s plays are represented and understood by all people of society, especially the characters in The Taming of the Shrew. A common feeling felt by many children in society is negligence or favoritism by their parents. Bianca, the younger of two daughters of Baptista, is presented as a young, modest girl with an angelic appearance. Baptista is directly seen as a biased father who shows favoritism towards his daughter, Bianca. In Scene I of Act I, Baptista portrays this favoritism by stating, “And so, farewell Katherina, you may stay for I have to commune with Bianca,” and discarding Katherina as a piece of garbage and showing no concern (Shakespeare 103-104). Many times people will become selfish and...
