On Bianca

Angel of yellow hair and fairest skin

Bestow the devil’s curse upon my fate,

Your foot in the door so I'll never win,

For one day when I brush my hair, abate.

Wretched is the day in which you marry,

I to dance below your wedded feet,

Standing on an open grave, warily

That I might burst the subliminal sweet.

Don't tell me this is only in my head;

I hear our neighbors whisper when I leave,

Wishing you would keep me here for dead,

My docility finally retrieved.

I am not who you pray to God for dearly;

All I am is woman, cavalierly.

Katherine’s insecurities about her womanhood subtly come to light in the first scene of the second act. As she argues with Bianca, the epitome of beauty, poise, and proper femininity, over which suitor Bianca favors most, Katherine describes her sister as her father’s “treasure, [who] must have a husband, and [Kate] must dance barefoot on her wedding day and, for [Baptista’s] love for her, lead apes in Hell” (2.1. 35-37). Katherine’s bitterness seems to stem from a life of neglect by not only her father and sister, but from the world outside her safe haven of a home. Once Kate became aware of the pedestal on which Bianca had been placed early in their childhood, she realized that she would never be perceived as being on the same level as her sister. To cope with this crushing truth, Katherine transformed into the exact opposite of Bianca; it was easier to be the “devilish” villain than the second-best hero because at least then, Katherine would be seen for her individuality and strength rather than her inability to beset her sister. Bianca’s metaphorical pedestal evinces the overall power dynamic between the sisters. Though Katherine’s behavior appears more commanding and forceful, she only exhibits such as an attempt to gain the power she believes she has lost to Bianca throughout her entire life. This explains why Katherine physically attacks and chases her sister (2.1) just because she would not tell her which man she liked the most. The only logical reason as to why Katherine would go to such extreme measures to win a petty argument would be derived from the envy she had been holding onto for years.