Bianca Minola
Encyclopedia
Bianca Minola is a character in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew
(c.1590-1594). She is the younger daughter of Baptista Minola and the sister of Kate, the "shrew" of the title. The lovely Bianca has several admirers in the play, but Baptista has refused to allow her to marry until his shrewish daughter Kate has found a husband. When Kate marries, Bianca is united with her lover, Lucentio. Theatrically, Bianca is the ingenue
in Shrew and the female lead in the play's subplot.
's I Suppositi, either directly or through George Gascoigne
's English version Supposes (performed 1566, printed 1573).
. Unlike Kate, Bianca is very obedient and sweet-tempered, causing her to have a good number of suitors. Her father however declares that none may marry Bianca until Kate is wed. Desperate to win Bianca's hand in marriage, one of her suitors Hortensio gets his friend Petruchio
, who is willing enough, to marry Kate so that Bianca would be allowed to marry. Hortensio then attempts to woo her in the disguise of a tutor named Litio. Bianca however falls in love with another suitor, Lucentio (also in the guise of a tutor 'Cambio'). The pair are married and at the wedding feast, Petruchio suggests a contest between himself, Lucentio, and Hortensio: They each send for their wives and the wife that respondes is the most obedient. Despite Lucentio's faith in her obedience, Bianca does not come when summoned, saying that she is too busy. When she is forcefully brought to Lucentio by Kate, Bianca insists that her husband was a fool to set store by her obedience.
Throughout the play, there is evidence of sibling rivalry between Bianca and Kate as Kate accuses Bianca as being their father's "treasure" and the one that he wishes to have married first. In one scene, Kate ties Bianca's hands and whips her, in an attempt to discover which of her suitors Bianca likes the best (Bianca however insists that she has yet to meet a suitor that she truly loves).
plays Bianca in the first screen version of the play directed by D.W. Griffith (1908). Dorothy Jordan
plays Bianca in the first "talkie" film version of the play with Mary Pickford
as Kate and Douglas Fairbanks
as Petruchio. Natasha Pyne
renders the role in the 1967 film starring Elizabeth Taylor
as Kate and her then-husband Richard Burton as Petruchio. Susan Penhaligon
appears as Bianca in the 1980 BBC television production directed by Jonathan Miller
. Laura Boccanera plays Bianca in the most recent film version of the play, Kate - La bisbetica domata (2004) which was billed as the first-ever stop-animation movie made in Italy.
In the modern movie version Ten Things I Hate About You, Bianca is played by Larisa Oleynik
. In the ABC Family
television series 10 Things I Hate About You
, Bianca is played by Meaghan Jette Martin
.
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
(c.1590-1594). She is the younger daughter of Baptista Minola and the sister of Kate, the "shrew" of the title. The lovely Bianca has several admirers in the play, but Baptista has refused to allow her to marry until his shrewish daughter Kate has found a husband. When Kate marries, Bianca is united with her lover, Lucentio. Theatrically, Bianca is the ingenue
Ingenue (stock character)
See also Disingenuous, which is not quite the antonym that it may seem!The ingénue is a stock character in literature, film, and a role type in the theatre; generally a girl or a young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome. Ingenue may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in...
in Shrew and the female lead in the play's subplot.
Origin
The basic elements of the play are present in Don Juan Manuel's 14th-century Castilian tale of the "young man who married a very strong and fiery woman". The play's subplot, involving the characters Bianca and Lucentio, derives from Ludovico AriostoLudovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic Orlando Furioso . The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato, describes the adventures of Charlemagne, Orlando, and the Franks as they battle against the Saracens with diversions...
's I Suppositi, either directly or through George Gascoigne
George Gascoigne
George Gascoigne was an English poet, soldier, artist, and unsuccessful courtier. He is considered the most important poet of the early Elizabethan era, following Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and leading to the emergence of Philip Sidney...
's English version Supposes (performed 1566, printed 1573).
Role in the play
Bianca Minola is the younger daughter of Baptista Minola and sister to Katerina (Kate) MinolaKate (The Taming of the Shrew)
Katherina Minola is a fictional character and the female romantic lead in the comedy The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. Kate is the elder outspoken daughter of Baptista Minola and the sister of apparently sweet-tempered Bianca...
. Unlike Kate, Bianca is very obedient and sweet-tempered, causing her to have a good number of suitors. Her father however declares that none may marry Bianca until Kate is wed. Desperate to win Bianca's hand in marriage, one of her suitors Hortensio gets his friend Petruchio
Petruchio
Petruchio is the male romantic lead in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew . Petruchio is a fortune seeker who enters into a marriage with a strong-willed young woman named Kate and then proceeds to "tame" her temperamental spirit...
, who is willing enough, to marry Kate so that Bianca would be allowed to marry. Hortensio then attempts to woo her in the disguise of a tutor named Litio. Bianca however falls in love with another suitor, Lucentio (also in the guise of a tutor 'Cambio'). The pair are married and at the wedding feast, Petruchio suggests a contest between himself, Lucentio, and Hortensio: They each send for their wives and the wife that respondes is the most obedient. Despite Lucentio's faith in her obedience, Bianca does not come when summoned, saying that she is too busy. When she is forcefully brought to Lucentio by Kate, Bianca insists that her husband was a fool to set store by her obedience.
Throughout the play, there is evidence of sibling rivalry between Bianca and Kate as Kate accuses Bianca as being their father's "treasure" and the one that he wishes to have married first. In one scene, Kate ties Bianca's hands and whips her, in an attempt to discover which of her suitors Bianca likes the best (Bianca however insists that she has yet to meet a suitor that she truly loves).
Performances
Linda ArvidsonLinda Arvidson
-Biography:Linda Arvidson was the first wife of film director D.W. Griffith . She played lead roles in many of his earliest films. While acting, she was sometimes credited as Linda Griffith...
plays Bianca in the first screen version of the play directed by D.W. Griffith (1908). Dorothy Jordan
Dorothy Jordan (film actress)
Dorothy Jordan was an American movie actress who had a short but successful career beginning in talking pictures in 1929.-Early career:...
plays Bianca in the first "talkie" film version of the play with Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
as Kate and Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....
as Petruchio. Natasha Pyne
Natasha Pyne
Natasha Pyne , is an English actress.Pyne started her career at the Royal Court in a production of John Osbourne's Inadmissible Evidence and followed it in productions at the Lyric and Royal Shakespeare Company. She is best known for her role in the British television sitcom series Father, Dear...
renders the role in the 1967 film starring Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
as Kate and her then-husband Richard Burton as Petruchio. Susan Penhaligon
Susan Penhaligon
Susan Penhaligon is a British actress and writer, she is probably best known for her appearances in the controversial 1976 drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire and several ongoing roles in UK television series.-Early days:...
appears as Bianca in the 1980 BBC television production directed by Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
. Laura Boccanera plays Bianca in the most recent film version of the play, Kate - La bisbetica domata (2004) which was billed as the first-ever stop-animation movie made in Italy.
In the modern movie version Ten Things I Hate About You, Bianca is played by Larisa Oleynik
Larisa Oleynik
Larisa Romanovna Oleynik is an American actress. She came to fame in the mid-1990s, after starring in the title role of the popular television series, The Secret World of Alex Mack, and has also appeared in theatrical films, including The Baby-Sitters Club and 10 Things I Hate About You...
. In the ABC Family
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
television series 10 Things I Hate About You
10 Things I Hate About You (TV series)
10 Things I Hate About You is an American television situation comedy broadcast on ABC Family beginning in 2009. Developed by Carter Covington, the show is a half-hour, single camera series based on the 1999 film of the same name...
, Bianca is played by Meaghan Jette Martin
Meaghan Jette Martin
Meaghan Jette Martin is an American actress and singer, who is known for her role as Tess Tyler in the Disney Channel original movies Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam...
.