In the Shakespearean play, "The Taming of the Shrew," Katherine behaves inappropriately throughout the first few acts. Being afraid of love, assuming the "bad" role, and her father's favoritism of her rival sister, Bianca, lead Katherine to act the way she does.
             First, Katherine is afraid of being hurt by love. In the novel, she says that she will not lighten up, thus, a man cannot love her. Another instance is when Bianca announces that she wants to be married, and since her older sister, Katherine is not married, Katherine will have to be barefoot. So, since Bianca found someone she wanted to marry, her father set out to find someone for Katherine to marry. Katherine has never really been in love, she is apprehensive about engaging in a relationship.
             Secondly, since Bianca has already taken the role of the "perfect" and "beautiful" child, Katherine assumes the role of the "bad" or "acting out" child. This type of behavior is evident in the way their father treats the two of them. In one incident, Katherine bullies and strikes Bianca and then their father rescues Bianca from the harsh treatment. When Petrucio announces his engagement to Katherine, Katherine throws a fit. Although she has a right to be upset since she does not know him that well, she had a huge outburst of anger and should have tried to control herself better. Katherine always seems to be upset and angry about something.
             Thirdly, her father, Baptista, favors her sister, Bianca. Because of this favoritism, Katherine becomes very jealous. One day, Katherine is talking to her father about Bianca and says, "she is your treasure, she must have a husband." Katherine is envious of her sister and notices all the love her father gives Bianca. Moreover, this treatment hurts Katherine so much that she feels that she needs to act up in order to get attention.
             Therefore, Shakespeare does a wonderful job portraying Katherine as a "shrew." She is characteri...