Luis-Manuel Visual Essay

Bernardo and Baptista's Great Agenda Debacle.

Comparing themes of male ideals in courtship/dating from The Taming of The Shrew and West Side Story, by Luis-Manuel Morales

Oftentimes, parents or parental figures will use their authority to prioritize their agendas and overlook the wishes of their children. In Taming of the Shrew and West Side Story, Baptista and Bernardo are the parent figures of each play respectively. Baptista, the actual father of Katherine, and Bernardo, the older brother of Maria, have their priorities. Baptista remains loyal to his finances, and Bernardo remains loyal to the Sharks,his gang fellow Puerto Ricans. When Petruchio comes along, Baptista sees him as a financial gain, and arranges the marriage between him and his daughter, Katherine. Maria, on the other hand, falls in love with Tony, a white teen who is a member of the rival clique, the Jets, and Bernardo wants nothing of it. Bernardo tries to hook her up with a fellow Shark  Puerto Rican Chino. In both of these stories, the judgements of the male parental figures are blurred by bias and personal agendas, upholding reputations or the importance of gain, and they use their authority  to secure those desires.

““I know not what to say, but give me your hands. God send you joy, Petruchio. ‘Tis a match.” Baptista, Pg. 97, Act 2 Scene 1, Lines 337-339

In the Taming of the Shrew, Baptista offers his Daughter, Katherine, to Petrucio, due to the offer he strikes with him. They agree to terms on property shares if either men or Kate herself passes away. Petruchio then goes to woo Kate, however fails with her, but makes it appear as such and Baptista apoves. Throughout all of this, Baptista looks over his daughter's desires and hooks her up with a wealthy individual. Considering the deal, his previous wishes to have her mary first, and an opportunity to wed her given her reputation, he gladly ignores any obvious signs given by his daughter that she does not wish to marry him.

“Get your hands off American! Stay away from my sister!” Bernardo

In West Side Story, 2 gangs in New York during the late 1950’s are constantly at a battle for their turf. The white Jets and Puerto Rican Sharks go to a dance in a neutral part of town. There, Maria, brother of the leader of the Sharks, locks eyes with Tony, an on and off member of the Jets. As the two fall for each other, Bernardo swoops in and snatches his sister away from Tony. He yells at her “Couldn't you see he’s one of them!” Still staring at the boy she just fell in love with, she replies, “No, I saw only him.” After a small altercation between both gangs, Bernardo instructs Chino to take Maria home, even though she wants to stay at the dance. In this case, Bernardo ignored his sister's wishes and desires and keeping loyal to his agenda, he sends her home with his original date, Chino, and arranges to meet with Riff, leader of the Jets, later on in the evening.

“Go, girl. I cannot blame you thee now to weep, For such an injury would vex a very saint, Much more than a shrew of [thy] impatient humor” Baptista, Pg, 117, Act 3 Scene 2, Lines 29-32

As Katherine and Baptista await Petruchio on wedding day, Kate flips out and storms off stage. Although it is an important day for both characters, Baptista dismisses her outburst as is if where nothing, almost saying ‘excuse my daughter and her shrew behavior’. Not really caring for his daughter but putting her feelings down to elevate his importance and show that this wedding is of bigger priority to him and not the bride.  

“Forget that boy, and find another! One of your own kind! Stick to your own kind!” Anita

After Bernardo and Riff are killed in the rumble, Maria asks a beat up Chino if Tony is ok. Chino, in shock of the question, frustratingly informs her that Tony killed her brother. Her brothers actions earlier in the story at the dance not only made her and Tony closer, but erased her worry for Bernardo and Tony became her main priority. Bernardo’s agenda and his power trip messed up the family dynamic. However, even in death, his message lives on through his widowed girlfriend, Anita. After explaining to Maria what had happened and it was a big mistake, Anita arrives home and Tony leaves. Knowing that her brother's killer was just there, She screams at Maria to date her own kind and forget about him. Still not taking Maria's feelings and true desires into consideration, the Parental unit of Bernardo and Anita neglect Maria's feeling all the way through, and don't stop to take in exactly what happened at the rumble and Marias love for the boy.

In both The Taming of the Shrew and West Side Story, the judgements of the male parental figures are blurred by bias and personal agendas, upholding reputations or the importance of gain, and they use their authority  to secure those desires.  In each story, the parental units make choices which ultimately benefitted them but used their children or loved ones and left them with the negative side effects, not them. As a parent there is a certain level of trust and acceptance you must give up that allows to to make clear, wise choices that take in the beliefs and desires of all involved to do what's best for the family, yet often times, and in the cases of Bernardo and Baptista, they’re biased, selfish choices left a trail of disaster in their wake, and unfortunately didn’t impact them the most, but the children they are supposed to care for.

Works Cited:

• Wise, R., & Robbins, J. (Directors), & Lehman, E. (Writer). (1961). West Side Story [Motion picture on Blu Ray Remastered]. United States: United Artist.