Early in play The Taming of The Shrew by William Shakespeare, we learn that Katherine and Bianca are to be married off by a suitor chosen by their father. The father of the two is trying to make his daughters more appealing to men who may possibly be interested in marrying either Katherine or Bianca. One way in which he tries to help is by having the girls home schooled. This at the time was only something that was available to the wealthy class.
In Act 1. Sc. 2 line 135 which reads, “Well seen in music, to instruct Bianca” we learn of how Bianca will be learning about music which at the time was important to teach to have a well rounded education which included knowledge of the arts. We also see the importance of music in an article of The New York Times titled Armed With Violins, El Sistema Fights Poverty in Venezuela written by Daniel J. Walkin which shows the importance of teaching underprivileged children how to read, play and understand the history of music. According to the article this is a way of keeping children wanting to learn more and distracted from their surroundings of drugs and poverty. Daniel describes the school’s aim as a means to “address a depressingly universal problem.”
The importance of well rounded education goes a lot further than using your skills acquired to find a job in your field, as we learn from The Taming of The Shrew and Fighting Poverty, Armed With Violins. It also provides more opportunities in life
Melissa, you’ve made an excellent connection here between Bianca’s study of music, and the Venezuelan program known as “El Sistema,” which uses music education to enrich the lives of poverty-stricken children. However, you go on to generalize that in both instances, the purpose of this musical education is the same.
Your connection would be more compelling if you contrasted these two instances of musical education. As you note, Bianca is a wealthy, privileged woman, who studies music as a pastime, one that might make her more appealing to a future spouse. The study of music is not going to change her life or her view of what her role is, whereas studying a challenging, masculine subject like law or science might completely alter her view of the world and herself.
For the Venezuelan children, the study of music is life-changing; it shows them a different world and a different role than the one society has destined them for. Both Bianca and the Venezuelan children study music, but the educational experience has a completely different impact in these two situation.