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All Site ContentTaming of the ShrewAct 1Scene 2
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“in Baptista's keep my treasure is … ”
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 2
Lines 114-124

An explanation of “Baptista’s keep” in Act 1, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Hortensio

Tarry, Petruchio, I must go with thee,    
For in Baptista's keep my treasure is.    
He hath the jewel of my life in hold,
His youngest daughter, beautiful Bianca,    
And her withholds from me and others more,    
Suitors to her, and rivals in my love.
Supposing it a thing impossible —
For those defects I have before rehearsed —    
That ever Katherina will be woo'd,
Therefore this order hath Baptista ta'en:    
That none shall have access unto Bianca

Hortensio is making puns on the words keep and hold. In one sense Bianca is in her father’s keep, in his care. In another sense Hortensio is comparing Bianca to treasure in a castle’s keep, its fortified tower. The castle keep is also where prisoners are kept “in hold,” and by confining Bianca like a prisoner, Baptista “withholds” her from her suitors.