Shakespeare's Taming of The Shrew

By Codey Tse

Shakespeare's Taming of The Shrew

BBC Retold "Taming of the Shrew"

Plot

Genre and Text Type

10 Things I Hate About You

Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" is a 16th century Shakespearean comedy that is performed in a theater and is therefore a play. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending and usually involves a marriage (in this case there is 3).

Hortensio ,Gremio and Lucentio all wish to court and marry the beautiful and pure Bianca but her father forbids her to marry until her older sister, Katherina does. The problem is that nobody would marry Katherina because she is a shrew. Petruchio arrives in Padua looking to marry someone rich and he hears of Katherina and vows to woo her for her dowry. Hortensio and Lucentio then disguises themselves as tutors to gain access to Bianca while Tranio disguises himself as Lucentio. Petruchio ends up marrying Katherina but arrives in ridiculous clothing and takes her to his estate where he tames her using various methods. Tranio disguised as Lucentio then decides with Gremio that their chances with Bianca are gone when Lucentio is flirting with Bianca. Tranio then persuades a pedant to be Lucentio's father to settle the marriage. Hortensio marries a rich widow and a marriage feast is held to honour the 3 marriages in which the men wager which of their wives are the most obedient. Katherina wins and gives the famous obedience speech.

10 Things I Hate About You is an American movie directed by Gil Junger in 1999. It is a teen comedy targeted at teens and young adults in which the plot usually involves the interests of teens, first loves, coming of age, rebellion and conflict with parents.

BBC Shakespeare's Retold Taming of the Shrew is a film adaptation by BBC of Shakespeare's play "Taming of the Shrew". It was broadcasted on television in 2005 and the target audience were BBC watchers and fans of Shakespeare because of the accurate appropriation. The Purpose was to entertain and to remake the play in a modernised but accurate version.

Animals

Plot

William Shakespeare's

The Taming of the Shrew

Motifs and references to animals were also used in the play to place a certain animal characteristic on a character such as how Kate is known to be a shrew, a scolding and unpleasant woman.

Bianca asks:

"Am I your bird? I mean to shift my bush. And then pursue me as you draw your bow". Bianca is saying that she is being hunted now and that they would have to follow her if they want to shoot.

Another example would be when Petruchio uses animal imagery to express how confident he is that he would win:

"Twenty crowns?

I'll venture so much of my hawk or hound

But twenty more times so much upon my wife"

Katherine Minola is a successful politician despite her fiery temper and is on the verge of becoming MP. She is told that if she married, her chances of becoming MP would be higher. Petruchio is then introduced and has stated that he has come to "wive it wealthily" and is suggested by his friend Hortensio to marry Katherine. Kate and Petruchio then has their first meeting and has a clash of wills. Petruchio decides to marry Kate and they eventually do but Petruchio arrives late at the wedding in a mini skirt with mascara on.Petruchio then forces her to leave early to go on their honeymoon in Italy where a series of events occur in an attempt to tame Katherine. They make up at the end of the trip and returns with Katherine now more sincere and kind. Lucentio and Katherine's sister Bianca fights over whether they would sign a prenup and Kate then delivers a modernised version of the obedience speech.

Allusions

William Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" has sparked many debates over when this play was written but many agree it to be in 1592where it was performed in a theater as a form of entertainment in England.

Marriage

Purpose and Target Audience

Plot

As with most adaptations, there are many allusions to the original text and this film is no exception. Many allusions are found throughout the movie to pay homage to the original play.

At the wedding Petruchio in both the text types arrive in ridiculous clothing and states 'To me she's married, not unto my clothes' and also arrives in an unsuitable type of transport such as a donkey in the original play and a motorcycle in this film.

Petruchio and Katherine's first meeting was in a lift where they have a clash of wills and Kat physically rejects him. This is a re-enactment of the meeting in the play. Their first meeting is shown in the video below.

Marriage is a huge motif in this play and shows the position of men and women in this relationship. Petruchio arranges with Baptista to marry Kate, pretending that "Tis bargain'd 'twixt us twain" when in fact Kate has protested the marriage and the arrangement has been made between two men. Petruchio arranges with Baptista to marry Katherina without the consent of Katherina which was regarded as conventional and tradition in those times. Even though she even physically rejects him she was forced to marry because the deal had been made.

The purpose of the film was to entertain and the target audience was mainly American teenagers who would be interested in movies of this genre.

Cameron, a new student at Padua High and is given a tour around the school. He notices Bianca and immediately falls in love wth her but her strict father has restricted her from dating and can only date when her older sister , Kate, does. Howeever Kate is against dating and is unsociable, especially to boys. This prompts Cameron to find a suitable guy who would date Kate. Later he persuades Joey, a model who also wants to date Bianca, to pay the infamous bad boy with a mysterious history, Pat do date Kat. After a little effort Pat manages to take Kat to a party and they start dating. Pat takes Kat out to the prom but then Kat realises Pat is only dating her for money, which angers her and leaves him at the prom. Later at school, Kat reads out a poem called "Ten Things I Hate About You" which reveals her true feelings for Pat.

Marriage, Love and Money

Purpose and Target Audience

Techniques and Motifs

Clothing

Marriage is a motif in this film seeing as there are 3 potential marriages. Petruchio initially wants to marry Kate just for her money which is even stated bluntly by Petruchio, "I have come to wive it wealthily" and Kate only wanted to marry because that would offer her a better chance at becoming MP. So they initially married because for their career and money and wanst exactly a love match. Which arises the question, do people marry for love or for money?

At the end of the film when, Bianca wants to sign a pre-nupital agreement with Lucentio which is used to assure that this is a love match and he is marrying her because of her money and entirely because he truly loves her. This then creates a fight.

The purpose of the play was to primarily entertain but Shakespeare also raises questions on how wives should act. The audience were people of all social classes from the lowest to the highest looking for entertainment, in which plays were a common form of entertainment for everyone of every class.

Clothing and Dress

Allusions

Several motifs are shown throughout this play such as the use of disguise and clothing. Many characters in the play use disguises to temporarily change their social position but actually worked such as when Lucentio disguises as a tutor and also when Hortensio disguises as a schoolmaster. "Now shall my friend Petruchio do me grace, And offer me disguised in sober robes To old Baptista as a schoolmaster". Hortensio displays that by putting on a disguise, he can change the perception of everyone around him to a schoolmaster.

Act 3 Scene 2

'To me she's married, not unto my clothes'

Petruchio states that even though clothing can change people's perception, your inner self will still be ultimately the same.

The way they dress is important as it shows their personalities. Kat is never shown wearing jewellery, a dress or a skirt other than at the prom. This shows that she is not trying to appeal to guys and is strong willed. Bianca on the other hand, usually wears jewellery, showing she dresses to impress.

Patrick is usually shown to be wearing a simple, plain T-shirt with no markings or pictures on it which suggests he is a straight forward, simple guy but when he puts a suit on, he instantly becomes a gentleman.

Fear

Conclusion

The clothing and dress of the characters are picked specifically for certain purposes. Such examples would be Katherine's tendency to never wear heels and dress in black. This choice of attire shows she is a serious and practical person.

Another example would be Petruchio's fur coat which he is shown wearing throughout most of the movie. This fur coat further exaggerates Petruchio's largeness and displays how ferocious he is, just like a bear. This also hints at his personality.

Bianca is dressed in beautiful clothes to show how beautiful and perfect she is and also hints a bit of her personality.

10 Things I Hate About You is based loosly on Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" and so it naturally has many allusions to pay homage to the original play.

"I burn, I pine, I perish" is a direct quote from the play that is said when Cameron first sees Bianca and is also used by Lucentio.

Katherina's father has placed rules which forbids Bianca to date before her older sister does is an allusion to Baptista rejecting all suitors to Bianca until Katherina, the elder sister, has married.

Also the payment Pat received from Joey to date is Kat is the modern equivalent of the dowry Baptista offered to Petruchio.

Fans and readers of Shakespeare's play is sure to appreciate the many allusions the movie has.

Fear is a constant motif within the movie and plays a big part. For one, Kat is afraid of relationships because she has her heart broken by Joey before. This made her have a negative and repulsive personality which then causes the students at the school to fear her.

Cameron is afraid of confessing to Bianca because he doesn't know Bianca would react to it and he also fears Joey. He is also afraid of Kat along with Joey who was known to be a criminal and a dark history.

Kat and Bianca's father is also afraid of his daughter's dating and getting pregnant and so he forbids them to date.

From the analysis in this presentation, we now know that modern adaptations of the 16th century play, "Taming of the Shrew" needed several adjustments to make certain aspects of the play relavant in modern times such as the social standing of women in marriages. In the modern age, women did not have to get married. In "10 Things I Hate About You" marriages were not a concern since they were highschool students and therfore they have altered it to relationships and dates.

Since we are at the conclusion of the speech, I hope you have enjoyed this presentation.