Essay On Differences Between Taming Of The Shrew And 10 Things I Hate About You

1594 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The impact of gender stereotypes

In both Shakespeare’s “The Taming of The Shrew” and the 90’s film “10 Things I Hate About You”, there is a presence of societal expectations that affects the will of the shrewish female characters. Both have their will compromised; however a difference is found in the severity and process of change between Katherine at the start and the end of each story. Kat in Taming of The Shrew (TTOTS) goes through a more forced transition while fighting to submit, as Kat in 10 Things I Hate About You (TTIHAY) is more willfully changed, and done so with kinder methods. The men trying to court Kat also have to use what’s considered the most extreme means possible allowed for society with one being considered highly illegal in today’s society, and the other …show more content…

These differences affect the ways that Kat is suited, and why he degree of taming is so polar opposite. Shakespearean time lacked the rights and values for independent women, which made it very easy for Petruchio to break down Kat in the way that he did. It was allowed in that society, and could be considered an extreme to us now, but that was what was necessary to tame Kat, and what was easiest for that time period. In today’s society, it is more accepted to be an independent thinking woman with a strong will. The 90’s however, were not quite to the point we are now. Strong women imposed fear on men, and society looked down on women that could do so. Individuality was something encouraged by the younger generation during this time, which Kat definitely posed a lot of. This individuality is what ultimately attracts Patrick to her. He tells her in the car after the party that her have something alike in shared individuality. Since it is not right at all for him to do what Petruchio does, he must actually win Kat over by not changing her personality, but by making changes in himself. This could be thought of as an extreme method in that time

Show More
Related

  • Essay Comparing The Taming Of The Shrew And 10 Things I Hate About You

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, it is the the effects of each of these situations that allow us to evaluate the two as a whole. Although Kat’s emotions go up and down about Patrick nonstop throughout the movie, in the end she is much happier than she was before she met Patrick. Similarly, Katherine ends up stating how submission has “made her heart great”, implying that she is content with the situation, but she does not appear to be truly happy with Petruchio. She is aware that she has no choice in regards to submission, and that her life will be better if she just accepts it. Thus, Katherine’s happiness is superficial as opposed to Kat’s which is real. Also feminism did not exist until the 19th century, so during the time of Shakespeare Katherine and Bianca did not even think of the idea that they could have a choice when it comes to men. Marriages were arranged, and that concept was accepted for many centuries,In fact, Katherine and Bianca are not even considered to be citizens because they

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Taming Of The Shrew And Ten Things I Hate About You

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ten Things I Hate About You is a 1999 film based upon the play The Taming of the Shrew written by William Shakespeare in 1593. The storyline of these two texts is about a boy named Cameron (or Lucentio in the play) who falls in love with Bianca, a popular girl at his school. Due to her father’s orders, she isn’t allowed to date anyone until her older sister Kat (known as Katharina in the play) does. The trouble is, Kat is the opposite of Bianca - unpopular and not intending to date anyone any time soon. In an attempt to solve this problem, Cameron persuades Joey (both Hortensio and Gremio in the play), a wealthy boy who also has feelings for Bianca, to pay Patrick (or

    Read More

  • Much Ado About Taming Shrews

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is a prevalent belief among men that women should be tamed to achieve a more harmonious relationship. The concept of dominance prevails in Shakespeare’s plays Much Ado Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew. Katherina and Beatrice in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado about Nothing (respectively) respond differently to men in a chauvinistic society. Katherina initially presents herself as the quintessential shrew, resulting in the despair of other men who want to court the already tamed Bianca. Her cleverly witty speech and debasing treatment and disposition towards men can interpreted as a method to weed out the weak men from the strong men or as a means to show the independent nature women may choose to employ. Undeniably, towards the end of the play, she appears to adopt a more docile demeanor, possibly the result of Petruchio’s unorthodox taming methods. In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice advances the idea that going against the passive role society demands for women yields better consequences. She appears to have a better, more trusting relationship with Benedick than Hero has with Claudio; yet, at the end of the play, it is not clear what genuine emotions lay beneath the surface: Does she really in love? Although Katherina and Beatrice are fundamentally similar, through an analysis of their initial reaction to their future husbands and analysis of the events in the plays’ plots, Beatrice establishes greater control of her husband.

    Read More

  • Ten Things I Hate About You Essay

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though they are based on the same play, Ten things I hate about you and the taming of the shrew are so different in the themes they portray. The love story of Ten things I hate about you is almost the opposite to the mysoginistic tale of wife taming that is the taming of the shrew. It just goes to show that Shakespeare often includes these darker themes into his works, and I that him and other modern day directors highlight these kinds of taboo like issues in society because it intrigues the audiences and makes them think about their own actions throughout life, and also about how this may have actually happened in real life. Both these films also really contrast how far the human race has come since the Elizabethan era in terms of gender equality and societal issues like the many that are portrayed in The taming of the shrew, turning the story from mysoginistic to a man freeing a

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew

    3143 Words  | 7 Pages

    Over the past 400 or so years since Shakespeare wrote _The Taming of the Shrew_, many writers, painters, musicians and directors have adapted and reformed this play of control and subjugation into timeless pieces of art. In _10 Things I Hate About You_ and Kiss Me Kate from two very different times in the twentieth century, and paintings of Katherina and Bianca from the late nineteenth century, the creators of these adaptations have chosen to focus on the role of the two main female characters in the play. The ideas surrounding these women have changed through the years, from Katherina and Bianca simply being young women who deviated from the norm of Shakespeare’s time to women who embody feminist ideals and stereotypes of the more modern world.

    Read More

  • Role of Women in Shakespear's The Taming of the Shrew

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare's, "The Taming of the Shrew" the relationship between the sisters Katherine and Bianca appears to be strained with rampant jealousy. Both daughters fight for the attentions of their father. In twisted parallel roles, they take turns being demure and hag-like. Father of the two, Baptista Minola, fusses with potential suitors for young Bianca and will not let them come calling until his elder, ill-tempered daughter Katherine is married. The reader is to assume that meek, mild-mannered, delicate Bianca is wasting away while her much older, aging, brutish sister torments the family with her foul tongue. Katherine seems to hold resentment toward Bianca. Her father favors Bianca over Katherine and keeps them away from each others' torment. When gentlemen come calling, Bianca cowers behind her father and Katherine speaks up for herself. "I pray you sir, is it your will to make a stale of me amongst these mates?" (1.1.57-58) Bianca and Katherine dislike each other feverishly. Katherine torments Bianca with words and physical harm. She binds her hands, pulls her hair then brings her forth to her father and the gentlemen callers. Bianca denies liking any of the visitors and portrays herself an innocent that merely wants to learn and obey her elders. She says, "Sister, content you in my discontent to your pleasure humbly I subscribe. My books and instruments shall be my company, on them to look and practise by myself." (1.1.80-84) Because Katherine speaks freely and asserts herself she is labeled as "shrewish." When Hortensio describes her to Petruccio, he spews out that she is "renowned in Padua for her scolding tongue." ( 1.2.96) He gilds the lily further by clearly telling of her fair fortune if suitable man comes courting and wins her hand in marriage. Petruccio sees dollar signs and rushes onwards in grand dress and fluently gestures to court the gracious "Kate." When he first begins his ritual of winning the family and Katherine to his love, he is seeking his fortune in her dowry. The mention of her being at all undesirable does not put rocks in his path.

    Read More

  • Double Standards In The Taming Of The Shrew

    600 Words  | 2 Pages

    A very prominent theme in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is society's double standards of men and women. In the play, Katherina is a very free-willed, independent woman who wishes to follow her own path in life and is not dependent on a man for her happiness. Petruchio is also free-willed, independent and speaks his mind freely. However, where Petruchio is praised for these characteristics, Katherina is scorned and called names. Petruchio is manly and Katherina is bitchy for the same traits.

    Read More

  • Female Relationships in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Shakespeare's, "The Taming of the Shrew" the relationship between the sisters Katherine and Bianca appears to be strained with rampant jealousy. Both daughters fight for the attentions of their father. In twisted parallel roles, they take turns being demure and hag-like. Father of the two, Baptista Minola, fusses with potential suitors for young Bianca and will not let them come calling until his elder, ill-tempered daughter Katherine is married. The reader is to assume that meek, mild-mannered, delicate Bianca is wasting away while her much older, aging, brutish sister torments the family with her foul tongue. Katherine seems to hold resentment toward Bianca. Her father favors Bianca over Katherine and keeps them away from eachothers' torment. When gentlemen come calling, Bianca cowers behind her father and Katherine speaks up for herself. "I pray you sir, is it your will to make a stale of me amongst these mates?" (1.1.57-58)

    Read More

  • Gender Quotes In Taming Of The Shrew

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Women have a much better time than men in this world; there are far more things forbidden to them." -Oscar Wilde. This quote embodies the fight over gender roles and the views of women in society. Taming of the Shrew deals with Kate and Bianca, two sisters who are at the time to he married off. However, suitors who seek Bianca as a wife have to wait for her sister to be married first. Kate is seen as a shrew because she is strong willed and unlike most women of the time. In his 1603 play The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare enforces traditional gender roles and demonstrates how little say women had in society. He accomplishes this through the strong personality of Kate, Baptista 's attitude towards his daughters as transactions, and

    Read More

  • The Feminist Perspective of Taming of the Shrew

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare is a play that is ahead of its time in its views toward gender roles within society. Katherine is a woman who is intelligent, and is not afraid to assert her views on any given situation. She is paired with another obstinate character in Pertuchio. The marriage formed between the two is a match made in heaven for two reasons. First, because Katherine is strong enough to assert her views, and more importantly, she realizes when she should assert them.

    Read More

  • Taming Of The Shrew Social Roles

    1751 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Taming of the Shrew is one of the earliest comedies written by William Shakespeare. The Taming of the Shrew focuses a great deal on courtship and marriage. Especially the life after marriage, which was generally not focused on in other comedies. Notably, the play focuses on the social roles that each character plays, and how each character faces the major struggles of their social roles. Which plays into one of the most prevalent themes of The Taming of the Shrew. The theme of how social roles play into a person’s individual happiness. This is displayed through the characters in the play that desperately try to break out of the social roles that are forced upon them. This exemplified through the character, Katherine, an upper-class young maiden-in-waiting, who wishes to have nothing to do with her role.

    Read More

  • Manipulation in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew

    1554 Words  | 4 Pages

    In The Taming of the Shrew, the concept of love is a means of emotional manipulation, and manipulation is nothing more than a means of control between men and women. William Shakespeare critiques the patriarchal social structure by ironically employing the manipulative stance Petruchio takes towards winning Katherine as his wife by charming her with words and manipulating her psychologically, and then taming her after their marriage through legal, physical, financial, and psychological control and manipulation. Though Petruchio may think he yields power over his wife, Katherine uses obedience as a tool of manipulation and has the control of the household, as can be seen by her ironic speech at the end of the play, where she claims women must serve their men. Shakespeare uses the irony of a man using manipulation as a tool for control to magnify the significance of the power women yield through manipulation, thus proving that men and women engage in a power-shifting struggle.

    Read More

  • Comparison Between Taming Of The Shrew And 10 Things I Hate About You

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You Essay Money is a very big factor in determining one’s decisions, even in a marriage. The play Taming of the Shrew consists of 3 suitors who try to woo Bianca, but their father proclaims her first daughter, Katerina, who is considered a shrew, must first marry in which a rich young man, Petruchio comes into the play to attempt to marry and tame the shrew. The movie 10 Things I Hate About You consists of practically identical plot. Instead, it consists of the father, Walter Stratford and his two daughters, Bianca and Kat and two boys, Cameron and Joey who wish to date Bianca, Bianca herself is interested in dating. Walter Stratford, the father, states his oldest daughter Kat is required to date first before Bianca can.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Taming Of The Shrew?

    1613 Words  | 4 Pages

    When someone is a female their first thought should not be weak or nurturing, just as when someone is male their first though shouldn’t always be powerful. Unfortunately it has becomes so ingrained in societies mentality that this is the way that things work. The Taming of the Shrew is a past writing piece that expands on a mentality that is modern. The male gender cannot be put into this same constraint. Petruchio is the epitome of what society would describe a male as. He thinks he is in charge and always the superior to women. He expects Katherine to always do what he tells her to do, because he believes that is her duty as his wife. Moreover he should not be expected to do that for her. Furthermore, Bianca is what many would describe as the perfect woman. She is nurturing and she does not speak out against what she is told. When she does speak she always speaks like a lady. She exists merely for decoration in the home and to serve her husband. Katherine is the inconsistency in this stereotype on femininity. Her purpose in the novel originally is to rebel against this biased thought on female gender roles. Katherine is not afraid to speak out against the things that she is told to do. If she disagrees with something she will act on it and she is just as strong as the men in the novel; which is why many of the men actually fear her. Katherine is not submissive and does not believe that the only reason that she exists is to serve a husband. Katherine does not want to be just the damsel in distress, she wants to be in charge. At the end of the novel there is a switch in the personalities of Katherine and Bianca. This alteration provides the purpose of showing that gender is not something that someone can be confined in just because they were born a female. A woman can have many different traits and still be feminine. It is impossible to put femininity in a box because there are no real qualities for what

    Read More

  • The Taming Of The Shrew Analysis

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    During The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare has used pleasure and pain in order to tell the story of Petruchio and Katherina’s courtship. This is problematic for modern day audiences, as they do not find the courtship methods that Petruchio employs to woo Katherina particularly comical. However, it could be argued that Shakespeare crafted The Taming of the Shrew precisely for this reason, to feature his views on patriarchy and to make the audience see what was happening through a new perspective. The Elizabethan audience would have been shocked at the methods used in order to achieve the taming, even though it was well within a man’s right to discipline his wife if she was deemed unfit. From the very beginning of The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare indicates that this play will not follow traditional rules of decorum, and that it is intended to both give pleasure and cause pain in order to make both Elizabethan and modern audiences take note of his underlying message.

    Read More

More about Essay On Differences Between Taming Of The Shrew And 10 Things I Hate About You

Open Document