Hannah Moonis

From A Comedy of Errors to Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare composed many comedies throughout the years. Perhaps one of the greatest comedies of his time was The Taming of the Shrew, one of his first plays. This comedy follows the tale of sisters Katharina and Bianca and their various suitors. The elder sister, Katharina, (the “shrew”) is pursued by Petruchio, a man from Verona on a mission to wed and make money. Bianca is courted by many men, but most noticeably, Lucentio (disguised as a tutor) and Hortensio (a friend of Petruchio). Through a series of events, Katharina weds Petruchio and is successfully “tamed” by her new husband. Bianca married Lucentio after Tranio, Lucentio’s servant who disguised himself as Lucentio to convince Bianca’s father to let her marry Lucentio, disguised as her tutor. All ends well for everyone and as a final test, Petruchio shows the other men how obedient his once-wild wife now was. In its modern day film adaptation, 10 Things I Hate About You, the plot similarly follows the story of sisters Kat and Bianca. In a modern day high school a new student, Cameron, arrives and immediately falls in love with Bianca. The girls’ father has a rule Bianca can’t date until Kat starts dating, which Kat claims will never happen. In order to date Bianca, Cameron must pay “bad-boy” Patrick to date her older, quick-tempered sister Kat. Though the two are quite similar in the storyline, the two tales diverge at particular parts. There are two main differences in the plots of these two stories: how Katharina or Kat is “tamed” and the role of gender politics.

The Taming of the Shrew has brought up many controversial topics throughout its long history. One of the most debated topics is whether or not Katharina’s taming was emotional abuse or merely a less violent way to control Petruchio’s wild wife. During Shakespeare’s time, beating one’s wife was becoming more and more frowned upon by society, leading many to argue Petruchio’s psychological methods of taming were more humane and gentle. Katharina is eventually “tamed” and submits to her husband. There are many theories as to what her final speech in Act 5 means; most commonly believed is Katharina is sincere and has been successfully “tamed” by Petruchio. It is unknown if they truly love each other. Quite contrary to the original story, in 10 Things I Hate About You, Patrick “tames” Kat, quite on accident, through the power of love. Only after falling in love with Patrick does she become a more calm and loving person. Though both Petruchio and Patrick pursue Katharina (Kat) for money, Patrick’s actions become much more sincere as the movie progresses. It is up to the reader to determine if Petruchio and Katharina truly loved each other in the end, or if it was simply a woman’s submission to her husband through nonviolent means.

Gender politics plays a huge role in the story of Katharina and Petruchio or Kat and Patrick. Many critics debate whether or not Petruchio’s treatment of Katharina was emotional abuse. Emily Detmer, author of “Civilizing Subordination: Domestic Violence and Taming of the Shrew,” suggests in her book the final speech made by Katharina was a result of Stockholm Syndrome, saying, “Her surrender and obedience signify her emotional bondage as a survival strategy; she aims to please because her life depends upon it.” Other critics such as David Beauregard, author of Catholic Theologies in Shakespeare’s Plays, argues Katharina and Petruchio’s relationship takes on the characteristics of an Aristotelian story and is in no way abusive, but in fact, beneficial to both parties. Beauregard believes Petruchio was acting as a light to Katharina, bringing her into harmony with her own nature, thus teaching her obedience. In the reverse, Katharina also helps Petruchio understand happiness and fortune through her taming according to Beauregard. The gender politics in 10 Things I Hate About You  is decreased in importance from the original story. Kat is portrayed as an angry feminist who finds social constructs to be restricting, hence her reluctance to date. Patrick doesn’t use relatively abusive psychological methods on Kat to make her date him. He may be motivated by money in the beginning, but over time, Patrick shows he actually cares about her, contrary to her previous notions about men. In the end, both Patrick and Kat are happier and much nicer people. Their relationship becomes a symbiotic one, much like Beauregard’s description of Katharina and Petruchio’s relationship, which is definitely not emotionally abusive.

The Taming of the Shrew is responsible for many gender role-based debates. Some say Shakespeare is warming against the cruelty of submissive techniques, even non-physical ones. Others argue Shakespeare is portraying the change in social civility as Petruchio doesn’t physically abuse Katharina. But almost everyone can agree The Taming of the Shrew is controversial. Is it misogynistic? Is it sexist? The debate continues. 10 Things I Hate About You stays largely away from the gender politics portrayed in its source material, possibly because The Taming of the Shrew offends so many people, not just women, in this day and age. George Bernard Shaw in a letter to the Pall Mall Gazette describes the play as “one vile insult to womanhood and manhood from the first word to the last.”

The contrasts between these two stories, The Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You, are a little drastic, the latter taking out what many critics say to be the most important part of the story: the role of gender in society and marriage and the controversial cruelty of men against their wives and women in general. The two tales seems to both send different messages to their audiences. The Taming of the Shrew portrays a woman’s role in life is to submit to her husband with blind obedience. 10 Things I Hate About You shows how love and acceptance reveal one’s true self and essentially makes you a better person.           

Bibliography

Detmer, Emily. “Civilizing Subordination: Domestic Violence and the Taming of the Shrew.” Shakespeare Quarterly 48.3 (1997): 273–294. Web.

Junger, Gil, dir. 10 Things I Hate About You. Perf. Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. Touchstone Pictures, 1999. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew. Mumbai, India: Wilco Publishing House, 2005. 224-47. Print.