10 Things i Hate About You

10 Things i Hate About You

The Taming of the Shrew v. 10 Things I Hate About You

Many of Shakespeare’s more famous plays have been made into movies and television shows for the modern audience.   However, numerous times the directors and writers do not fully capture what Shakespeare tried to portray, and sometimes change the plot, characters, themes, and messages.   In Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About You, the general theme and plotline of The Taming of the Shrew do stay the same as in the original Shakespearean play, but one will notice that there are some distinct differences as well as similarities between character portrayal, gender, and the idea of feminism.
One of the major differences between these two works is the character portrayals.   The depiction of Patrick versus Petruchio is somewhat different.   Shakespeare invented this character to be greedy, chauvinistic, and exceptionally overconfident.   He is mostly concerned with money when looking for a spouse and does not care about anything else.   Petruchio states, “Hortensio, peace!   thou know’st not gold’s affect.” (I.ii.102.) which shows his love for gold and that money will help him look past Katherine’s fault of being a shrew because she comes from a wealthy father.   The play describes Petruchio as seeing women as being inferior and not as important. Patrick genuinely cares about Kat in the end and not prejudiced against women.   He is also seen as being more of the “daring, bad boy” types as the students tell stories of him “selling his liver” and always being in detention. You also learn a little bit about his past and what makes him tick.   Perhaps if the reader had more background information on Petruchio we would understand more of his actions throughout the play.
Another contrasting character was Katherine.   Kat and Katherine are analogous in the sense that they want nothing to do with a husband or a boyfriend.   Both characters make the men in their lives perceive them as being miserable and...