The Taming of the Shrew

(Lily Brayton as Katherine in a production of The Shrew at the Adelphi Theatre, 1904.)

It's pretty amazing how many Shakespeare plays have been transformed into modern day movies. For instance, Hamlet was turned into the Lion King, with lions and a happy ending. Another example is the play, The Taming of the Shrew. To make a modern version of a Shakespeare play one would have to have a perfect mix of similarities and differences between the two, incorporating elements of both worlds. The creators of  '10 Things I Hate About You' did a great job of adapting the play and making it so many teens would be able to relate to. They pretty much used the same plot and most of the characters have the same name or something similar to the characters of the Taming of the Shrew, they have very minor differences. 

The main characters Kat/Kathrine, Bianca, Cameron/Lucentio or Cambio and Petruccio/Patrick. Not only do they have the same name but they also have similar behavior and personalities. The basic plots of Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You both involve multiple men wanting to be with a nice, beautiful girl named Bianca, but Bianca has a mean, older sister named Katherine that no one wants to be with. In both of the stories, the father of these two girls demands that Bianca not get involved with anyone until Katherine has. The men pay one of their peers to act as if he is interested in Katherine so that they can have a chance with Bianca.

In 10 Things I Hate About You, Cameron pretends to know French to be near Bianca. In Taming of the Shrew, Lucentio disguises himself as Cambio and does the same thing. Another similarity is Petruccio marries Katherine for her money, in the modern version, Patrick is payed to go out with Kat. Both of these men act as if they are interested in these women so that Cameron/Lucentio can go out with Bianca.

Here are some of the differences, Kat is a teenager but in Taming of the Shrew she is a woman. There level of relationship is different too, Kat and Patrick are just dating where Katherine is married.

In the end, Katherine ends up willingly being with the man that has been paid off, and thus “tamed”. This is another difference, Petruccio and Patrick “tame” Katherine in different ways. Petruccio is mean and disrespectful toward her. He he deprives her of sleep, he scolds her for everything she says and when she finds out that he married her for money she starves herself. Patrick on the other hand falls in love with her and persistently tries to be nice to her. When Kat finds out that Patrick was being payed she ignored him. Both methods worked, but Petruccio’s method would have been unacceptable in today’s society. There were not any major differences between the two stories, but there were some necessary differences to be made to fit the time period.

The final scene is Kat forgives Patrick and get back together, and in the Shrew Katherine is finally obedient.

In the movie version there are a lot of Shakespeare references and quotes like: 

"I burn, I pine, I perish." 

Was said by Cameron. 

[Lucentio's line from The Taming of the Shrew Act I Scene 1]