I thought I would go off on one of the tangents started in class about social hierarchy. I've decided to each one in their designated time period, starting with that of Shakespeare. The few who were lucky enough, did not have to live day to day thanks to familial ties to money. The upper class thus cut themselves off from those without simply because they could. Why walk the dirty streets of London when you could be living at your country home away from all the disease and poverty? And thus the social structure was set. The haves and the have nots. Because the poor didn't have access to those of the wealthy they were simply shut out entirely (and this remains true today, but I'll be talking about high school students specifically instead of the general population.) Thusly, Shakespeare followed these rules and regulations of the upper class and that the rich stayed amongst the rich and the poor the poor. He even makes the rich speak in prose while the poor do not. How's that for class distinction?
As for 10 Things I hate about you these rules of haves and have nots changes, and it becomes less about money and more about a state of mind. Believe it or not, teenagers are incredibly insecure set of people, who are self-conscience to a fault. Therefore if they are intimidated by someone's manner of dress or just plain manners, they retract and put up a sense of self-defense. That's how high school cliques are formed. You simply find the people you are comfortable with, and who usually share your interests. Unlike Shakespeare's times where your class was set, teenagers of today could move from clique to clique if they so chose. They would have to be incredibly at ease with themselves and openly friendly and genuinely nice. However, most teenagers never reach that level and stay closed up in their box with their specific group of friends. Sure, they could move on to "greener pastures" but it's definitely hard to leave one's comfort zone.

It is always interesting to me to see adaptations of shakespeare... Often they are not obvious at first as shakespeare.
I enjoyed the movie, but the play is better. (not cheesy?)
I thought the developement of Kat's character in the movie was interesting. The secene where she revealed that she had slept with the fellow she was trying to date, the response from Bianca was not what i expected. There was no gratitude - only bitterness. These sisters are intruiging. They show FAR different ideas of how women should behave, and are appreciated differently by different people on behalf of it.

I liked how 10 Things I Hate About You the time period was altered to modern day. This makes it more interesting for teenagers, and gives them a better perspective and understanding of the classic Shakespeare tale. Like someone said in class "chivalry is dead." In the olden days the men were expected to court women and treat them with respect, but today it is only a rare bonus if the guy acts like that. I thought that was well expressed in the modern day version, when the movie shows how little the guys care about women, and often their good looks excuse them for their inappropriate actions. Also, when the sisters discuss how the popular guy only wanted sex helps add to this point. In the Shakespeare version, the Petrucio wants Katherine for her dowry, but in 10 Things I Hate About You, he is after the 50 dollar reward. This was most likely changed because of the fact that we don't have dowries nowadays, and cash is the closest replacement.

I believe that the movie shows to different extremes of feminism found within the sisters Katherine and Bianca. Kathrine fits the stereotypical women who hates all men and does not trust anything they say. She does not care how she looks and is not base decisions on what other people think. Bianca is the exact opposite. She is very concerned with how she looks and what the people at school think about her. The reason the sister is like this is also a difference. Kathrine is bitter from experiences with men in the past. Kathrine is lustful because she is young, innocent and doesn't know any better.

The ideals of a headstrong women such as Kat make her feel that there is more than just conforming to the social pressure such as dating in the movie and her getting married in the play. We see a softer, more caring side towards her younger sister but her protectiveness was misconstrued as being horrible and unfair towards her sister.Bianca was more keen to be able to make her own decisions and get married/dating.

i love 10 things i hate about you, but i have never read taming of the shrew in whole before. but there are other stories that have the same type of theme. where you have one sibling that is supposed to get married before the younger ones and that one person having trouble doing so...then other people take it in their own hands and cause chaos eventually. since i haven't read all of taming of the shrew i am anxious to see where the similarities are...

I am a big fan of 10 things I hate about you. If you thought it was one of those stupid teen date movies, as I did at first, you would be wrong. It is not common that like this genre, I was pleasantly surprised to like it. I should have guest this original work was from some philosopher or creditable play write like Shakespeare. Only he would be able to product a subject of young love that would stay interesting and relevant over 100 years.
Whitney

I think "10 things i hate about u" introduces some interesting aspects to this classic story, specifically feminism and independance. The main character is not just shown as unattainable by design, but she makes herself unattainable, citing that she has better things to do than to deal with boys, something that i think lends itself to the idea of a strong and powerful woman.

I've never read this play, but I have seen 10 Things I Hate About You. The first thing that struck me was the similarity of the feminism as seen by Kate in both the play and the movie. She is a very "strong" woman in the play, argumentative and headstrong, which would be seen as a distasteful quality during the time period of the play. This may be one of the reasons why Kate isn't married and why her father stipulates that she must marry before Bianca can. Especially in Act II: Scene I, it is obvious that Petruchio is bothered by her stubborness and especially when she hit him.

As far as romance is concerned, it seems like the people in this play are not as "lovey-dovey" as some characters in Shakespeare's other plays. Many of the suitors have alterior motives and rely on dishonest means (disguises) to acquire the women they want. One has to speculate if they even love the women, or if they seem them more as objects, the subjects of competition. When Gremio and Tranio are fighting over Bianca it doesn't seem like they love her, but rather they want to outdo one another to see who wins the "prize." In the third scene of the reading, the two sisters are fighting, but it seems that Katherine is portrayed as the "bad guy." Their father sides with Bianca and chastises Kate for her behavior.

Kristen

I am very intrigued by the relationships in Shakespeare's plays. They always seem to be deep, passionate and true love stories. Some people may disagree but I feel that the relationships in Taming of the Shrew is no different. Katherine and Bianca struggle but in the end they succumb to their true passions of love. I am interested to see the movie tomorrow and see how closely it relates to the play... i have actually never seen the movie so it will be interesting to analyze the similarities of the relationships...I look forward to commenting more.

Kathryn Walker

I really don't understand what's going on in your summary of the play. I'm sure it's not your fault, just the fact that plots in Shakespeare's plays are usually convoluted anyways. I noticed though that the romance felt between the characters seemed to be true and deep and passionate. In Ten Things I Hate About You, though the love shown between Katherine and the Petruchio character I believe is portrayed more as puppy love. In both pieces though, the relationship between Bianca and Katherina is very similar in that they both despise each other and Bianca plays off of her sister's envy of the fact that Bianca is so much more popular. In the film version though, it seems that the loose ends are tied up in the sense that they both end up agreeing to disagree with eachother and everything is bunnies and lollipops between them. I think once we see the movie and your presentation taht everything will be clarified much more though.

I also don't really understand whats going on. It's obvious that Katherine and Bianca are arguing in the third scene, but it seems relatively calm to me. Maybe I should have read the over the scene another time, but it seemed like everything was calm and then there was a slap. This play seems like it could be very interesting, but keeping up with all of the different characters is a tough task (for me at least). Michael brought up Romeo and Juliet and it's cool to see how different the types of romances are in these two plays. The people in this play, compared to Romeo and Juliet, are almost after entirely different things when it comes to romance. I'm interested to see the movie and to see how this comes alive on screen.

I find the relationship between the sisters in Act 2, Scene 1 to be hysterical and quite revealing. “Kate” is clearly jealous of her sister, and while she may pretend to have a sharp personality it seems to me like she secretly desires to be married. Bianca is very conscious of her sister’s jealously too. At the beginning of the act I felt as though Bianca was willing to help her sister “If you affect him, sister, here I swear I'll plead for you myself, but you shall have him.” As the scene continues though it becomes clear that Bianca is merely taunting her violent sister, “Is it for him you do envy me so?”

Dating is a game to the men in Taming of the Shrew. Both Bianca and Kate are pursued as a challenge and not for their individuality. Bianca fulfills the stereotypical obedient wife, and Kate is labeled as a shrew because she is a woman. Petruchio has the same characteristics as Kate, but because he is a man he is afforded more respect.

I'm really confused about what's going on. Like michael said, it is really hard to tell the differences in all the characters, who likes who, and so on. In the third scene Katherine and Bianca are very argumentative, and Katherine even hits Bianca. Romance seems to be less about love and more about materialistic things. I could me mistaken though. I think it will be better to understand in the movie.

Wow, that is quite possibly one of the most convulted of Shakespeare's plots that has ever graced parchment. It's hard to discern one character from another with all of the masqeurading around, and people pretending to be someone else etc. It all seems kind of fake and that rings true for most Shakespeare romances. Think about Romeo and Juliet. They know each other for all of ten seconds and fall so madly in love that they end up killing themselvs. It all seems a bit much and the same rings true here in taming of the shrew. People marrying each other sight unseen, or chasing after each other for their dowries. I feel like it kind of contradicts with his world famous writing. I am surprised at how much of the original material stuck through with the movie as far as who likes who is concerned. However, because it's just another teen movie relationships fall into the stereotypical roles as usual.

Plot Summary for the play:
In Padua (Italy), Lucentio and his servant Tranio (both from Paris) stroll while Lucentio ponders that he has come to Padua to pursue knowledge. Tranio points out that he should pursue pleasures, as well. Then, Baptista and his daughters Katherine (older, the shrew) and Bianca (younger) appear with Bianca's suitors Gremio and Hortensio. Baptista tells them they cannot pursue Bianca until Katherine is married. Privately, Gremio and Hortensio agree to find her a husband so they can both resume wooing Bianca. While looking on, Lucentio falls in love with Bianca. He decides to let his servant Tranio pretend to be Lucentio, so that Lucentio can be a school teacher to Bianca. Biondello (another servant of Lucentio) is told to act as a servant to Tranio. Petruchio of Verona arrives in Padua with his servant Grumio to see his friend Hortensio. Upon meeting, Hortensio mentions Katherine in passing and Petruchio vows to woo and marry her (for her large dowry). Hortensio then decides to pretend to be a school master and instruct Bianca in music. Gremio arrives with Lucentio (disguised as a school master, Cambio) and tells Hortensio of his plants to let Lucentio school Bianca and speak highly of Gremio. Tranio then arrives and announces that he (as Lucentio) will be a suitor to Bianca.

At Baptista's house, Petruchio arrives with Hortensio (as Litio) and Gremio arrives with Lucentio (as Cambio). Tranio (as Lucentio) is also there, proclaiming his suit for Bianca. Petruchio meets Kate and the two spar wits, making Petruchio more determined than ever to marry Kate, which he announces to all; they are to be married on Sunday, though Kate obviously protests. Baptista, upon hearing this, tells Tranio (as Lucentio) and Gremio that the one with the highest dowry will get Bianca.. Tranio bluffs to have more wealth and possessions than Gremio, but Baptista declares Lucentio's father Vincentio must personally assure he has the wealth and will give it to Lucentio.

-- I emailed the reading earlier this morning, so if you didn't receive it, let me know.

Questions:

1. In the third scene, what kind of relationship do Katherine & Bianca have?
2. How is romance portrayed in the play?
3. Does femininity/masculinity show particularly in any of the characters?

Things to think about once you've seen the movie:

time period differences
relationship styles (friends, couples, etc.)
the way romance is portrayed (then and now)
similarities/differences why Patrick/Petruchio want Katherine

Hope you enjoy this!
Bridget