An essay i wrote long time ago!
The Taming of the Shrew, written in the 16th century by William Shakespeare is still a classic but out dated. The 20th century has brought new life to this play, with a great deal of changes, but it is still presented in a comical way and it clearly influences the contemporary teenage film 10 things I hate about you. Interpreted into a modernized version, especially those of high school students, Touchstone Pictures has rejuvenated Shakespeare and created 10 Things I Hate About You. 10 Things I Hate About You is a parody of the classic Shakespeare play Taming of the Shrew. In 10 things I hate about you and Taming of the Shrew, they are alike in many ways, but are also quite different in terms of characters, plot, setting and language.
In 10 Things I Hate About You, the characters brought out the essence Shakespeare was trying to get in Taming of the Shrew. The movie is an excellent teen-romance version and the characters fit perfectly together and acted well. 10 Things I Hate About You is based on the plot of Taming of the Shrew making it a more intellectual teen movie. Kat is a sharp mouthed, sharp witted teenage who has no interest for men (same as in the play). Her sister Bianca is so attractive in the high school but cannot date until her sister does. In the play, Bianca has many suitors but cannot wed until Kat does.
The names of the two main characters, Bianca and Katherina are kept unchanged, and their personalities are basically the same as they were in Shakespeare’s original play. They both are about two sisters, the older one (Katherina) who is bad tempered and is more extreme in behaviour that usually behaves badly and arn’t as attractive and is thought to be “men-haters”. The younger one is Bianca. Bianca is the stereotypical beautiful, obedient and popular prom queen that there are two guys that want her. But their dad has a rule that Bianca can’t wed in The Taming of the Shrew and she can’t date in 10 things I Hate About You until her sister does. Both the movie and the play contain rebellious women that seem invulnerable to men, but they both end with 2 girls getting their guys.
In both the movie and the play, not only do the settings change, but the age of the characters as well. 10 Things I hate about You is translated to a setting with younger casts. The setting of the play is different in both the time period and place and the ages of the characters are different in both stories as well. The Taming of the Shrew is directed more towards adults, whereas 10 things I hate about you is more towards teenagers. A major difference between in the play and the movie is that the play is set in Padua whereas the movie is set in contemporary Padua High School. The setting in the play is based in town and in the movie it takes place at the school.
Another difference is the clothes the characters wear in 10 Things I hate about You and The Taming of the Shrew. The Taming of the Shrew is set in the past therefore the towns people wore old fashioned clothes and in 10 Things I Hate About you, the characters are young and wore casual teenage clothes.
Furthermore, the language of the movie and the play has a major difference. In The Taming of the Shrew, they use old English, formal and lots of sexual innuendo. But in 10 Things I hate About You, they say less, use colloquial language, slang and informal words. Also, the dialogue is modern and is rather hilarious. One similarity is that in 10 Things I hate About You they used the same quotes from the original play. For instance, “I pine, I burn, I perish”.
In conclusion, even though “10 Things I hate About You” is a remake of “Taming of the Shrew”, they are both very different. The movie and the play were intertwined with many similarities, but yet many differences. There are a great number of similarities and differences between the characters, plot, setting and language