10 Things I Hate About You

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10 Things I Hate About You and The Taming of the Shrew
“Where did you come from, planet loser?” exclaimed Bianca, the popular younger sister. The humorous movie, 10 Things I Hate About You, staged in 1999 about an opinionated, sharp-tongued older sister, constantly degrading and criticizing people all around her, who finally finds love, is somewhat familiar. Although it might seem crazy that a high school and teenage life centered movie might somehow be based on classic literature, it actually borrows the same storyline from the Shakespeare play, The Taming of the Shrew (TOTS). As a modern interpretation it not only includes the same characters but also the same characteristics associated with them. Additionally, it includes the same plot sequence …show more content…

Kat the razor sharp and witty main character shares a similar name as the main character from the TOTS, Katharine, and portrays the same shrew like behavior. In the movie, Kat not wanting to go to a party everyone, including Bianca, would love to go to, describes it as, “ a lame excuse for all idiots in school to drink beer and rub up against each other in hopes of distracting themselves from the pathetic emptiness of their meaningless consumer driven lives.” Her attitude towards attending the party is like Katharine’s attitude towards men all around her. She, unlike Bianca, won’t allow anyone to woo her with her sharp tongue and angry behavior. The similarity here is astonishing as both characters don’t follow society’s norms and portray shrewish behavior. Additionally, the other main character from the movie, Bianca, shares the same name as in TOTS and is known for being sweet and soft-spoken. In the play Lucentio, one of her suitors, upon seeing and hearing her for the first time describes her by saying, “ with her breath she did perfume the air. Sacred and sweet was all I saw in her” (1.1 177-178). Similarly In the movie, Bianca refers to her dad, as “daddy” in a sweet and cheerful voice, portraying the same sweet like behavior associated with her character. Yet again this shows similarities in both character and name as in TOTS. Additionally, not only do Petruchio and Patrick Verona are associated with Verona …show more content…

The movies and the play have the same set of characters as well as their characteristics. Additionally, both have the same sequence of events and plot developments. Lastly, both illustrate similar types of humor and comedy. The Shakespearean story is able to live on through the movie and appeal to the modern generation at the same time, without being actually read. The story itself is a classic that will find its way and be illusion to in different movies and stories to come, but 10 things will also prove to be a classic as it portrays the story in its own way without altering it. Just as Romeo and Juliet’s love story is forever known, Kat’s wit and love story with Patrick and the struggle between the popular vs. the outcast sibling will live on through other

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