Shakespeare Movie Vs Play

Although through the reading of Shakespeare’s work someone may form a mental depiction of how each actor sounds, looks, and interacts with other characters, films bring to life, through visual representation, both the director and actors interpretations of the play. The ability to pick up on the actor’s subtle body language, the tone of voice, and visual interactions with other characters can lead to a better understanding for someone who is unable to internally visualize the intended meaning and characters of a written play. Such interpretations may slightly skew Shakespeare’s intended representation of each character, however, the overall connotation is not lost but some of his subtle innuendos translated to film are.
One example of such interpretation is given in scene one of the play compared to the same scene in the movie. Bianca was portrayed in the play as meek and subservient albeit slightly sharp tonged occasionally throughout most of the written work. Although the film depicts her in a similar manner, she does display an instance of sudden rage when she speaks to Katherina about being content with her discontent before catching herself and resuming her typical demeanor. The sudden outburst of anger is not something inferred in the reading of the play during my interpretation. That line was interpreted by me

as being expressed on a more somber note as opposed to the angry outburst exhibited in the film. However, the frustration Bianca is harboring with her sister is expressed by both elucidations, so the intended meaning was not lost despite the variance.
Shakespeare was quite witty and makes several subtle innuendos in his writings that do not translate well into film.

During Katherina and Petruchio’s initial interaction he refers to her as being as angry as a wasp and that his remedy for her foul temper is to render her harmless by removing her stinger. Though she refers to her stinger being her tongue, Petruchio takes this in a much more literal sense twisting what she says into the outlandish question of her wanting his tongue in her tail. While this scene is shown in the film the subtle sexual innuendo was downplayed in the picture and doesn’t elicit the same reaction as the writing on the

play.
Even though the translation from writing to film can allow for a better understanding of the intended meaning overall, somethings do get lost in translation from writing to film. Although this loss is not necessarily a bad thing if someone is struggling to comprehend his works, however, the loss of his intended humor removes a little of the enjoyment from his writing.