Similarities Between 10 Things I Hate About You And Taming Of The Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, follows the lives of two sisters, Katherine and Bianca, as different suitors try to wed Bianca. Katherine is seen as a shrew by many people and her ‘shrewish’ behavior can be seen in her relationship with her sister Bianca. In 10 Things I Hate About You, a film adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew, Bianca and Kat also have a bad relationship, however, Kat’s shrewish behavior towards her sister is explained, allowing the audience to understand another side to Kat and enhancing the play version of Katherine. Katherine and Bianca have a hostile relationship in both The Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You, however, both stories show that Katherine does not act like a shrew towards

The jealousy that Katherine has towards Bianca shows that she acts like a shrew as a defense mechanism because she has been emotionally hurt. Bianca has many suitors, while Katherine only has one, leaving an emotional toll on Katherine. Katherine feels the need to act horrible to her sister as a way to hide that she is jealous of her sister's life. In Act 2, scene 1, Katherine ties Bianca and demands to know which of the suitors Bianca loves most. Katherine states, “Of all thy suitors here I charge thee tell/Whom thou lov’st best./See thou dissemble not”(2.1.8-9). Katherine ties up Bianca because she truly wants to know about her sister’s life. Katherine does not know what it feels like to be loved by another man, causing her to tie up Bianca in order to live vicariously through her younger sister. Though Katherine seems to not care about what other people think about her, deep down she just wants to be accepted and loved like her

When Baptista finds out that Katherine tied up Bianca, Baptista runs to Bianca’s aid, stating, “Why, how now, dame, whence grows this/ insolence?/ —Bianca, stand aside.—Poor girl, she weeps!/ Go ply thy needle; meddle not with her”(2.1.23-26). Instead of asking for both sides of the story, Baptista runs straight to Bianca’s aid. Baptista did not try to understand what was wrong was Katherine or try to hep her deal with her emotions, he instead just viewed her as evil. After Baptista comforts Bianca, he states to Katherine,“thou hilding of a devilish spirit!”(2.1.27-28). Everyone in town views Katherine as a shrew, even her own father. The rejection that Katherine feels from her own family causes her to live up to their expectations. The rejection that Katherine feels from her own father is later revealed when she states, “She is your treasure, she must have a husband,/I must dance barefoot on her wedding day”. Katherine knows that Baptista views Bianca as his treasure and knows Bianca is her father’s priority. The way that Baptista treats Katherine shown that he loves Bianca more, which leaves and emotional toll on Katherine. Katherine acts hostile towards Bianca because she knows the only reason her father is pressuring her to get married is because he wants a good suitor for Bianca, causing Katherine