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

Cotemporary adaptations of Shakespearean plays either cheaply replace ancient conventions with modern ones or blend both into an almost seamless package. I would not go as far to say that 10 Things I Hate About You is seamless, but in a clichéd “teen-movie style” you could not have asked for something better. Regardless, there are key similarities and differences that are intriguing.
10 Things I Hate About You has some fairly obvious similarities with Taming of the Shrew. Most notably, the main characters have similar or identical names, such as Katherine, Bianca, and Petruccio who is Patrick. These characters are not only similar in name alone, but they fall into their expected roles like pieces of a puzzle.
The plots deal with the same major issues. The whole premise of the desirable Bianca not being able to have a relationship until her tempestuous older sister Katherine finds a man is consistent in both versions of the story. The men concoct a scheme and get someone to pretend to be attracted to Katherine so
Due to the almost identical plots, the themes remain fairly intact. The theme of disguise is one theme that is a bit skewed in the modern story. Shakespeare loves adding an almost deceptive quality to his characters, so we see disguise used in a lot of his plays. Taming of the Shrew uses the theme in a much bolder way because it was acceptable in the 16th century to see this in a play. The disguises are not played up as much in 10 Things I Hate About You, but they are present, like when Cameron claims to know French well enough to be a competent tutor, or when Patrick is hitting on Katherine when he really only wants the money. Another difference is how Petruccio and Patrick go about taming Katherine. Petruccio is outright abusive by starving her and keeping her sleep deprived. Patrick uses a much more “movie-friendly” method by persevering as a gentlemen and giving up his bad habits like