The Taming of the Shrew: “Film and the play”
William Shakespeare wrote a play called the Taming of the Shrew in the 16th century. This is a story about a woman’s general role in the 16th century. Marriage in 16th century was marriage of convenience. Women just followed men and there were no complaints in general. In the play, Petruchio, who is the main character, tames Kate, the daughter of a rich man, in hopes of having her to wed so that he may collect her father’s dowry. Kate begins as stubborn and strong so it is hard to control her, but through the masculine demands of her new husband, she soon begins to be submissive. After Petruchio’s intensive taming process, Kate became a traditional 16th century’s wife. 400 years later, Franco Zeffirelli …show more content…
Although, wild Kate tried to make fun of Petruchio at first, he did not give up and simultaneously tamed her. He did not care whatsoever about how she treated him then because of the dowry. Therefore, when he married, he started to tame her. According to Philip T. Hartung, he says, “Zeffirelli overdoes the slapstick as Burton’s determined Petruchio chases Taylor’s bad-tempered Katharina” (19). This is true of the film because of the time when Kate got a frying pan and hit Petruchio like Joseph Stalin. In the film, Kate had power, as one can see from that scene however, there was no such plot in the play. Zeffirelli overdid some scenes to make his film be more enjoyable. Moreover, at the end of the story, Kate tried to teach people about how a woman’s role in the 16th century was. According to Moira Walsh, she questions if, “Kate [is] an intelligent women taking a bizarre method of protesting the low estate of women in her society” (73). In both the play and film, Kate does not seem to be intelligent because Petruchio tames her as if she were a dog. Thus, this plot shows the alternation of Kate’s characterization and reworks the sexism that happened in the 16th century. The film by Zeffirelli is well developed by scenario. The actors and actresses were a great fit to the original characters. It was also easier to understand the film compared to the play. People can enjoy and have fun while they watch Petruchio and Kate’s battle on
William Shakespeare wrote a play called the Taming of the Shrew in the 16th century. This is a story about a woman’s general role in the 16th century. Marriage in 16th century was marriage of convenience. Women just followed men and there were no complaints in general. In the play, Petruchio, who is the main character, tames Kate, the daughter of a rich man, in hopes of having her to wed so that he may collect her father’s dowry. Kate begins as stubborn and strong so it is hard to control her, but through the masculine demands of her new husband, she soon begins to be submissive. After Petruchio’s intensive taming process, Kate became a traditional 16th century’s wife. 400 years later, Franco Zeffirelli …show more content…
Although, wild Kate tried to make fun of Petruchio at first, he did not give up and simultaneously tamed her. He did not care whatsoever about how she treated him then because of the dowry. Therefore, when he married, he started to tame her. According to Philip T. Hartung, he says, “Zeffirelli overdoes the slapstick as Burton’s determined Petruchio chases Taylor’s bad-tempered Katharina” (19). This is true of the film because of the time when Kate got a frying pan and hit Petruchio like Joseph Stalin. In the film, Kate had power, as one can see from that scene however, there was no such plot in the play. Zeffirelli overdid some scenes to make his film be more enjoyable. Moreover, at the end of the story, Kate tried to teach people about how a woman’s role in the 16th century was. According to Moira Walsh, she questions if, “Kate [is] an intelligent women taking a bizarre method of protesting the low estate of women in her society” (73). In both the play and film, Kate does not seem to be intelligent because Petruchio tames her as if she were a dog. Thus, this plot shows the alternation of Kate’s characterization and reworks the sexism that happened in the 16th century. The film by Zeffirelli is well developed by scenario. The actors and actresses were a great fit to the original characters. It was also easier to understand the film compared to the play. People can enjoy and have fun while they watch Petruchio and Kate’s battle on