Similarities and differences: The Taming of the Shrew vs. 10 Things I Hate About You

Over the years, there have been countless remakes and different interpretations of the various plays written by William Shakespeare.  The 1999 movie, 10 Things I Hate About You, is based off of the Shakespeare play, The Taming of the Shrew.  Although there are obviously many similarities between the movie and the play, there are also a few notable differences.  Below I have not included every single similarity and difference between the movie and play, but I included examples that I found to be most prominent and most interesting.

Seeing as how The Taming of the Shrew was the inspiration for 10 Things I Hate About You, there are many similarities between the two.  The names of the main characters are very similar.  In the play, the "shrew" is Katherine, or Kate, and the tamer of the shrew is Petruchio.  In the movie, and Julia Stiles' character's name is Katarina, or Kat, and Heath Ledger's character's name is Patrick.  Katherine's sister, Bianca, continues to use the name in the movie.  Kate and Kat are both hard-headed, abrasive women who are out-shined by their sisters, Bianca.  Another similarity concerns the roles of Hortensio and Lucentio.  Hortensio/Joey is very rich and is very full of himself, while Lucentio/Cameron is smitten with Bianca for who she is.  Both Lucentio and Cameron pretend to be tutors in order to spend time with the Biancas.  Also, there is no mother in the picture.

The main difference between the play and the movie concerns the setting and the plot.  Although the plot is similar, it is a completely modernized interpretation.  The play takes place in Padua, where Kate and Bianca reside in their father Baptista's home.  In those times, the eldest daughter was to be married first.  However, Bianca is the favored, beautiful daughter while Kate has been put on the back burner.  Because of this, Kate feels alienated, and therefore she alienates all of those around her - hence the term "shrew."  Bianca has many suitors, but cannot get married until her sister does.  The movie takes place at a high school in California, where both Kat and Bianca attend.  Their father thinks Bianca is an angel, so he doesn't want anyone to date her.  A rule is then created: Bianca can't date anyone unless Kat is dating someone.  Essentially, Kate is to be "tamed" so she can marry, and Kat is to be "tamed" for her anti-social ways.

Another difference between the play and the movie concerns the "codes" that Bianca and Lucentio share.  In the play, Lucentio is teaching Bianca Latin, whereas in the movie, Cameron is teaching Bianca French.  Lucentio and Bianca share code words and almost speak in metaphors so Hortensio cannot understand them, and it's very funny in the movie because Cameron is trying to instruct her even though he doesn't know French, while Bianca gets frustrated and speaks to him in terms that aren't in the book.  She was expecting him to ask her out, but he couldn't understand what she was saying.