‘A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money'( W. C Fields). The main male characters in “The Taming of The Shrew” and “Ten Things I Hate About You”, Petruchio and Patrick, have three things in common, the lust for money, the lust for power, and the lust for women. In the 1967 version of the play, originally written by Shakespeare, Petruchio is portrayed as brute only thinking about money and himself. In the 1999 version Patrick is portrayed as a charming, smooth talker that doesn’t care about social expectations. They use their character traits to woo Katharina (1967) Kate (1999).
She’s a shrew that doesn’t care about social expectations or how she should act in public. I personally believe that the films are a love story about a man and a woman freeing each other. In both versions of the play there is an overlying theme of money and power. In the 1967 version Petruchio is paid by Hortensio to woo Kat, likewise Patrick is paid by Joey to woo Kate. This shows that both the men were only in it to make money. Petruchio even says himself “come to wive it wealthily in Padua; / If wealthily then happily in Padua”. In the Elizabethan era it was common for the man to receive a dowry when getting married.
This is one of the many changes when it was remade in 1999. As you can see it has been changed to fit the social expectations. In both cases Petruchio and Patrick were unhappy to have to woo Kat, both claiming that she could never be tamed. But as I have stated before they didn’t care for love, but only for money. Over time it is clear that both men start to fall for Kat, hence why I believe that it is a love story. Personally I believe that both men were portrayed stereotypical to the time era in which the movie was set. Yet I still believe that
Petruchio and Patrick share some characteristics. Which are: They don’t care about social expectations, are portrayed as a tough men. Whereas Patrick is a smooth talker and charming, Petruchio is witty and sly. Petruchio forces KAte into the relationship at first saying she will marry him no matter what. An example of Petruchio’s wittiness is when he first meets Kate. He contradicts everything she says, making them into dirty jokes. PETRUCHIO: Come, come, you wasp, j’faith you are too angry. KATHERINE: If I be waspish, best beware my sting. PETRUCHIO: My remedy is then to pluck it out.
KATHERINE: Ay, if the fool could find where it lies. PETRUCHIO: Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail. KATHERINE: In his tongue. PETRUCHIO: Whose tongue? KATHERINE: Yours, if you talk of tales, and so farewell. PETRUCHIO: What, with my tongue in your tail? Patrick, who is a smooth talker took a different approach to seducing Kate. He used charming words, doing things that she likes, not what he wanted. In the closing lines of the movie Patrick delivers this line. I believe it shows his true love for Kate and shows just how smooth he is.
Kat Stratford: You can’t just buy me a guitar every time you screw up, you know? Patrick: Yeah, I know. But then, you know, there’s always drums, and bass, and maybe even one day a tambourine. I believe that Patrick’s way in seducing Kate is more effective and it shows in the way Kate acts towards him. Money is an overlying theme in The Taming of the Shrew. The main male character, Petruchio is driven only by the lust of money. He believes that with money comes a greater power over people. This is somewhat true, as in the Elizabethan times people who had the most money had the most power.
In the remake of the film, Patrick at first is driven by money, but during the course of the film he starts to fall for Kate. This is the major difference in between the two versions. I believe Petruchio doesn’t start loving Kate until the last scenes in taming of the shrew, but Patrick starts loving Kate near the middle of the film. Despite this I still think that it is a love story, and not an act of misogyny. Why you may ask, it is because both of the films are giving accurate descriptions of what life was like in both time eras.
