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Taming of the Shrew/ 10 Things I Hate About You

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The story of The Taming of the Shrew is one that raises important issues both in the Shakespearean text and in the modern appropriation 10 Things I Hate About You. How does each composer's use of this story reflect the time in which each was composed" The Taming of the Shrew was written in the Elizabethan Era in England at a time when men were considered to be superior to women. The patriarchal society of this time is reflected to a large extent in the text and various implications of traditional values can be noted. The modern appropriation, Ten Things I Hate About You, goes along the same story line however it is quite evident that the different context has a significant impact upon the content. The most obvious indicator of the …show more content…

The culture of the early 17th century placed strong emphasis on the respect that children must show for their parents. Although Katherina rebels against many other customs she reluctantly marries out of respect for her father. In Ten Things Kat is given the choice of going out with Patrick or not. Patrick is given money to woo Kat but he never forces her to take up his offer because, in the society that they live in, it is not acceptable. This reflects that, in the modern context, men and women have greater equality, and also that parents have little or no part in the relationships that their children build with members of the opposite sex. The fathers in each of the two texts give a very good insight into the culture of the society in their particular eras. The Ten Things father is very protective of his daughters. He is aware of the availability of drugs and alcohol in teen culture, and the probability teens retain of having sexual relations. This shows that these are all prominent issues in society in the 90's. Baptista, from the play, is a contrast to the Ten Things father. He very much desires his daughter's to get married because he doesn't want to risk losing his family's good reputation. We can tell that it is normal for daughter's to be married by their father's and the father is not worried about sex, drugs or alcohol, so we can gather that

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