Differentiating True and False Love

In the "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare, the characters Petruchio and Katherine were a couple who faced lots of problems before they fell in love. In the movie "A Walk To Remember”, Landon and Jamie were a couple and in love too, even though Jamie had cancer and would soon die. Landon sacrificed his carefree life to be with her. In both the play and the movie, there was a wedding, but Landon and Jamie were in love when they were  got married.Compared to  Petruchio and Katherine, weren't in love when got  married. Petruchio  forced her to get married. In the end Katherine falls in love with Petruchio and made sacrifices, just as Landon did, but Petruchio’s disregard for her feelings means their love is not genuine. These texts reflect that if one person truly loves another person, then he or she will overcome challenges and make sacrifices to make the other happy.


“No shame but mine. I must, forsooth, be forced To give my hand, opposed against my heart”

(Act iii, Scene i, 8-9)

In this scene Katherine says she doesn’t want to marry Petruchio. Since she does not love him. Petruchio has to use force to make Katherine marry him. That Katherine could not be convinced to marry a man she does not love, this shows that societies view on emale ideas on courtship and/or dating. In the beginning of the play Katherine said it will be shame for her to be with someone who she does not love but by the end of the play, she gives up on this notion. Katherine initially believes that her hand in marriage should belong to someone to whom she can also give her heart. Her idea of courtship is that it should be mutual consent. However, by the end of the story, she accepts that in her situation, Petruchio’s desire to be with her gives her no choice in the matter. Since Katherine’s ideas on courtship and dating have not been met, she and Petruchio cannot share true love.



In the movie “A Walk To Remember”, the characters Landon asking for help from Jamie and when she made a request to him.

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Jamie sacrifices her love for Landon because she knows she can not be with him for very long. She does not hide the fact that she is dying from Landon which shows her belief that it is important to be honest in relationships. Even though it is difficult for her to do this, Jamie requests of Landon, “You have to promise you won’t fall in love with me.” By asking him to promise not to fall in love with her is her way of being honest. Because Jamie believes that relationships require honesty and she takes the steps to be honest with Landon about her situation, the love that eventually blossoms between them is real. If she had lied to him and he had fallen in love with her, it would not be true love because what he knows about her is not completely true.


“And threw the sops all in the sexton’s face, Having no other reason

But that his beard grew thin and hungerly, and seemed to ask him sops as he was drinking. This done, he took the bride about the neck, and kissed her lips such a clamorous smack, that at the parting all the church did echo”.

(Act iii, Sc ii, 175-81)



In this quote, the wedding for Katherine and Petruchio is depicted. At the time of the wedding, Katherine was not in love with Petruchio but he was forcing Katherine to get married. The fact that Petruchio thinks it is acceptable to force Katherine into marriage demonstrates Male ideas in courtship/dating.  The reason that there is this male idea in courtship/dating is that he is getting a sizable dowry through Katherine. His expectations are for Katherine to marry him for his economic benefits and for her to be loyal to him even though he is not treating her with respect. His idea was that it is okay to marry a girl even if she is not happy with the relationship. Katherine sacrifices her independence by marrying Petruchio even though she does not love him. In the end, Katherine becomes a submissive wife because of Petruchio’s force. If Petruchio’s love for Katherine was real, he would not have forced her to make a decision she did not want to make. When one is truly in love with another, one will do whatever it takes to make the other happy, even if one will not be happy with the outcome. Since Petruchio did not take Katherine’s happiness into consideration, his “love” for her is not genuine.



In the movie “A Walk To Remember”, the characters Jamie Sullivan and Landon Carter are in relationship and they get married.


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In this scene, it is Jamie Sullivan’s and Landon Carter’s wedding. In their relationship, there was perfectly sincere love. When Landon learned that Jaime had a very late stage of cancer, he continued to love her. During the wedding, Jamie and Landon say their vows with complete honesty. Landson says, “I do solemnly swear to take Jamie Sullivan, as my lawfully wedded wife, to honor and cherish her all the days of my life”. Even though Landon knows that Jaime will not be able to stay with him forever, he makes a sacrifice by marrying her. Since he truly loves her, he has made a sacrifice to “honor and cherish” her even though it will likely hurt him when she passes away. Unlike Petruchio, Landon made a sacrifice for Jamie to be happy and to be with her until her last breath. Unlike Petruchio, Landon didn’t control Jamie and instead accepted the challenge to love her even though it was difficult for him.  The challenge for Landon was to be in love knowing he would later be alone because of Jamie’s eventual death.


In the play “The Taming of the Shrew” by Shakespeare and in the movie “a walk to remember”, each of the characters make important sacrifices and take on challenges in the name of people they love. However, whether or not the love is real and sincere depends on each character’s actions and intentions. Jamie and Landon are honest with each other and sacrifice for each other, they want to make the other happy. Petruchio and Katherine do not sacrifice for each other, only Katherine gives up her independence. Even when her intention is to make him happy by being loyal to him, Petruchio’s intentions are not to take care of Katherine and her happiness. Petruchio marries Katherine despite her protest to gain her dowry. Therefore, the only couple who truly love each other seek to make the other happy without self-interest.

Comments (4)

Niah Lombo (Student 2017)
Niah Lombo

I like how the essay shows the difference in their definition of Love. I examples you used worked with the point you were trying to prove that love is when you want to make the other person happy and not do it for a beneficial gain.

Luke Risher (Student 2017)
Luke Risher

Good Essay!

I think showing the split between the male and females ideas on dating or relationships within "Shrew" was really good and made a lot of sense. I also think that you went in good depth about the differences!

Chelsea Middlebrooks (Student 2017)
Chelsea Middlebrooks

Your essay shows the contrasting relationships for Katherine and Petruchio and Jamie and Landon and you do it really well. It shows that society's perception of love has changed over time and that love is about sacrifice.