Power Possession Has Changed

Taming of the Shrew (play) and Guess Who (movie)

The movie Guess Who is about a white man about to marry a black woman, and the woman’s dad disapproves of the relationship and is trying to stop the wedding. The play The Taming of the Shrew is about a relationship between a man named Petruchio and a woman named Katherine, and the marriage is one Katherine is forced into by Petruchio. The relationship was not one where Katherine was happy due to being forced into the marriage. These two texts show that Relationships used to be forced and have women submit to men, but now it is the other way around because dad’s don’t control marriages,  women have more rights and agency in their personal lives than they did hundreds of years ago, and now men are constantly trying to meet and exceed their standards instead of it being the other way around.

The play has a forced marriage. Petruchio wanted to have a lot of money, and Katherine and her family did have a lot of money. Petruchio then figured out how to marry her. He offered to marry her. Once she said no, he went and got the dad’s permission to marry Katherine.

"Quote from Play"

“But sun it is not, when you say it is not, and the moon changes even as your mind.” -Katherine

(Act 4, Scene 5, line numbers 22 to 23)

This is Katherine complying with her husband Petruchio. Petruchio is very controlling and dominant towards Katherine, and was trying to tame her. Katherine acts crazy at times, and Petruchio was trying to fix that. Eventually, Katherine acts calm and submissive towards Petruchio, and that quote right there proves it. She is saying that he is always right even when he is wrong. That is  literally saying that she will not argue with him at all. This is now showing the power that Petruchio has over her at this moment. It is clear that Katherine is unhappy, and is trying to deal with this forced marriage as best as possible. She wants to get out of it, but her husband and dad have all of the control. So unless Petruchio wants to leave her, she is stuck in the marriage.

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In the movie, there is a plot of a Percy trying to stop a relationship. He does not like the fact that his daughter, Theresa, is dating a white man named Simon. Percy does not approve of it at all, and he starts hanging out with Simon to see whether he was crazy or not. The dad in the play, Baptista, was happy for the forced wedding and approved of Petruchio. He did everything he could to make that wedding happen. That was a huge difference between the dads. One is completely approving, and one is really upset about her daughter’s relationship. Plus, Theresa breaks up with In the movie, there is a plot of a Percy trying to stop a relationship. He does not like the fact that his daughter, Theresa, is dating a white man named Simon. Percy does not approve of it at all, and he starts hanging out with Simon to see whether he was crazy or not. The dad in the play, Baptista, was happy for the forced wedding and approved of Petruchio. He did everything he could to make that wedding happen. That was a huge difference between the dads. One is completely approving, and one is really upset about her daughter’s relationship. Plus, Theresa breaks up with Simon by choice. Percy wanted that to happen, but Theresa’s choice to break up with Simon was not a decision made by Percy. Katherine never had such freedom, since Baptista’s word was the final one. Theresa had full control over the situation.

“I know not what to say, but give me your hands. God send you joy, Petruchio. ‘Tis a match’”-Baptista

(Act 2, Scene 1, 337 to 338)

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

Act 3, Scene 2, 8 to 9

This is Baptista approving of his own daughter’s forced marriage to a man she clearly does not even like. Petruchio is happy due to the fact that he will also get Baptista and Katherine’s money. That is the entire reason he wanted to get married in the first place. So now, a relationship where there is no freedom has just been approved of. Katherine is clearly very angry, and she keeps on showing it. She wants nothing to do with Petruchio whatsoever, but must deal with him and the marriage due to her being powerless and having no rights.

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This scene is very long, and takes places after the breakup of Theresa and Simon. It’s when the dad, Percy, goes to talk to Simon before he renews his wedding vow, because that was the day Percy and his wife, Marilyn, were supposed to have their wedding vows renewed. Percy finds out that Simon left his job because his boss was racist towards his interracial relationship. Percy finds that honorable, and says that he should try to get back with his daughter. He now approves of the relationship. Percy starts singing, and then Simon comes in and sings out of nowhere. He apologizes to Theresa, and they get back together, Percy announces their engagement, and Simon is now accepted as part of the family. But Theresa had a choice whether to accept Simon or not, unlike Katherine. The dad did not force Theresa to be in a relationship the way Baptista did to Katherine. And Simon had to prove to Theresa that he was worthy of a second chance. So, Theresa had all of the power.