Arranged Love

Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew has been accredited by many to be the first romantic comedy in literature. The story is of a group of wealthy Italian men named Lucentio, Hortensio, and Grumio who attempt to court the beautiful daughter of a wealthy man named Baptista. Batista's daughter Bianca is the youngest meaning she can not be courted until his eldest daughter Katherine has wed. So the three men have to think outside the box in order to find ways to get close to her. The play’s purpose is to question whether or not love actually exists in a world where arranged marriage is the only excepted marriage.

The Big Sick is a movie by Kumail Nanjiani in which he both wrote and starred in. The true story is of how Kumail a stand up comedian at the time left his traditional muslim family in Chicago for a white women named Emily Gordon who at the time was very sick due to a lung infection caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria. For a long period of time Kumail hid Emily from his parents so they would bring Pakistani women by the house to meet Kumail. Essentially the women court the man and his family.

The Taming of the Shrew and The Big Sick both revolve around love and whether or not love can be accomplished with an arranged marriage. Kumail struggles in the Big Sick breaking his families traditions to avoid being arranged to marry because he knows he will not find love that way. He also knows his parents also only wanted it as a status symbol to other Pakistani families. In the Taming of the Shrew Kate is forced to marry Petruchio because she has no other options. Her father only wants a man of wealth to take care of his fortune after he has passed. Given this the reader/ viewer can determine if marriage is arranged by parents it benefits the parents instead of the actual couple being married.  

Halfway through the play Lucentio reveals his plan to get closer to Bianca without the hardships of traditionally courting her. “You will be a school master and undertake the teaching of the maid: That's your device.” (Pg.43 Line 195). The plan was Lucentio’s servant Tranio’s brain child. He would step in as Lucentio so the actual Lucentio could get Bianca’s father, Baptista’s blessing. The plan works perfectly. In The Big Sick the situation is flipped as well as the gender roles. Like Bianca, Kumail is the one who is burdened with the weight of his parents judgement, like Baptista Kumail’s parents do not know the significant other exists. There is a point in the movie where Kumail is telling his little brother Naveed about Emily because the two are both less religious than their parents. Naveed is however happily married to a Pakistani woman. Naveed says to his brother, “Listen I understand, you’re in America and you want to see what it’s like, but eventually you have to marry a Pakistani woman.” Both of these examples reflect on how people will go out of their way to break societal normalities for love although it puts a lot of hardship on them. Bianca’s burning desire for Lucentio was so great that she could not even wait to get a chance of marrying Lucention. She was not willing to take the risk of Baptista rejecting him. Bianca was forced to take a shortcut to get what she desired most. Kumail on the other hand was forced to take to long route because he risked losing his parents love, or Emily’s. Both these situations but a great amount of pressure on the son and daughter who were forcing them into said relationship.

In the final act of the play Tranio (disguised as Lucentio is making his final plea to Baptista as to why he’s the best husband Baptista could ask for. Baptista: “I must confess your offer is the best and let your father make the assurance she is your own; else you must pardon me. If you should die before him, where's her dower?  Pg. 103 Line 415. In this line we see Baptista accepting Tranio’s offer so long as Bianca is provided with money in the event of Lucentio’s death. In The Big Sick Kumail’s mother is talking to him about how he shouldn’t expect a spark from the woman he will potentially spend the rest of his life with. “There’s not just going to be a magic spark, you have to stay open.” In both of these scenarios the true intentions of both parents, they have skin in the game and they prioritize their success over the happiness of their own children. One could speculate that Kumail’s mother wants him to marry a Pakistani woman because of the respect and honor it brings to the family. Although the family follows Islam she only cares about the nationality he marry’s meaning there is no religious tradition involved. The first and only thing Baptista asked for from the man that would marry his daughter. She in fact had no input on the matter. Baptista wanted to keep his family's socio economic status with the arrangement of the two.

Romantic love is a powerful force and that fact shines true in both of these pieces of comedic literature. Although many may believe Shakespeare intention of writing the novel was love doesn’t exist the will and grit of Bianca and Lucentio shine true in this play. And who knows the play was written in a time where arranged marriage was the only marriage, so maybe the play challenges that. The Big Sick is infact a challenge to arranged marriage which is institutionalized in so many cultures. It calls it out and say true love should prevail over the wishes and fulfillments of the parents needs. It is for these reasons arranged marriage mainly benefits the children's parents.