Female Dominance In Relationships Can Be Deceiving

Comparing “Taming Of The Shrew” to “Deliver Us From Eva”

As “Taming Of The Shrew” proves, that female dominance in relationships can be deceiving. In “Taming Of The Shrew”,  Petruchio sets out to tame Katherine, a sharp-tongued, quick-tempered woman prone to violence, particularly against anyone who tries to marry her. Deceived by deception, Katherine eventually gives up fighting with Petruchio and instead gives her unconditional love to him. In the 2003 romantic comedy “Deliver Us From Eva”, a similar situation happens. Ray, the neighborhood playboy, is bribed by his friends and is sent to tame Eva, a very uptight young woman who constantly meddles in the affairs of her sisters and their husbands. The plan goes by smoothly, but troubles comes their way when Ray actually falls in love with Eva. Both “The Taming Of The Shrew” and “Deliver Us From Eva” makes it seem that females can often seem as though they have the upper hand in relationships because their controlling qualities, but it is actually the males who are more dominant because they can tame the females into doing what they want."

Though Petruchio and Ray have similar goals, they both use different tactics to prove their dominance and restore their position as alpha males. It shows that the expectation of a male in a relationship is to control any type of female dominance. These two situations are similar being  that they are formed around honesty and deception, though they differ by showing that the expectation of a male in a relationship is to attain authority and for a female is to be controlled.

PETRUCHIO:

“Signior Baptista, my business asketh haste,

And every day I cannot come to woo.

You knew my father well, and in him me,

Left solely heir to all his lands and goods,

Which I have bettered rather than decreased.

Then tell me, if I get your daughter’s love,

What dowry shall I have with her to wife?

BAPTISTA:

After my death, the one half of my lands,

And, in possession, twenty thousand crowns.”

(Act 2, Scene 1)

In this quote, Petruchio and Baptista are conversing on the plan of wooing Katherine. Baptista agrees to pay Petruchio twenty-thousand crowns and half of his land if Petruchio succeeds in attaining Katherine love. On the understanding that Baptista is willing to go any extent on Petruchio wooing Katherine, shows male superiority to getting what they want. This aside makes the setting very intense.

- “Eva is a piece of work, but we're prepared to make it worth your while to take her out. You're gonna pay me to go out with her?”

- When you do it, you have to make her fall in love with you, then you tell her you're leaving town and get her to go with you.

- Then you can dump her. It'll take her years to relocate. - Yes!

- Ray, Ray, look, I gotta be honest with you. Eva is a piece of work, but we're prepared to make it worth your while to take her out. You're gonna pay me to go out with her? Are you worried that that makes you look like a gigolo?  No. I mean, I kind of like that aspect. - Okay! All right. I'm in a financial bind.

PETRUCHIO:

Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed.

And therefore, setting all this chat aside,

Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented

That you shall be my wife, your dowry 'greed on,

And, will you, nill you, I will marry you.

Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn,

For, by this light, whereby I see thy beauty,

Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well,

Thou must be married to no man but me.

For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,

And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate

Conformable as other household Kates.

This is the scene from the play where Petruchio is attempting to woo Katherine. He lies and tells her things that would makes her feel pleasant inside, though knowing they are all untrue. For example when he says that though everyone denounces her of being called pretty Kate, he believes she is the prettiest Kate in the world. He then went on to saying that he wants to marry her. To his surprise, Kate reacts differently than what he’d expected.

PETRUCHIO:

Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed.

And therefore, setting all this chat aside,

Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented

That you shall be my wife, your dowry 'greed on,

And, will you, nill you, I will marry you.

Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn,

For, by this light, whereby I see thy beauty,

Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well,

Thou must be married to no man but me.

For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,

And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate

Conformable as other household Kates.

Realizing that by beating around the bush and trying to please Katherine in a way is like begging for her love, which is not being dominant, he decides to cut to the chase and tell her the truth. After telling her the truth, he maintains his superiority by telling her whether she likes it or not, they are getting married. He then went on to state,” I’m the man who was born to tame you and change you from a wildcat Kate into a Kate as gentle and domestic as other household Kates.”

In this scene, Ray is put in a similar situation when consoles to telling Eva the plan. But, as Petruchio expresses his dominance in a controlling, less submissive manner, Ray chooses to express his situation in a more calm, passive, approach.

-”Look. I'm sorry, fellas.

I'm going to see Eva tonight, and the least I can do is tell her in person what I did.”

Eva,you don't understand.
-“ It's because of me.The only reason I went out with you...is because they paid me to. I was supposed to... make you like me, then trick you into moving away.But I didn't know you then. I didn't realize how wonderful you are. How much you changed me, make me wanna change.I know I was wrong, but….what we have is bigger than all the mistakes I've made.
 I'm certain of that.”

Showing that by being soft and gentle to the aggressive, you’re not only gaining dominance to their heart but to the person as a whole. This is what Ray does in this scene. He tells Eva the whole plan and in the end apologizes to her.Weakened by his honesty and sympathy, she eventually forgives him and accepts his apology. In turn, she agrees to marry him. DOMINANCE ESTABLISHED.

In conclusion both the film and play shows that though at times women might seem the more dominant in relationships, it is the males who are the superiority leaders. All women need is to be controlled(tame) in order to behave in the proper manner. The main ideas surrounding both is that men and women play different roles in society and even though how crazy it may seem  for men to always want control of women, men will always have that superiority because that’s what they were made to be.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Deliver Us from Eva. By Gary Hardwick. Dir. Gary Hardwick. Perf. Gabrielle Union and LL Cool J. Universal Studios, 2003. DVD.

SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

"Deliver Us From Eva Script - Dialogue Transcript." Deliver Us From Eva Script. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

"Watch Deliver Us from Eva (2003) Online for Free - Viooz." Latest Added Movies RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

Director: Gary Hardwick