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Taming the beast behind male courtship

“Taming of the shrew” and “Beauty and the beast”

The above scene shows that Belle did not want to marry Gaston, and if it had not been for the Beast, another love interest, she would have been forced to marry Gaston.

Katherine faced a similar situation- Petruchio lied to Baptista, claiming that he loved Katherine, when in reality he was just marrying her for her money. He then assured Baptista that Katherine would be well taken care of and provided for (another lie) which was in a way bribing Baptista to let Katherine marry him. Although both of the female characters were strong-willed and independent, they were both forced into bad situations by a male interested in them. This reflects that some relationships that women have with a male partner were forced upon them or are established on lies.

Katherine was trapped into a relationship with Petruchio before she met him. He quickly devised a plan to “win her heart” (or her fathers acceptance) by pretending to be something he was not-

act 2 sc 1 p 87- “and woo  her with some spirit when she comes!...then I’ll commend her volubility” (Petruchio)

Petruchio used his cunning, lies, and forceful manner to trick both Baptista and Katherine into thinking he was a viable suitor. He continued to pretend to be something he wasn’t around others in order to keep up the rouse.

Belle is shocked and confused about the Beast’s transformation, realizing (like Petruchio) he wasn’t what he truly was.

“What, did he marry me to famish me?” (katherine)

p. 163 act 4 sc 3

Katherine was also shocked and confused once the newlyweds got home and Petruchio began abusing her. In the movie, the Beast also abused Belle by withholding food in the beginning of the movie.

In class, there is a reading the tale of shakespeare’s “The taming of the shew” in which the story takes place about a man who holds a clever mind and likes to make people confused and enjoys to play tricks on them. In the latest trick that the lord wants to pull is to make a female fall in love with him. I’m comparing this timely shakespeare story to a modern romance time in the movie titled “Think like a man”. Think like a man is about a group of male friends who all play a different type of man like one of the . And a group of female friends who all look at relationships different and they clash with one another.

In Taming of the shrew, there is a scene where Petruchio and Katherine have their first encounter and Katherine has a sharp tongue towards petruchio, and shows and he comes back with clever lines. He undermines her anger and calls her a wasp. She gets offended, telling them that if he keeps trying to pursue her, she will sting him.

Quote One

PETRUCHIO: Come, come, you wasp, i’faith you are too angry.

KATHERINE: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.

PETRUCHIO: My remedy is then to pluck it out.

KATHERINE: Ay, if the fool could find where it lies.

PETRUCHIO: Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail.

KATHERINE: In his tongue.

PETRUCHIO: Whose tongue?

KATHERINE: Yours, if you talk of tales, and so farewell.

PETRUCHIO: What, with my tongue in your tail?

In this scene you see three characters, two of them being female (Mia towards the left and Sonia too the right) As they were finished speaking about how men doesn’t provide enough respect to woman, and how a woman should save her “Cookie” for at least 90 days before they give it up. After Mia is finished going on a rant about it. A man appears on the other side of Sonia and introduces himself to Mia. This is their first encounter, Mia still feels as though that all men aren’t shit so she has an immediate attitude when he starts talking. Like taming of the shew you see who people have their first encounter, first the girl has an attitude

Quote 2

“Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,

Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,

And for thy maintenance commits his body

To painful labour both by sea and land,

To watch the night in storms, the day in cold”

   (V.ii.140–183)

In this quote it shows the speech that katerine gave at the end of the play that she finally came around and decided that she was actually getting married and gives a shocking transformation in her opinion of marriage and it stuns everyone else who is hearing those words come out of her mouth. This is surprising because she has had a set attitude and mindset throughout the entire movie and all of the sudden everything changes when she really thinks about it.

This is the ending scene of the movie with Candace realizes that money doesn’t matter in an relationship and she still loves him even though he lied about his job, the car he drives and the lifestyle that he lives.

Comparing these two romantic comedy tales. I’m going to be focusing on how male and females both look at relationships and the expectations that come with relationships, lies and deception in a relationships. While comparing these two stories. Honesty and deception plays a big role in how both male and females look towards relationships.

Parents & Marriage= Nightmare

Catherine downgraded and embarrassed Montana a tremendous amount by saying she should marry Langston. She had never met Langston before yet, she was ready to marry her daughter off to him. When Catherine did that she made it clear that she wanted a husband for Montana and she didn't care who it was,

Bianca, Katherine and their father are in their home talking about the marriage situation. Bianca has made it clear that she really wants to get married and Katherine is in her way. The three begin to argue about. Baptista is taking Bianca’s side and is telling Katherine that she has a devilish spirit.

“What, will you not suffer me? Nay, now I see. She is your treasure, she must have a husband;"

(Act l, Scene ii, 75)

Katherine is feeling so low and pushed to the side its caused her to fight with her father. She tells him what shes feeling inside and she’s not a “devil.” Baptista thinks hes doing whats best for his daughters but he’s really doing whats best for just for Bianca. He’s not taking the time to figure of what shes acting the way she does or why she has just said that she feels like Bianca is her treasure. Not once does Baptista ask Katherine if she wants to get married or if she wants Bianca to get married first. Baptista is pushing Katherine away by forcing her to marry and she will continue to angry with him or resent what he’s forcing her to do.

Much like in “Shrew” Montana’s younger sister was big on marriage and  just  became engaged.

Montana was in her apartment when her mother and sister barged in with “big news.” Sheree was only a sophomore in college and she was engaged to the star football player. Her mother told her because he had so much money and such a bright future she had nothing to worry about so she accepted the invitations.

When Montana saw the ring and heard the announcement she knew her mother was going to pressure her into getting married. Montana’s mother knew her youngest daughter was ready for marriage she told her to do it for the wrong reason. If she continues to push Montana the same way as she pushed Sheree none of their marriages will last and both daughter will be full of anger with their mother.

In both “Shrew” and “Baggage Claim” a lot of themes were introduced over the course of the book/movie. The themes ranged from parental interference, societies attitude towards courtship/dating, honesty and deception in relationships and more. The main focus was parental push. Parental push in dating and marriage will mostly likely always end in disaster. Mainly because parents will pick a person that will make them happy and not their sons or daughters.  

Citations

Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew;. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print.

Talbert, David E. "Watch Baggage Claim Online | Watch Full Baggage Claim (2013)."Baggage Claim. Watch32, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.

Books and movies are known to portray false love in today’s modern day society. Ever since childhood, children watch movies and T.V. shows that focus on fantasies of true love. Princesses, castles, princes, and other fantasies brainwash kids at a young age into thinking that this is how life should go and this is how relationships work. In the book “Taming of the Shrew”, Bianca and Lucentio are looked at as the dream couple with no issues or problems and live the fantasy marriage. In 50 first dates Drew Barrymore was in a car accident and now has no short term memory. Everytime she goes to sleep she forgets everything from the day before. After falling in love at first sight, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore hit it off immediately only for her take wake up tomorrow morning forgetting that she ever met him. Each day Adam Sandler goes out of his way and uses chivalry to win Drew Barrymore’s love every day. Love at first sight can happen with the same person at any time, any day.

“O yes, I saw sweet beauty in her face, Such as the daughter of Agenor had,” Act 1, sc. 1, Ln. 169

In ‘shrew’ Lucentio originally comes to Padua to attend the university but then lays eyes on Bianca. When he saw her he compared her Europa. In greek mythology it was said that Zeus saw her and fell in love immediately. Once he sets eyes on her, his goals and priorities change. He no longer attends school and spends his time in Padua trying to convince Bianca and Baptista that Bianca should marry him and not the other two suitors. The love at first sight hit him like a brick wall and changed everything.

The suitors in ‘Shrew’ and ‘50 first dates’ both have one goal in mind once they set their eyes on their girl. To marry their girls. In ‘50 first dates’ Adam Sandler first sets his eyes on Drew Barrymore in a café and immediately knows that he wants to be with her forever.

In the movie ‘50 first dates’ Adam sandler was a ‘fast’ man. He had sex with tourists who came to the island of Hawaii and sent them on their way. He was just spending time here before he took his research of seals to Alaska. Then, one day he walked into a café and set eyes on Drew Barrymore and changed his whole life. Love at first sight. For the first time, he was nervous and didn’t know how to approach her. When he finally spoke to her the next day they hit it off. This relates to ‘shrew’ because both couples fell in love with each other within the same day. But a big problem arose in ‘50 First Dates’ when they met up at the café again the next day.

Also, another comparison of these two couples are the hoops the men jump through to be together. In ‘50 first dates’ Adam Sandler goes through “50” different ways to get Drew Barrymore to fall in love with him. In ‘Shrew’ Lucentio must pose as Cambio, a school teacher, in order to get close to Bianca. Both men go through more problems in order to get the girl than an average man in real life.

“Basta; content thee, for I have it full.

We have not yet been seen in any house,

Nor can we lie distinguish’d by our faces

For man or master; then it follows thus;

Thou shalt be master, Tranio, in my stead,

Keep house and port and servants as I should

” Act 1, sc1 Ln. 204

In this section of the play, Lucentio has to dress up as Cambio, a school teacher, in order to get close to Bianca. Another problem Lucentio is faced with is the fact that Bianca’s father, Baptista, won’t let her marry before Katherine. It is difficult because Katherine isn’t a desired wife by most men. She is strong willed and has an adamant attitude. So Lucentio had to wait for Petruchio to take care of Katherine before he could come into the picture. Lucentio goes through all of this for one girl. He had a plan before he fell deeply in love with Bianca at first sight.

Lucentio and Adam Sandler are similar in the fact that each were willing to go extremely out of their way for one girl. Lucentio left school and Adam Sandler put his walrus research trip to Alaska on hold for Drew Barrymore. Even though both men put in great efforts to win their significant other’s love, the couple of problems that ‘Lucentio’ faced don’t compare to the hoops that Adam Sandler had to jump through from day one to have a future with Drew Barrymore.

In this section of ‘50 first dates’ Adam Sandler came to the café the next day expecting to have another beautiful day with Drew Barrymore. But then was surprised to find out that she had no recollection of ever speaking to him before. Once an employee of the café explained to Adam Sandler Drew Barrymore’s mental disability it became his priority to get her to love him forever. He thought maybe if he proved that he loved her and tried something new and ridiculous everyday, she would remember him and fall for him the way he fell for her the first time they met. Adam Sandler didn’t succeed in winning Drew Barrymore’s love the way he did times before the first couple of days trying to win her love again. In fact, more times than not he failed and she became angry with him. After what seemed like 50 attempts of trying to have a regular conversation to tricking her into talking to him. He figured out that she will never remember him the next morning. Making a very chivalrous decision he decided to stay with her and wake up next to her everyday and refresh her memory everyday of who he is and the relationship the two share.

‘50 First Dates’ and ‘Shrew’ have many similarities. But the most important similarity lies in what this book and this movie portray about society’s view on dating. In these two examples the men go after the girl giving all they have. Both men make their women their first priority at this stage in life, dropping all other things that seemed important before being in love became more important to them. ‘50 First Dates’ and ‘Shrew’ both support that you can fall deeply in love with the same person at any time, any day.

Citations:

Shakespeare, William . The Taming of the Shrew. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992. Print.

50 First Dates. Dir. Peter Segal. Perf. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. Columbia Pictures, 2004. DVD.

"The Taming of the Shrew” portrays the idea that men desire relationships for control and do not have a conscience while they are ‘taming’ their ‘shrew.’ Throughout this play a money-driven Petruchio plots ways to lure Katherine into his control. In “Ruby Sparks” a lonely author Calvin has control of his girlfriend Ruby from the start. This is because Calvin wrote a story about a girl who then came to life, claiming to already be his girlfriend. Calvin promises -to himself- not to abuse this power. However he breaks this promises and in the end frees his girlfriend from his control. Although Petruchio and Calvin are not originally after the same thing it is clear that they both want control over their romantic partner. For Petruchio when this control is official it is pleasant but expected. He feels no guilt for what he has done to cause this, only pride that it has happened. “Ruby Sparks” shows that these emotions have not lasted through to today. Calvin receives the power that he thought he wanted. However, he does not enjoy it and feels only guilt. These texts reflect that men’s emotions and ideas on romantic relationships have changed. They now view women as people and therefore have new ideas on what a ‘tamed’ woman is.

Petruchio “I come to wive it wealthily in Padua; If wealthily, the happily in Padua.”

(Act 1. Scene 2. Line 76.)

Petruchio claims to Hortensio that all he wants in a bride is that she is rich. He claims that this will be enough because he will be able to ‘tame’ a woman no matter how cruel. This shows that Petruchio expects a woman to be able to be ‘tamed’ and for her to bend to his every word. However, since this is an expectation and not a request or desire it is not an important part of his choosing a woman. He believes that right now all he requires is someone who is rich and he will be able to make them into whatever else he wants.

In the movie “Ruby Sparks” Calvin shows what his expectations are before meeting Ruby.

Harry "Quirky messy women whose problems only make them endearing are not real. Period." …. "That honeymoon shit doesn't last. Women are different up close. I love Suzy but she's a weirdo. Sometimes, she's mean as fuck for no reason. She's a person, you haven't written a person."

(18 minutes)

During this scene Calvin has his brother Harry read a manuscript that he’s written. It is a manuscript of a love story where he mainly describes this one girl, Ruby. His brother claims that Calvin’s expectations are too high, that he has not written someone who has the possibility of being real. Calvin gets defensive and states that he’s not finished yet. However, it is clear to see that Calvin disagrees with his brother’s claim and believes that everything he has written is a perfectly reasonable expectation for him to have.

Both Calvin and Petruchio have high expectations for what they want in a woman. However where Petruchio’s are vague Calvin’s are specific. Petruchio believes that he will be able to make a girl into whatever he wants at any given time. Calvin has already done this, he already decided what he wants and has written it down, trying to make it real. Both men are showing that they have control over the situation and they have the ability to create any girl that they like.

Petruchio “Why, there’s a wench! Come on, and kiss me, Kate.”

(Act 5. Scene 2. Line 197)

Katherine gives a long speech about respecting her husband during a dinner party. This is the first time that she is openly showing that he has power over her. Petruchio responds to this speech by calling her both a wench and Kate. Kate is a nickname that he gave her when he was first trying to gain control over her. He clearly feels no remorse about what he has done to change this girl. However, he is also not surprised by the fact that she changed. This is what he expected, for her to become someone entirely different solely because he wanted her to.

In the movie “Ruby Sparks” Calvin ends up in a very similar situation but he handles it much differently.

Ruby: (in french) "But I don't know how to speak french

Calvin: See. Ruby speaks french.

R: (in french) what's happening?

C: I told you I could make you do anything."

(1 hour 25 minutes)

During this scene Calvin shows Ruby, his girlfriend, the immense control that he has over her. He shows her that whenever he writes anything it becomes true. Ruby gets angry and upset, she begins to cry and scream. Calvin clearly feels bad but can no longer control himself. The following scene shows him writing that Ruby is free. She then leaves the house and Calvin is left alone. Although Calvin had control over a girl he allowed her to leave. This is different than what Petruchio did. It shows that although men may still expect control it is not always what they want. It is more likely that they will think about what they have done and how they are affecting this other person. There is more guilt and more conscience.

Society’s, specifically men’s, view on society has changed since the time of Shakespeare. In the play “Taming of the Shrew” it is portrayed that men only want to control their women. This is the expectation so it does not evoke any emotions when it occurs. “Ruby Sparks” portrays that men today still have the same primitive desire to have control in romantic relationships. They believe in the beginning that this is what they want. However, if these men actually gain control it causes them confusion. A realization occurs that this is not what they were expecting. They are more able to feel emotions such as guilt. In some cases, such as the one in “Ruby Sparks,” men use this guilt to lose control. In today’s relationships men do not expect to have full control over their significant other although they may still desire it as an idea.  

Works Cited

Ruby Sparks. Dir. Colin Trevorrow. Perf. Paul Dano. 2012. DVD.

Shakespeare, William, and Thomas Goddard Bergin. The Taming of the Shrew;. New Haven: Yale UP, 1954. Print.

- "Crazy, Stupid, Love." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.

- "The Taming of the Shrew." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.

- "The Taming of the - - -Shrew :|: Open Source Shakespeare." The Taming of the Shrew :|: Open Source Shakespeare. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.

Works Cited :

Pretty Woman. Dir. Garry Marshall. By J.F. Lawton. Perf. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. 1990. DVD.

Shakespeare, William, and Thomas Goddard Bergin. The Taming of the Shrew;. New Haven: Yale UP, 1954. Print.

In the Taming of The Shrew, marriage is treated as a form of business transaction.

Kate’s suitor, Petruchio, only sees this as a way to gain more wealth and land.

In a way it is similar to the Captain in The Sound of Music, who also see marriage as a business transaction. However, even though both Petruchio and the Captain sees marriage as business, the Captain wasn’t always like that.

"I swear I’ll cuff you if you strike again.- Petruchio"

(  Page-91 Act-2 scene-1 line-234)

This was the line that Petruchio said to Kate when he was the one trying to woo her. This line shows that Petruchio will hit back if kate were to hit him again, showing that he have little affection for her. To Petruchio this wedding is only a business trip. Since Kate is slapping Petruchio, it shows that she does not wish to marry him.

Within this scene in the movie Sound of Music, the Captain is going to dance with the Baroness. The Captain is supposed to marry the Baroness do to business reasons even though his kids doesn’t like the baroness, nor does the baroness like the kids. The Baroness said this to the Captain “Darling, haven't you ever heard of a delightful little thing called boarding school?” This shows that the Baroness cares not care for the kids, but unlike kate, the Baroness does like the Captain.

"And, for that dowry, I’ll assure her of her widowhood, be it that she survives me, In all my lands and leases whatsoever. Let specialties be therefore drawn between us, That covenants may be kept on either hand.”

(Act 2, Scene 1, line 130-134)

In this scene Petruchio is talking with Baptista, Kate’s father. After Baptista told Petruchio what he will get for marrying Kate, Petruchio answered with the line above. This exchange is an exchange of goods, not about love at any point.

However, for the Captain is different. Even though he believes marriage is just business now, he used to believe in love.

Here is a scene of Maria and the Captain. As it can clearly be seen, the Captain is embracing Maria. This was an act he did not show to the Baroness for she was not someone the Captain loved. Maria on the other hand was able to make the Captain love again.

Back in the days of the “Taming of the Shrew” marriage is more of a business transaction. The father of the bride gives the groom his inheritance, while the groom guarantees the livelihood of the bride. This requires no love whatsoever.

Now on the other, marriage is more about love then anything else. The Captain rejected to be with the Baroness to go with the person he fell in love with.

The lack of trust between the two broke them apart, instead or keeping them together. Since Lola knew that Chase could no longer be trusted, and the trust between them was totally gone, so she knew she had nothing to work with in her relationship. However, in Taming of the shrew, lies actually helped Lucentio gain a relationship with Bianca:

Act 1 sc 1 pg 43: “Tell me thine first...you will be schoolmaster”

Lucentio lied about who he really was, being able to get closer to Bianca. When he told her the truth, she was not concerned about the fact he lied to her father, friends, everyone- including herself. She was more impressed by the scheme. Compared to LOL, lack of trust and lies gained the characters a relationship, instead of losing them.

Lies weren’t just told to boyfriends or girlfriends either- the characters also lied to the parents in the play or movie a lot too-

Lola lied to her mother about different events in the movie, including the party she had, whether she had sex or not, and whether she was doing drugs. When her mother found out, the trust between them was gone and their relationship began to slowly die. In the scene were Lola’s mom found her diary, their relationship was forever scarred.

In contrast, in Taming of the shrew Lucentio lied to his father and Bianca’s father and their relationship was not affected at all.

Act 5 Scene 1 : “Here’s Lucentio, right son to the right Vincentio,

That have by marriage made thy daughter mine

While counterfeit supposes bleared thine eyne.”

Lucentio was supposed to be in school at the time, and instead lied to his father and Bianca’s. However, by the end of the book when Lucentio revealed himself, Baptista or his father were not mad or angry. His father instead seemed happy to see him, regardless of that fact that he disobeyed him, lied to everyone in town about who he was, and just made his father look crazy in public. This shows the deep contrast between that time and today- during shakespeare's time trust was hard to loose,  but today trust is easily lost and hard to get back.

Lucentio, and other characters, seemed to get off easy in the play when they lied. However, lying it is different today. Lola had a hard time during the whole movie because it was hard to tell who she could trust. Many of her boyfriends seemed to be cheating on her, and the lack of trust she had with the different characters just destroyed some of her relationships. However, she gained friends when she learned to trust them- even her rival, who finally spoke the truth at the end of the movie. This reinforces the belief that an audience wants to see the trusty friend to win in the end, and the unfaithful, lying rival to lose and be taught a lesson.

Stranger Than Shakespeare

Comparing “The Taming of the Shrew” to “Stranger Than Fiction”

With today’s ideals in mind, most people would assume that love comes before marriage. The opposite is the case in The Taming of the Shrew.  The protagonist, Petruchio, gets married to Katherine in the beginning of the play without really knowing her. The marriage was for his own financial gains and also so two other suitors could have the ability to marry Katherine’s sister, Bianca. At the end of the play, after a score of mental games played by Petruchio to “tame” Katherine, she gives a long, emotional speech that displays her love for him and he goes on to tell of his love for her.

Stranger Than Fiction revolves around Harold Crick, an IRS agent who lives a monotonous, receptive and droll life. One day, everything changes. He begins to hear an author in his head narrating his life to extraordinary accuracy. He recognizes the voice to be that of a famous author he once saw on television. The author reveals that Harold is going to die and he has to find her and convince her to change the end of the story (and his life) before it’s too late. At the same time, Harold takes on the task of auditing a baker, Ana Pascal. Harold is uncomfortable with the narrations made by the author when he’s around Ms. Pascal. The author makes Harold realize that he’s subconsciously falling in love with her. Romantic love is approached differently by both men in both scenarios. This shows that romantic love is approached differently in today’s society.

In Act Two: Scene 1 of Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio says, “What, with my tongue in your tail? nay, come again, Good Kate; I am a gentleman.”

This is a quote from when Petruchio is first meeting Katherine. He is crude and inappropriate at first, intentionally. He is trying to be funny. This was Shakespeare’s version of comedy. Petruchio is aware that Katherine is known as the mean sister and takes a jab at her sense of humor or perhaps just tries to make her feel uncomfortable. Petruchio goes on to confirm that he was just kidding and he tries to show her that he is a respectable man. Harold Crick is in a similar situation. He runs into Ana Pascal on a bus and tries to interact with her in a non-auditing manner.

Harold: How are you?

Ana: I’m lousy, I’m being audited

Harold: Of course

Ana: By a real creep too

In this short exchange of dialogue, Harold attempts to show Ana that he’s a respectable man by apologizing for an incident that happened a few days prior in which he began to fantasize about her and blatantly stare at her breasts. Harold’s crude actions weren’t intentional, like Petruchio’s. Because this movie takes place about four hundred years after all of Shakespeare’s plays were written, courtship is approached very differently by the two men.

In Act One: Scene 1 of Taming of the Shrew, Hortensio says, “There's small choice in rotten apples.”

Hortensio and Gremio are the two suitors that are going after Bianca, Katherine’s younger sister. Hortensio and Gremio are friends and they have to work together to get past the only obstacle in their way: Bianca cannot get married until Katherine gets married. They have to narrow down the already small pool of men who would be willing to marry her for them, so they could achieve their goals. In the beginning of Stranger Than Fiction, Harold Crick goes to a therapist about the voice in his head. The therapist listens to him and then tells him she thinks he’s schizophrenic. He tells her that he isn’t schizophrenic and she tells him that if his condition were real, she’d refer him to a literary expert. Harold then goes to Professor Jules Hilbert, a Literature Theory professor. After Professor Hilbert agrees to help Harold, he explains the theory that all works of fiction can be narrowed down to two categories: Comedy and Tragedy. He explains it in simple terms to Harold, “Tragedy you die, Comedy you get hitched.” They go on to try to figure out which story Harold is living in.

Professor Hilbert: Most comic heroes fall in love with people who are introduced after the story has begun, usually people who hate the hero initially. Although I can’t imagine anyone hating you, Harold.

Harold: Professor Hilbert, I’m an IRS agent. Everyone hates me.

Professor Hilbert: Ah ah good, have you met anyone recently who might loathe the very core of you?

Harold: I just started auditing a woman who told me to get bent.

Professor Hilbert: Well that sounds like a comedy.

Similarly to Hortensio and Gremio, Harold and Professor Hilbert are trying to narrow down a pool of possible people. In The Taming of the Shrew they’re looking for a man to marry Katherine. In Stranger Than Fiction they’re looking for the possible love interest that would determine whether Harold is living a Comedy or a Tragedy. He later goes to Ms. Pascal’s bakery with a small moleskine journal that he uses to record the instances that would make the story a one of the two defining genres. He spends the whole day going through Ana Pascal’s receipts while she spends the whole day making sure his day is awful. He chalks his story up to being a Tragedy. When he’s on his way out, Ana makes him cookies and they spend time talking. Harold upsets her by turning down a box for the rest of the cookies and feels terrible about it. Days later he can’t get the smell of cookies or the thought of Ms. Pascal out of his head. It starts to affect his work and they give him a paid vacation that he spends trying to court her.

By the end of the movie, Harold and Ana are in love. By the end of Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio and Katherine are in love. Both men achieve their end goal while pursuing it in vastly different ways. If Harold Crick had approached Ana Pascal in the same way that Petruchio did with Katherine, the movie would have been very different and they most likely would not have fallen in love. In Petruchio’s time, his tactics were commonplace. That goes to show how much society has changed in the last 400 years.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding::Taming of the Shrew

My Big Fat Greek Wedding contains characters that are similar to ones in Taming of the Shrew. Maria Portokalos, the mother in MBFGW, has an issue with the way her husband, Gus, thinks. Gus believes that he is superior, however, he doesn’t know that his wife really has the upper hand in the relationship. MBFGW and Taming of the Shrew relate to each other because Maria and Katherine give their husbands what they want, but sneak in their own rules as well.

Katherine: “Then God be blest, it is the blessed sun.

                 But sun it is not, when you say it is not,

                 And the moon changes even as your mind.

                 What you will have it names, even that it is,

                 And so it shall be so for Katherine.” (IV.vi.21-15)

Petruchio is arguing with Katherine because he says that the moon is the sun and she disagrees. She eventually gives in and makes him feel empowered. Then she replies back with a statement that should’ve insulted Petruchio, but instead makes his ego larger.

Following and relating to the quote above, is a screenshot from My Big Fat Greek Wedding:

In this scene, Maria and her sister, Voula, wanted to trick Gus into letting his daughter, Toula, leave work at their restaurant, Dancing Zorba’s, to go work at Voula’s travel agency. In order to do that they had to make him believe that it was his idea. Their plan worked when Gus pointed at Tula (the one with the coffee in her hand) and said, “Send Tula!” Maria praised Gus as he bragged about how a man “knows.”

KATHERINE: “If I be waspish, best beware my sting.” (II.i.223)

Katherine is explaining that she will not be submissive and Petruchio is saying that women should always have submissiveness. Katherine is relentless, so she kept going on about how “waspish” she can be.

Following and relating to the quote above, is a screenshot from My Big Fat Greek Wedding:

Characters like Katherine and Petruchio, in Taming of the Shrew, and Maria and Gus, in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, completely relate to each other because they all play similar roles. Maria and Kate both can be submissive, but always sneak a level of authority into their relationship. Gus and Petruchio think that they “rule” their wives, but also know that their wives have the ability to be powerful and take the lead.

Sources

Taming of the Shrew (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061407/)

- Director: Franco Zeffirelli

- Writers: Suso Cecchi D’Amico (screenplay), Franco Zeffirelli (screenplay), Paul Dehn (screenplay), William Shakespeare

- Characters: Elizabeth Taylor (Katherine), Richard Burton (Petruchio)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9kRSReJLo)

(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259446/)

- Director: Joel Swick

- Writer: Nia Vardalos

35 & Shrewing

Comparing and contrasting the deceptions versus honesty of marriage between the film, “35 & Ticking” and Shakespeare's “Taming of the Shrew”.

After reading Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”, readers’ minds are implanted with the idea that romantic love is a myth. If this is the case, what is the point of marriage? Shakespeare’s “Shrew” argues control, the thrill of the journey, etc. Although couples in both “Shrew” and the 2011 film, “35 and Ticking” come to grips with their tactics differently, they covertly bestow the idea that the importance of marriage is resorting to the drastic measures of deception over honesty in order to obtain what one desires most from the other.

In “Shrew”, Petruchio forces Katherine into marrying him. On the day of their wedding, he carries her off to his home where he starves, manipulates, beats and humiliates her and, on top of that, deprives her of sleep in the sense of actually “taming” her–to her demise, of course. In the end of the book, Katherine recognizes Petruchio’s hostility as a means of love and breaking her bad habits to make her the dutiful wife that women of that era were expected to be. All along, however, Petruchio went after Katherine for her fortune, as he is a man of greed rather than romance. A similar couple: Victoria and Austin, In “35 and Ticking”, have been married for 3 years. Only this time it is the wife Victoria who is deceiving her distant husband to get what she wants from him–children. In the end, Victoria fails at this and unfortunately loses Austin. Both text, aside from the distinct humor of their times, relate as they reflect the idea that for centuries, couples believe that whether romantic love exists or not, deception is the only route to self-success in a marriage because the deceiver is the dominant partner.

“If thou know one rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife,

(As wealth is burden of my wooing dance),

Be she as foul as was Flourentius’s love,

As old as Sibyl, and as curst and shrewd

As Socrates’ Xanthippe, or a worse,

She moves me not, or not moves at least

Affection’s edge in me, were she as rough

as are the swelling Adriatic seas.

I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;

If wealthy, then happily in Padua.”

(Act I, Scene ii, 66-77)

At this point in the play, Petruchio and his servant arrive in Padua and is convinced by his friend Hortensio to woo Baptista’s eldest and shrew of a daughter–Katherine. Petruchio, learns that Katherine is very rich and tells Hortensio that no matter how old, ugly or rude a woman is, as long as she is rich, she qualifies as the perfect wife for him. It is here that Petruchio reveals that his only intention in life is to wed wealth rather than a wife. He is straightforward and honest about his selfishness and his unconcern for romance to everyone except the Baptista family, especially Katherine. He instead woos her and tricks her into believing he is truly in love with her. This is Petruchio’s best chance at succeeding in his scheme.

In “35 and Ticking”, Victoria is revealed as the Petruchio of her marriage as her and Austin have continuous heated discussions on whether it is time to start a family together or not.

In this scene, Victoria complains that at she does want to wait until she is 40 while Austin claims she is putting too much pressure on him and rushing into having a baby. Victoria argues that, “Do you know how degrading, how embarrassing it is to have to beg someone you committed your entire life to to have a baby? The fact is, I’m ready to start a family.” To her surprise, Austin says, “I am tired of you putting so much pressure on me. I can’t even enjoy having sex with you because I feel like you’re trying to set me up. Fact number one, I know your body better than you do. I know what time of the month you’re ovulating and that’s when you really put pressure on me to have sex with you.”

The scene ends with Austin saying one of the reasons he does not want to have a baby is because he isn’t sure how long they’re going to be married. Victoria, denying nothing, stands speechless as Austin walks out. In this scene, Victoria is called out on her scheme whereas her shrew of a husband does not submit to her deception and instead admits he is unsure of their marriage. Victoria, having already felt distant from Austin, thought that enforcing a child into their marriage would make them stronger as a couple. Though instead of being honest with him about it, she thought she could deceive him to accomplish her “power couple” goal.

Katherine, “I know it is the sun that shines so bright.”

Petruchio, “I say it is the moon.”

Katherine, “I know it is the moon.”

Petruchio, “Nay, you lie. It is the blesséd sun.

Katherine, “Then God be blest, it is the blesséd sun.

But sun it is not when you say it is not,

And the moon changes as your mind.”

(Act IV, Scene vi, 5-21)

By now in the play, Petruchio is pulling the strings on Katherine’s view on reality in the form of celestial events. Only it is now Katherine deceiving her husband, allowing her soul to play possum in order to please Petruchio and put an end to his merciless acts against her. This tactic is Petruchio’s way to tame his shrew of a wife into being obedient. Earlier in the play, the two would debate such as this and Katherine, blind of his schemes, would disagree and argue back. Now, she is the one pulling his strings, making him believe that he has tamed her well. Once Petruchio is convinced, Katherine will have achieved repossession of her own freedom.

Austin comes home to see Victoria has packed his bag of clothes which is her way of telling him to leave the house. Austin replays his statement to Victoria from earlier, “The real reason I don’t want to have a baby with you, is because I don’t know how long I’m going to be married to you.” As he says this, he takes off his wedding ring and places it on the bed.

In their next scene, Victoria calls Austin and begs him to come home, upset  that he’s not coming home at all instead of apologizing and submitting to her, as she expected. Now Austin has become Petruchio and Victoria has become Katherine. While she has diminished to begging and submission, Austin, as Petruchio did to Katherine, deprives her of health–a healthy heart. Victoria is now the one in need of taming–at least this is how she believes Austin sees her. If the shoe fits, she must wear it. Victoria has failed indefinitely.

“Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,

Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,

And for thy maintenance commits his body

To painful labour both by sea and land,

To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,

Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,

And craves no other tribute at thy hands

But love, fair looks, and true obedience,

Too little payment for so great a debt.”

(Act V, Scene ii, 140-183)

At the end of the play, Katherine submits indefinitely to Petruchio, with a changed view on what marriage means and the status of women versus men–whom she now recognizes as rulers such as: kings, governors and lords. Katherine honors  Petruchio as a loving, warm and securing husband and to love and obey is the least a woman can do for their husbands who are loving, warm and securing. Both Katherine and Petruchio have achieved their initial goals. Katherine has gained Petruchio’s ultimate trust and thus her freedom while Petruchio, although already has her money, has earned Katherine’s obedience, love and respect. This once “shrewd” couple supports the idea that deception equals success.

However, “35 & Ticking”’s outcome on deception greatly differs.

Since Victoria and Austin’s dispute over family, his calling out on her scheme has abated her to the passive character Austin once was. In the end of the movie, Victoria signs the divorce papers. A year later, she sees Austin with a pregnant woman. He exchanges shrugs and pity looks at her while she cries at the sight. Austin, once realizing Victoria had deceived him, reclaims his dominance by dragging her to his feet as he moved on with another woman. Austin has tamed  Victoria, teaching her that the deceitful “baby trap” no longer works on men, and he will not stand to be the punchline of her joke.

It is also crucial to consider Austin the deceiver himself. After all, he had been hiding his doubts about the marriage, purposely becoming distant from Victoria, except when to have sex, and was eventually freed. Petruchio on the other hand, hid his true intentions for wedding Katherine, depriving her of all things critical to human beings, by not looking at her as a human being, but a sack of money. He even “justified” his acts by lying to Katherine that she could not eat because the food had been burnt and contaminated. Austin would justify his distance from Victoria by working late and go to the gym afterwards. In the end, both men got what they wanted through ultimate and disclosed deception.

The fact that both Victoria and Katherine yielded to their husbands is no  surprise the audience. For centuries women have been portrayed as weak and compliant partners, whereas Victoria’s character tried to prove so otherwise. Her failure and Katherine’s submission sets forth the idea that there are still men today who despise and wish to “tame” the spirit of strong women. By doing this, both Petruchio and Austin reclaimed their masculinity and succeeded in their own plans.

WORKS CITED

1. Shakespeare, William, and Thomas Goddard Bergin. The Taming of the Shrew;. New Haven: Yale UP, 1954. Print.

Hi, my name is Fariha sultana.I made the color of m slide because it is my favorite color.I put the word “muslim” because it defines my identity.And I put picture of Quran because it is the holy book we follow as muslims.Bangladesh is where I was born and it defines my culture.when I was in bangladesh I loved riding in boats with my friends and family.Family means a lot to me because they are always there for me.In my family i have an older brother and sister, two loving parents and two adorable nephews.

Parents: Dictators of Love

(Chennai Express, “Taming of the Shrew”)

Yeah, I say my title twice. 'Cause I'm awesome.

Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare was a masterpiece of its time, like most of Shakespeare's works, and the plot was heavily driven by a fathers involvement in his daughters’ marital status. This method of thought is closely tied to the modern Indian movie “Chennai Express”. In Taming of the Shrew, the character Baptista sets multiple challenges for potential suitors of his young and beautiful daughter, while in the movie “Chennai Express” the father, Durgeshwara, merely puts up a constant ever changing wall of intimidation so that only the suitor who is willing to keep up and succeed through the changing conditions will be allowed to marry the girl. Though the way that the fathers display their protection is different, both are trying to assure love for their daughters by dissuading suitors.

“That is, not to bestow my younger daughter before I have a husband for the elder.”

Act 1 Scene 1 Lines 50-51

Baptista is a loving father, who merely wants what’s best for his daughters. However his eldest daughter, Katherine, is slightly sadistic, and enjoys the pain of others. In the second scene she’s in, she’s annoyed that she’ll be forced to marry. To release her anger,  Katherine ties her younger sister up, drags her around the house, and then slaps her in the face when she talks back. Naturally, all of the suitors were terrified that someone would have to marry her before anyone could court Bianca. Yet Baptista doesn’t seem to worry at all about his younger daughter losing any suitors because of the task he set before them. Baptista wouldn’t willingly try and harm his daughter’s prospects, he is instead trying to guarantee that only the ones who would actually attempt a risky task for his daughter would be able to get her.

In this scene Rahul meets the extended family of Meenalochni for the first time. In this scene the Rahul is introduced to Durgeshwara, or Durge,  as her fiance. Durge carries with him a passive intimidation, which serves the purpose of keeping anyone beneath him away. For Rahul, this is meant to assure that he is worthy even of being near Durge or his daughter Meena. Baptista had a more active interaction with the suitors while Durge is displaying a passive intimidation. Partly this is due to Baptista having multiple ellegible suitors for his daughter, while Durge had few. However, it’s also heavily dependant on Baptista merely being a merchant, while Durge was in the role of a local king. Baptista was passively intimidating class wise, but Durge had the military power to ensure that if he disliked someone they would be imprisoned for as long as he wished. Both fathers had different ways of intimidating suitors that weren’t good enough.

“Tis deeds must win the prize, and he of both that can assure my daughter greatest dower shall have my Bianca’s love.”

Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 135-136

Tangballi is a local leader who was arranged to marry Meena. Unbeknown to him, Durge had recently changed his mind and allowed her new suitor Rahul her hand in marriage. Tangballi arrived with the intention to marry Meena and was personally delivered information of this change directly by Durge. Durge did this as a test, to see how Tangaballi would react under such pressure. If he didn’t love Meena enough to try for her, he wouldn’t be worthy of her. Both Baptista and Durge are setting tests to see how suitors will act, but again Durge takes a more passive role, while Baptista takes a more active one.

Tangballi decided that the best way to prove his worthiness to Meena was to kill her suitor Rahul. Durge takes an active stance in this by preventing anyone from interfering with the fight. He even prevents his daughter from having a choice in it. He is purely interested in who is willing stake their life on the decision. Both Baptista and Duge have suitors battle, but they make the suitors fight on fields that the father is comfortable on. The merchant Baptista makes them fight over money, while the local lord Durge makes them fight to the death.

In both “Taming of the Shrew” and Chennai Express, though the focus was on the main characters, the plots were mostly shaped by the decisions of the parents. The actions of the characters are made to placate or impress the elders, and every move the elders make causes rippling consequences throughout the story. They both come from different stories, “Taming of the Shrew” being focused on the the trials faced by characters, and Chennai Express being focused on the interaction between the lovers, and the parent is more passive.  Both Baptista and Durge try and protect their children by setting tests for them, tests that range from tests of love and reactions to pure merit, whether it’s in the form of a fight or of the amount of money available.

Works cited:

Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Taming of the Shrew. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print.

Netflix. Perf. Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. Netflix. N.p., 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013

In my slide, I portrayed how music is a representation of myself.  I made the slide look this way because it is a simple and minimalistic, yet effective way of catching someone’s attention.  The elements of design were what influenced my decision making when creating this slide.  There are multiple elements of design I used in this slide.  These include contrast, bleeding, the rule of thirds, and empty space.

My slide means that I use many different perspectives when I view things in our world. My slide makes up one point in Zens article he says when “feature a single item at a large size — it gets noticed, read, and remembered” and thats what I did with the word “perspective” and the picture. I displayed the type in a big font to get attention and my point across. I contrasted both the picture and the slide; the picture has a dark foreground and the the sky is bright and clear. The slide is bright white and then has the dark words on the side. I use empty space to draw the eyes to the picture and the word on the side. This slide uses many of of the lessons zen talks about, I hope you learned enough about the design in my slide to know about me.

Comparing “The Taming of the Shrew” to “He’s Mine, Not Yours”

In the play of “The Taming of the Shrew”, characters from centuries ago, portray their idea of love by trying to win their lover with greed. The cocky and confident Petruchio insists of wifing the quick-tempered Katherine by using his power and money. The movie “He’s Mine, Not Yours” filmed in 2011 comes from a similar angle on their idea of love -- only it is a woman, Mandy, who is requested by another woman to use her power of her appearance to win the man.

Petruchio and Mandy share the same goals and mindsets in their predicaments, but the process on accomplishing these goals are different. Petruchio owning loads of money due to his father’s death, uses that to his advantage to go to Padua to wive a woman. Trying to win her over, Katherine’s stubborn personality causes her to resist the marriage, leaving Petruchio in a dispute. On the other hand, Mandy’s career is using the power of her looks as a career path to find out if “Prince Charmings” are cheaters. She is hired by Brooke who is in a perfect relationship with Kent, but was influenced by others that all men cheat. Mandy disguises herself to see if Kent will fall for her traps and cheat. These texts reflect that despite the gender, romance (genuine or not) can be created through lies and power.

“Signior Hortensio, ’twixt such friends as we

Few words suffice. And therefore, if thou know

One rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife,

As wealth is burden of my wooing dance...”

(Act 1, Scene 2, Lines 66-77)

In this quote, Petruchio is speaking to his dear friend from Padua, Hortensio. He is telling Hortensio that people like them who are rich and handsome can get away with things by only doing a bare minimum. All Petruchio is looking for is a rich woman and that is enough for him to start a romance. Petruchio is influenced by himself to take upon this risky idea of marrying someone by flaunting his wealth to his greatest measures through lies even if it might have consequences.

A similar conversation is shared between Brooke and her friend about her plan through advice and a warning, but Brooke doesn’t listen.

Sophia is strongly advising to Brooke that she shouldn’t hire the “Man Stealer” (Mandy) to spy on Kent. She strictly says, "Don't go looking for trouble; because people who go looking for trouble, they normally find it." Ignoring her advice, Brooke is convinced that all men cheat so she finds the Man Stealer. This shows that Mandy was specifically sent by Brooke to use her power to manipulate Kent. But since Mandy specializes in lying and using her power to get what she wants, she is confident that she will win Kent with no obstacles. Petruchio and Mandy feel like their plans will both go smoothly, but Petruchio doesn’t know what to expect. Mandy has done this a thousand times so she is already assuming it will be an open and close, easy case.

“Why, Petruchio is coming in a new hat and an old jerkin, a pair of old breeches thrice turned, a pair of boots that have been candle cases, one buckled, another laced; an old rusty sword ta'en out of the town armory, with a broken hilt and chapeless; with two broken points; his horse hipped, with an old mothy saddle and stirrups of no kindred...”

(Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 42-62)

Biondello is announcing that Petruchio is arriving to his own wedding to marry Katherine wearing outrageous things like non matching boots, an old vest, a rusty sword, and more. Petruchio has gained even more confidence due to others insisting that just because he comes from good money and he has all the right things to say to lure Katherine, that he can get away with showing up to his wedding dressing completely out of sorts. Petruchio thinks he can get away with anything and that as long as a person’s actions are a strong as their lies and deceitfulness, he can force a marriage on Katherine and call it a romance.

“Taming the Shrew” and “John Tucker Must Die”

In this scene, Heather, one of John’s ex’s says “you know...instead of doing all this, we should’ve just broken his heart.” Kate, the new girl, replies “yeah except that he broke up with all of you (2).” Another ex of John’s, Carrie, says “not everyone.” Then, the three girls look at Kate, hinting that they want her to be the person out of them to break his heart. Unlike Petruchio, in the end Kate actually did start falling for John and was embarrassed about the lies their relationship was built on. Petruchio, on the other hand, took pride in being in control and involved in a relationship full of deception.

In this scene, the three girls just found out that John Tucker told them all the exact same thing when they asked about the other girls he was involved with. Heather (middle) started off by saying “I talked to John. He felt bad for you. He said that you were jealous because we share something special. Something that we didn’t have to label because-” and was interrupted by Beth (left) who said “because it’s our unspoken bond and I just love how secure you are-” and was interrupted by Carrie (right) who said “and it it hurts to hear you question it because you’re the only girl for me (2).” John Tucker had told them all the same thing.

Similar to Katherine in Taming the Shrew, John strategically told all of them these cheesy lines. He obviously did not mean it. Like Kate, he saw potential for a better future. Kate’s vision was more family orientated and about genuine love. John’s vision of a better future was being able to have three girlfriends at the same time and have them each believing that they were special.

These portrayals from the book Taming the Shrew and the movie John Tucker Must Die shows that society condones lying in order for people to get what they want in relationships. What these two pieces had in common was that the characters used twisted truths to achieve their goals. In Taming the Shrew, Petruchio necessarily didn’t lie to Kate, but he did not tell the whole truth either. His feelings towards her were forced by the suitors to Bianca. Petruchio was told that he would receive money from the suitors for getting her out of the way so men could try to marry her younger sister. Therefore, their relationship wasn’t genuine. It was a relationship built on lies and forced emotions in order for the suitors to get what they wanted, which was Bianca.

Mike starts to go about turning Abby into a woman that men would want to date. He tells her that “men are very visual” buys her tight dresses, new bras, and tells her to take down her ponytail because it “implies that you are either operating heavy machinery or emptying the litter box, and neither of those things inspires an erection.” Mike say’s that her hair needs to be longer as well, because “men like something to grab on to other than your ass.” Mike tells her “You have to be two people, the librarian and the stripper.” As Mike claims that he knows what every man wants, Abby goes along with the standards that Mike sets for her, in the hopes that it will cause Colin to like and want to date her.

“And place your hands below your husband’s foot

In token of which duty if he please,

My hand is ready, may it do him ease.” - Katherine

(Act V Scene II lines 181-183)

Katherine makes a long speech at the end of the play to show her transformation. The once shrewish Katherine now gets mad at Bianca and Hortensio's widow for looking angrily at their husbands. Husbands whom Katherine describes as their lords, kings, and governors. She says that a woman’s husband protects her and supports her, living a life of danger and responsibility while the woman needs to provide obedience and kindness, a payment for “so great a debt.” Katherine boldly claims a husband is to his wife as a prince is to his subject, and if a woman is “froward, peevish, sullen, sour”, then she is a traitor to a just ruler. Katherine goes on to say that women’s bodies are soft and weak because their inners should match their outsides, and that women should yield to their men. She then tells Bianca and the widow that, she used to be as proud and as headstrong as they are, but now she understands that “our lances are but straws,” implying that their weapons, woman's weapons, are insignificant.

Katherine, from dealing with Petruchio trying to tame her, has drastically changed. She now think a woman should prepare herself to do anything for her husband. This is a sharp contrast from the Katherine in the beginning of the play who was fighting against her social role, and whom no one  wanted to marry. This speech displays the play’s view of relationships, that a woman conforming to a man is a good thing. As this is a comedy, not a tragedy, there are no sad endings, only happy ones where everything is resolved. The end of this play shows Katherine giving in and conforming to Petruchio’s standards of what a woman should be in a positive light. Because the character's are satisfied, Katherine's transformation is presented as a good thing, something that made her, and those around her happy.