Nineteen Things I Hate About You And The Taming Of The Shrew

It is undeniable that that texts are polysemic makings, intertextual reproductions, and that many modern texts borrow from earlier texts. This can distinctly be seen in the comparison of the 1999 teen comedy film â€Å"Ten Things I Hate About You†, directed by Jil Gunger and its relative counterpart, Shakespeare’s play, â€Å"The Taming Of The Shrew†. The comparing and contrast of the two texts has given me a deeper understanding on issues of stereotypical gender roles, notions of love and marriage, and how society’s values and attitudes have changed over time. The film is a modern remaking of Shakespeare’s play, changing many aspects such as context and characterisation to present something its audience can relate to, something that is more†¦show more content†¦and both present very contrasting views about relationships, mirroring society’s views on the topics during the period in which they were made. The setting in â€Å"Ten Thi ngs I Hate About You† is important and is effective in portraying what their intended audience, teenagers are focused on; dating, which is proved when Bianca exasperatedly complains, â€Å"I’m the only girl in school that doesn’t date†. The film shows teenage dating in its truth, something that is more focused on short term attraction and sex rather than long term relationships, an important part in a teenagers life and something many feel pressured to do. The short term attraction side of it is shown through Joey and his friends’ repetitive use of the word and phrase â€Å"virign alert†, when referring to Bianca, connoting to the audience that he only wanted her for sex, as well as when Kat reveals what happened between Joey and her, â€Å"I told him I didn’t want to do it anymore, and he got pissed at dumped me†, further showing the audience that Joey only wanted girls for his sexual pleasure. However, these ideas of relations hips that we are accustomed to, differ very much to ideas of marriage in the â€Å"Taming Of The Shrew† play. The 1500’s play focuses more on marriage, as like teenage dating in this modern era, for the play’s intended audience, it was marriage that the Elizabethan era society was preoccupied on, and was something they felt they â€Å"had to do†. The difference between relationships and marriage is shown