The Taming of the Shrew - William Shakespeare

"Shakespeare is timeless. He's classic. His words and messages resonate today." Well full stop. That must be said about other plays, because Taming of the Shrew does not hold up. Sorry Will. 

The title character, The Shrew, is Katherina. An older sister to sweet beautiful Bianca. Kat is quick witted and even quicker tongued. She fires back at would-be suitors and her family alike. She's actually quite funny and her dialogue is some of the best. But Kat has a problem. She has a younger sister who is itching to get into the dating game and a father who declares that Bianca may not date until Kat is wed. (Sound familiar? You're thinking of the 1999 movie with the amazing Heath Ledger, 10 Things I Hate About You - the story was based on Shrew and has a way way better message than the original work).

So Bianca's suitors, Hortensio and Gremio call up a friend Petruchio and convince him that Kat is a good find. She's got a sizeable dowry and.... Well that's all that Petruchio seems to really care about so he's in. 

Petruchio convinces Kat's father that they love each other, even as Kat yells that she cares nothing for the man. Then Petruchio shows up at their wedding dressed like a beggar and hastily whisks Kat away after the ceremony so she doesn't even get to go to the party portion of the wedding. Then he keeps her at home without sleep and food until, essentially, he "breaks" her. Nice huh?

Meanwhile, Lucentio, a young student from Padua has also fallen in love with Bianca. He trades places with his servant who poses and Lucentio and gets Bianca's father's agreement to wed Lucentio to Bianca. Lucentio, in disguise, poses as Bianca's grammar teacher, and she falls in love with him. The two marry in secret while Bianca's father is still hashing out the details with Lucentio's servant, posing as Lucentio. Oh great comedy ha ha.

I'm sure this all plays better on stage. In the end, Hortensio discovers he wants to marry someone else and the three couples, Petruchio/Kat, Lucention/Bianca, Hortensio/Widow all are together and Petruchio bets the other men that he can command his wife more ably then the others. He does. And Kat gives a rousing speech about how women are meant to be commanded by men. 

Ouch. 

I tried to give the story the benefit of the doubt and to understand it as people in the 1600s might have, but even with taking the other parts as pure sarcasm, the end speech by Kat leaves any stretch in that direction impossible. So, I'd much rather stick with the 1999 version in my brain rather than this outdated sexist comedy. Besides, Heath Ledger running around the stadium bleachers was hilarious. Also, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julia Stiles and Gabrielle Union - How 90s was this movie?!



3/5 Stars. Because it's still Shakespeare.