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Since film has the ability to reach a mass audience a more modernized erosion of Shakespearean play was created -“10 things I hate about you”, directed by Gill Junker. Although different in its appropriation, by comparing, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ and ’10 Things hate about you’ it is evident that the modern appropriation ’10 things I hate about you’ is successful in shaping the understanding of a modern day audience, so that they can further understand and appreciate the original plays. Shakespearean work is as popular today as it was in his time, and continues to be re-examined, reinterpreted and presented in a range of different ways.
Appropriations of a ext help viewers of a different context, better understand the subtext of the original piece. The plot of the original is very much similar to that of ’10 things hate about you’. The play is set in Pad, where we meet Baptists Minimal and his two daughters: the popular Bianca and Katherine the Shrew. Epithetic endeavourers to woo the seemingly UN-winnable Katherine so that he can take her dowry and so that his friend Horniness may marry Bianca who has sworn not to wed until her sister has found a husband.
The money motive is also an issue within ’10 things I hate about you’, as instead of dowry, Patrick – (Epithetic in the play) accepts money from Joey, to take Kate out, so that Bianca can also date. Although the events have been modernized the thematic concern of the motive based on money, not love is expressed through both texts, and is still relevant in today’s society as much as it was in Shakespearean time. The money motive also brings us to the main concern of the play – deceit and disguise. Licentious disguises himself as Cambial, the tutor, so he can get to know Bianca.
Horniness also disguises himself as Licit, another tutor to Bianca. As in the play, in ’10 things’ Cameron becomes Banana’s French tutor and Patrick disguises himself as the perfect guy in order to woe Kate. This is best depicted when he quits smoking. Deceit is a strong factor also, as it is also the climax of both the play and the movie. When Kate finds out Patriot’s bet with Joey she feels hurt and responds, “You are so not who I thought you were”. “The taming of the Shrew”, is evidently considered as a high art, not only in the time it was written, but also in today’s society.
The level of language used, his ability to portray thematic concerns so cleverly, and the fact that his plays are still universally relevant and still being intentionally appropriated, make him worthy of being the most influential English-speaking writer in the world. The appropriation ‘1 0 things I hate about you’ is generally seen as a low art compared to that of the original play. This is because it was created for a modern audience, and the language and thematic concerns are portrayed far more colloquially than that of Shakespearean play.
Although it is seen by many as a low art, by analyzing the film on a deeper level we begin to see that it holds so much more value to twenty first century audience because of its universal meaning of human experience through original themes from the taming of the shrew. From this appropriation we can define or better reshape our understanding and we as an audience can learn to appreciate and understand the original and the thematic concerns it holds. The concept of textual fidelity is widely discussed when such appropriations are made.
Jungles appropriation is successful, in that, it addresses the themes which Shakespeare intended to expound while altering the context to suit the audience. While changing the settings, and events, ‘1 0 things’ stays faithful to the original by underlying the name plots, characters and thematic concerns of the times. These thematic concerns include – sibling rivalry, deceit and disguise, marriage and the money motive. The techniques demonstrated in both texts also help to shape and define my understanding, and in doing so appreciate the original.
Shakespeare uses techniques such as rhetorical questioning, monologues, soliloquies, and puns. A direct example of a pun is “Asses are made to bear and so are you”. This technique creates humor and attracts attention to help engage the audience. These specific techniques are relevant to the audience itching a play in Shakespearean time. In a modern day society and for a young audience, Junker creates comedy using more appropriate techniques for his context and form.
These include camera angles such as extreme close ups and long shots which help to give the modern day audience a visual representation of the characters and the range of emotions they undergo. An example Of this is when Kate is reading out her poem to her English class. In modern day society a visual representation is easier understood than that of a script or play. Although the form is different, the thematic concerns are the name, however, presented visually, thus affecting the meaning of both texts when compared to one another.
Appropriations definitely have the ability to make an audience better understand and appreciate the meaning of the original text. Staying faithful to the original ‘1 0 things’, has been a successful modernization of Shakespearean play, discussing the same social mores, whilst also appealing to a modern day audience. My understanding of the original play has been further shaped through ’10 things’ as can better appreciate the issues and thematic concerns Shakespeare was trying to expose.