Petuchio: In the Eyes of Society

Petruchio: In the Eyes of Society

“I swear I’ll cuff you, if you strike again.” This is the line of a man threatening to hit a woman but only out of retaliation against her. He would do her no harm if she would do him none, but the comment is rebutted with, “So may you lose your arms: If you strike me, you are no gentleman; and if no gentleman, why then no arms.” This excerpt from William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew tells quite a bit about the society in which the play is written. A true gentleman does not hit women. Being a gentleman was not just to be courteous to those around you, but the world of sixteenth century England is heavily based on what everyone thinks of other people. No one person was ever in control of this either. It was the masses. The entire society of London controlled what people did in all aspects of their life. I think this is very well represented in most of Shakespeare’s works, especially in Taming of the Shrew. From just one line you seen what can happen to a man that hits women. He loses all credibility with everyone in his surroundings. I feel that while writing Shakespeare likes to push social boundaries a little, but still stays in bounds, just toes the edge a lot. A perfect example of a character in which society created is Petruchio, the lead, and the tamer of the shrew. (Shakespeare)

With the original works of Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio is a man with a title that is broke. He hears of a woman that is so foul and mean, and if married to, would come with a handsome reward. He is intrigued by both the challenge and the reward. Throughout the play he attempts to tame Kate, the shrew. In all efforts, no sign of a romantic connection is ever formed between the two. The entire ordeal stays strictly about the tasks at hand along with the end result. In the sixteenth century, for a man to marry a woman without loving her is common. He may find her attractive, or see her as a piece of a bargain that is attached to land, but love is often not involved.

Many times over, this script has been revamped and reformed to modern adaptations of the story. Two of them being 10 Things I Hate About You and BBC’s Shakespeare retold: Taming of the Shrew. The two are similar in the respect that they are both modern day, and have the same basic plot structure but other than that, they are two of the most opposite pieces of work.

The BBC version is based on a political woman who is currently running for the Opposition in the British parliament and some bloke who is traveling to get away from his depts. The two play the characters of Katherine and Pete. In this version Pete has the same encounter with Katherine but with the modern twist on it. She hits him, and he says something along the lines of if you do that again, I’ll hit you back “harder.” Instantly the conversation goes into a string of sexual innuendo. The two had just barely met moments before, and by this point, each is completely captivated by the other. Pete had actually fallen for her from the moment she walked out an apartment yelling at screaming in fuss that could wake the dead.

In 10 Things I Hate About You you are placed into the society of a high school in the late nineties. This is a story of love between Patrick and Kat. Patrick never even notices Kat until he is paid to take her out. He quickly grows to really like her and the money is no longer incentive as much as it is a bonus. Patrick’s feelings for her are definitely sincere.

In both movies, the Petruchio character maintains a badass feel. Pete assaults two guys in a park within ten seconds of each other. He likes confrontation and has a very man’s man attitude and the ego to go along with it. Patrick drills a whole through a classmate’s French book without thinking twice. His reputation precedes him. Even though all of it is false, to have that many

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