Quinn+Platzer


 * Father Knows Best **

** A comparison of the play “Taming of the Shrew” and the movie “The Wedding Banquet”. **
Most romances share things in common, even if it isn’t apparent. In the play “Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare and the movie “The Wedding Banquet” there are a few similarities. In “Taming of the Shrew”, sisters Katherine and Bianca are controlled by their father Baptista. He decides who they marry and when. In “The Wedding Banquet”, Wai-Tung Gao’s parents influence him so strongly; he pretends to be someone he’s not in order to make them happy. The object that links these two stories would be the parental interference. Parents have a lot of influence over their children’s dating and marriage because of their roles in their children’s lives.

“God send you joy, Petruchio. ‘Tis a match” Baptista

(Act 2, Scene 1, Line 338)

Katherine and Petruchio don’t get along completely, but Petruchio lied to Katherine’s father, Baptista, saying that they do get along, and plan to be married by the end of the week. Katherine becomes angry, yet Baptista, wishing for his shrewish daughter to be married and happy, ignores her obvious dislike for Petruchio and agrees to let Petruchio marry Katherine, even against her will.

“Holding to have, husband, mine.” Wei-Wei

Wai Tung and his tenant Wei-Wei pretend to be a couple in order to get Wai Tung’s parents to leave him alone. When his parents (the grey haired man in the tux and the woman in the red and purple dress) come to visit, they have to take the “relationship” to a different level. They pick a quiet, discrete location to get married and Wai Tung’s father is ashamed that his son did not have a traditional Taiwanese wedding.

Wai Tung’s parents possess a lot of indirect control over him. They continuously try to set him up with women in an attempt to get him to marry and provide them with grandchildren. Wai Tung already is in a relationship with a man named Simon, but he doesn’t want to come out to his parents. During the “wedding” the priest reads the vows, expecting Wei-Wei to repeat them, but she responds with incomplete and incorrect versions of the vows. The priest probably assumes she just doesn’t speak a lot of English, but her words symbolize that it is not truly marriage. She didn’t actually say the vows, just like she is not in a real relationship with Wai Tung.

“Now must the world point at poor Katherine and say ‘Lo, there is mad Pechruchio’s wife, if it would please him to come and marry her!’” Katherine

(Act 3, Scene 2, Line 19)

Katherine is marrying Petruchio, or supposed to be, since he is late to his own wedding. Baptista is trying to calm Katherine, and assure her that everything will work out. What is going on here is a problem caused by what seems to be a bad match. If this is a bad match, then Baptista is at fault, since his parental rights of the time include choosing a man to marry his daughter. He chose Petruchio for Katherine, and is surprised at his soon to be son-in-law’s lack of seriousness at the occasion.

This next scene provides more to prove that relationships formed to please a parent take a lot of effort to pursue.

"This whole thing was your idea, you *!#@ing busybody!” Wai Tung

After things got out of hand regarding the false marriage between Wai Tung and Wei-Wei; Wai Tung’s real boyfriend confronts him, shouting obscenities and storming around the house. Wai Tung isn’t happy with the outcome either, and even Wei-Wei becomes upset. Wai Tung’s parents, his mother specifically, becomes anxious, wondering whether or not they overstayed their welcome.

The false relationship between Wei-Wei and Wai Tung has resulted in a tense, agitated household. Simon’s idea has taken all the wrong turns and everyone is suffering for it. Simon shouts that it’s Wai Tung’s fault, since Wai Tung honors his parents so much, he agreed to trick them in order to make them happy. Simon wanted Wai Tung to come out to his parents, but Wai Tung was afraid of disappointing them. His parents influence him so much, he’s willing to pull off a staged wedding if only to please them.

Katherine of "Taming of the Shrew" and Wai Tung of "The Wedding Banquet" are under a lot of influence from their parents. The both of them have to get married, Katherine because the time she lives in forces her to marry the man her father chooses, and Wai Tung because he holds his parents in high regards and is afraid of disappointing them. This shows that parents have a lot of control over their child’s love life, then and now. Even today, many parents influence how their children react to courtship, dating, and marriage. Some children choose to go in a direction that their parents approve of, and others take an opposite just to rebel. Either way, this shows parental influence over courtship and dating.