Rudolph+Tucker+Bartholomew+IV

//Marriage, Shrews, and Dresses//
Comparing Katherine from "The Taming of the Shrew" and Jane from "27 Dresses."

The Shakespearean play, “The Taming of the Shrew,” is a romantic comedy written around the relationships and marriages of two sisters. The younger sister, Bianca, is a dainty, sweet character, while the elder sister, Katherine, is described as a beast. The physical appearance of Katherine is never fully described, however, it is her fiery personality and witty retorts that gives her this reputation. Suitors approach both her and her sister; however, the suitors have very different reasons for marriage. In the 2008 romantic comedy “27 Dresses,” Jane, the main character, struggles with her own idea of marriage, and even clashes with her own sister, Tess. Jane’s character is described as someone who is, “always a bridesmaid, and never a bride.” However, despite both of the characters' flaws, they both eventually find love, or a version of it. In order for them to grasp love, they both have to first adjust parts of themselves. The expectation for individual growth plays a major role in both scripts. //The texts both argue that in order for a marriage or relationship to be successful, individual change is needed for compatibility.//

**Hortensio: "Mates," maid? How mean you that? No mates for you, unless you were of gentler, milder mold."** (Act 1, Scene i. 35)
 * Katherine [//to Baptista]//: "I pray you, sir, is it your will to make a stale of me amongst these mates?" **

Katherine is not favored by most people. She bites at anyone who looks in her direction, using her wit and natural distaste for ignorance to push away any suitor who tries to get comfortable with her. She is described as a hag by the men in the play because of her unpleasant attitude. However, Katherine is not sold on the idea that there is no man for her. In this excerpt from the play, she is questioning her father's judgement on men. She clearly sees that men like Hortensio are not right for her. However, she does play into the ideal that there is someone for her; he's just not present. After she is ridiculed by Hortensio, she quickly follows up with an angry comeback, further manifesting the notion that she is unsuitable for the suitors.



In "27 Dresses," Jane also struggles to find a suitable match for herself. Although she is in love with her boss at work, her feelings are later defined as a crush, and nothing more. The movie begins with her floating between two different weddings, only, she's the maid of honor in each one. Unlike Katherine, saying, "no," is revealed to be one of her character flaws. This quality is what has lead her to being the maid of honor at twenty-seven weddings, hence the name. Marriage became an idolized ritual for Jane. A journalist who is writing a piece on one of the weddings she is attending catches on to what she is doing. After she is knocked down during the tossing of the bouquet, he helps her up and hails a taxi for her. He quickly reveals that he does not share the same enthusiasm for marriage as she does. As soon as Jane realizes this, she quickly ends the conversation. She leaves him in the cab, never intending to see or speak to him again. Similar to Katherine, she writes Kevin, the journalist, off as a stereotypical man, and as someone who doesn't believe in her own ideals; therefore, he is not worthy of her attention. She continues to idolize her crush, making him out to be a "Prince Charming" figure. However, Jane soon has to let this go, because her own sister becomes engaged to him.

(Act 5. Sc. 2)
 * Katherine: "My mind hath been as big as one of yours, my heart as great, my reason haply more, to bandy word for word and frown for frown; but now I see our lances are but straws, that our strength as weak, our weakness past compare, that seeming to be most which we indeed least are.” **

This quote is an excerpt from Katherine’s monologue at the end of the play. She is scolding the wives of the other suitors in the play, who have publicly disregarded a command given to them by their husbands. She says that she once was as proud, and as set in her ways as any other woman, but now she has seen the truth: that she is not as strong as she once believed. She very clearly disagrees and forgets all her other philosophies regarding men. No longer is she the woman who disrespects, but the one who pays homage. Her marriage to Petruchio could not have worked if she had not altered this part of her personality. In the same way, Petruchio now begins to think of someone other than himself. Although he takes advantage of his power over Katherine, he makes it clear that he intends to make the marriage work. Katherine has evolved from the woman with the witty, biting tongue, to a devoted, respectful wife.

Similar to Katherine's speech, Jane has her own speech to give regarding her opinions on what an honest marriage should be.



In "27 Dresses," one major conflict leads to Jane's realization of what true love is. Unlike Katherine, she believes in love, rather than servitude to define the success of the relationship. One problem with Tess, is that she lies to Jane's boss. She leads him to believe that she is a vegetarian, an outdoors person, a pet lover, and many more things. Jane obviously knows that these are all lies. Her sister naturally asks her to be the maid of honor, to which Jane regretfully accepts, not being able to say no. She also ends up having to work with Kevin, who decides to write an article on her sister's wedding. Their relationship grows, but she is unable to fully love Kevin because of her unwillingness to refuse things. By the end of the movie, she realizes that she cannot let her boss marry someone he doesn't know. She gets up to give a speech at the wedding shower, however, she goes off script, and humiliates her sister by giving a presentation contrasting Tess' true self to her boss' own qualities. In this scene, she has finally let go of her hesitation, and as stood up to her sister. She rekindles her relationship with Kevin, and the two are finally able to be together. In the movie, both Jane and Kevin have flaws which hold them back from one another. In order for them to be together, they must get rid of the qualities that lead them away from each other.

In both "Shrew" and "27 Dresses," Katherine and Jane change in order to make their relationship work. It has become an expectation for a relationship for both men and women. In Katherine's case, this was deliberate. She purposely altered her own ideals in order to coexist with Petruchio. For Jane, it was for someone she was interested in. Kevin is quoted at the end pleading with Jane saying, "I believe that someone should take care of you for a change, Jane. I truly believe that." This is just after Jane's public stand against her sister. The movie ends with Jane marrying Kevin, a year after the time period of the movie. Both scripts insinuate that love is something that needs to be fine-tuned. It is not something that comes naturally, therefore, it requires work. Katherine becomes a woman of service for her husband, and Jane changes from her clingy, needy self, to someone who can stand up for herself, and say no. Because Kevin loved her for who she was, this inspired her to refine her own flaws so that she could love Kevin. This helps both couples to find even ground with their respective love interests, and completes the happy ending of both romantic comedies.