Shakespeare vs. John Wayne: Continued

I watched Mclintock last night, and it was actually really easy to find similarities to Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. It starts with the leading lady. Her name in the play is Katharine; in the movie? Katherine. She is a wild woman, uses short, snappy responses, and is particularly stubborn and ornery with G.W. Mclintock, her husband (played by John Wayne). In one scene, their housekeeper says something to Katherine, and she looks at Mclintock with disgust and says, "Are you going to stand there with a stupid look on your face while the hired help insults your wife?" This reminded me of Katherine in Taming of the Shrew; her responses are so feisty and biting. For example, in the first act of the play, Petruchio says, "Good morning, Kate, for that's your name, I hear," to which she responds, "Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing. They call me Katharine that do talk of me."

The western movie was all about Katherine being stubborn, feisty, shrewish, and especially short towards her husband, G.W. Mclintock. It also shows a lot of the interaction these two had, and although they were already married at the beginning of the movie (in contrast to Petruchio and Katharine), I couldn't help but make connections between the two performances.

Wild Women!

While diving into Taming of the Shrew this week, I have been thinking a little bit about the idea of a man having to "tame" his wife or potential wife. Of course, for Petruchio, this was initially due do his desire for wealth, but he eventually became attracted to Kate for her colorful personality. Why is this?

And why am I so attracted to the same thing in my fiancee? That's something I might want to think about.

Anyway, the same transformation occurs with John Wayne and his fiery shrew of a woman in "McClintock," so here is a clip from the classic western film loosely based upon Shakespeare's original Taming. If you don't have six minutes to sit and watch, skip forward to the final minute to see the muddy showdown:

It's a real compliment to Shakespeare to say that, centuries later, his ideas would be revisited in a country western film with a man like John Wayne.

Taming of the Shrew and Spankings from "The Duke"

With all this talk of Taming of the Shrew (and since I chose to read and study this one for my comedy play), I have been wondering why the play is still so popular even today. I was wondering how many modern adaptations in the U.S. have been made of the play, and I found this list:

"Kiss Me Kate"--1948

"10 Things I Hate About You"--1999

"Deliver Us From Eva"--2003

That list seemed kind of short and incomplete, so I was trying to think of other movies that had a similar storyline, and it didn't take long before I found one: "McClintock," a John Wayne classic! I love John Wayne movies--not ashamed of it--so I have decided to try to connect plots and characters as much as possible. For those of you that have not seen this one, check out the IMDB plot summary and see if that tickles your fancy. I will be writing a blog about my connections!

Anybody have any other beautifully-connected or even loosely-based modern adaptations of the Taming?

Shakespeare Learning Plan

Here is what I hope to get from this class this semester:

1. Gain Shakespeare Literacy. I am planning on reading 7 plays this semester: Hamlet, Henry V, Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. This will help me get a good feel for some Shakespeare works. To help me gain a deep understanding of one play, I will study Taming of the Shrew in great detail. I also want to watch the modern renditions of these plays (where available) and see how Shakespeare is visible in today's world.

2. Analyze Shakespeare Critically. I'm going to read, read, and read about these plays: their context in history, how they have impacted society since that time, and how they have seeped into media in the world today. I will have my feelers out in the internet trying to pull in as much information as I can and finding as much Shakespeare stuff as I can. These studies will lead me to a well-thought out research project on Taming of the Shrew specifically.

3. Engage Shakespeare Creatively. I will record a personal performance of a Shakespeare scene and post it on my blog. It's gonna be awesome. I will also volunteer in class for recitations.

4. Share Shakespeare Meaningfully. My formal writing, as discussed above, will be designed around all of these texts, and most deeply around Taming of the Shrew. My informal writing will be based on my blog posts, and they will be more frequent and meaningful than they have been thus far in the semester. I am already enjoying reading others' blogs about Shakespeare, and I will do so more thoroughly and engage in lively conversations multiple times each week about this beautiful stuff.