Taming Of The Shrew Film Analysis

William Shakespeare was an English poet, play-writer and actor, know genuinely as the greatest English writer in history. Shakespeare himself created several amazing plays that are still acknowledged today, one of his spectacular creating being ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’ Like many other plays by Shakespeare, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ has been directed as a film by Franco Zeffirelli (1968) as well as David Richards (2005). These films portray two contrasting views on the themes of marriage and love, adhering to the social expectations during the time period at the same time. Both films of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ illustrates similar concept of Petruchio marrying Katherina for his own benefits. Yet Zeffirelli depicts the themes by basing it off the

By analysing these films in depth, it is evident that Richards’ version of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ is in fact better at illustrating the ideas of love, marriage and adhering to the social expectations of the modern time period. In Zeffirelli’s creation, the actions challenge and loses the themes of love and marriage, as well as the social expectations. This is evident through where Petruchio and Katherina take on actions that aren’t admired during that time period, such as when Katherina and Petruchio shares a kiss is public. In contrast, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ by David Richards meet the themes thoroughly throughout the whole film and proves the equality which are the notions believed in today’s society. This film puts Petruchio and Katherina in the same level which is the concept and ideology that is expected in the modern world, which further proves in acknowledging that Richards’ film is in fact better than Zeffirelli’s ‘The Taming of the