Blase+Biello

** // Fear to Meet Expectations // **
//A modern**-**day comparison of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and Hollywood's The Break-Up.//

Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and the 2006 movie The Break-Up both hold the universal message that males and females have expectations that they would like to be met, within their partner. In "Shrew" the partner with the high expectations is Petruchio. He has high expectations in Katherine, which are simply not being met. In "The Break-Up" the partner with the high expectations is actress, Jennifer Aniston. She has high expectations in actor, Vince Vaughn, which are also simply not being met. Petruchio and Aniston use fear tactics throughout the play and movie, in order to achieve the desired expectations from their partner. Though Petruchio and Aniston both use fear tactics in order to tame their "shrews", their actions are different. Petruchio softly tortures his wife, Katherine, in order to tame her by doing multiple things like depriving her of food and sleep. But, Aniston on the other hand, "dumps" Vaughn in order to make him scared of loosing her. Petruchio and Aniston's tactics are similar but the outcome and actions are completely different. But, these two stories, show how that society has remained the same in the thought process of how to make someone meet their expectations through fear. Men and women have expectations in their partners, which they strive to achieve via radical decisions sometimes.

**"And thus I'll curb her mad and headstrong humor"** -Petruchio (Act 4, Scene 1, 209)

This is a line that Petruchio delivers in his speech about how he is going to tame Katherine by depriving her of sleep and food. It basically says that doing so will stop and cure her wild nature. This is closely related to the thesis because Petruchio is using fear tactics in order to tame Katherine. He is achieving his expectations through radical measures.

Modern Day Radical Decisions..

"I broke up with him in hopes that loosing me, would make him want to change." -Aniston

In this scene, Aniston is explaining to her boss about what her intentions were in making such a radical decision (dumping her boyfriend), and is receiving feedback. This is closely related to the thesis because Aniston had expectations in Vaughn that Vaughn just wasn't providing, so Aniston made a radical decision and dumped him in order to scare him. Again, using the fear tactic, but in a different action then Petruchio in "Shrew".

**"This is a way to kill a wife with kindness."** **-Petruchio** **(Act 4, Scene 1, 208)**

This is a quote delivered by Petruchio when he is backing up his radical decisions in order to get Katherine to meet his expectations. It is basically sarcasm. Well, the kindness part. Of course, it is not kind to deprive someone of sleep and food. This closely relates to the thesis in the sense that the radical decision would be that Petruchio finds himself compeled to "kill his wife with kindness".

This quote can also be applied to "The Break-Up" because after Anniston dumps Vaughn, she is not kind to him at all. She does things to try and make him jealous and more.



In this scene, Aniston sets up a date with a random guy in order to get Vaughn jealous. The man arrives at Aniston and Vaughn's apartment to pick up Aniston for their date. Vaughn is obviously very jealous. This is just another one of Aniston's radical decisions in order to try and get Vaughn to straighten up his act. Not only is she instilling the fear that he may loose her but also that he may be replaced. This is a different action from what is performed in "Shrew" by Petruchio because Aniston is now also using the radical decision to use jealously. This is closely related to the thesis because she is making decisions that affect Vaughn deeply, in an attempt to get him to be how she wants him.

Both "Shrew" and "The Break-Up" are very similar and very different in many ways. As mentioned earlier, they are similar because in both the play and the movie, one partner feels as though the other partner isn't meeting up to their expectations. Also, they are similar because they both use fear tactics in order to shape their partner into the mold they want them to be. They are different in the ways they use the fear tactics. Petruchio deprives food and sleep, whilst Aniston ends connections with the other partner in order for him to basically, self reflect. The radical decision making shows that men and women both have expectations in their partners that they feel as though they need to reach them under any circumstance. These portrayals in both "Shrew" and "The Break-Up" show that themes that were present hundreds of years ago in men and women are in fact, still present. Society has not really lost its ever-standing opinion and attitude on courtship and dating because themes that were present in Shakespeare's plays are still present in modern day life scenarios and movies. They might not be exactly the same, but (in this case) Shrew is the backbone for male and female expectations.