Daniel+Quach

Comparison and Analysis of "Taming of the Shrew" to "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World"
 * Love At First Fight **

Shown in popular culture, individuals will go far lengths as to achieve the recognition and love of their infatuation. In "Taming of the Shrew," Hortensio and Lucentio fight for Bianca's hand in marriage, though Lucentio is the only one who believes in his love at first sight. In the 2010 film "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) immediately falls in love with a mysterious American girl, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), after one encounter in a library.

Scott and Lucentio's desire to be with the one they feel they love crosses all lines. Scott Pilgrim goes through fighting all seven of Ramona's ex-boyfriends in order to be with her, creating life-threatening situations seriously endangering the well-being of Scott. Scott has a choice to stop fighting the evil exes, and Ramona repeatedly suggests breaking up, putting an end to the chaos he has to go through to be with her, but decides to keep fighting for her love. Lucentio spots Bianca for the first time and falls in love with her, goes through the trouble of donning a new identity, a Latin tutor, has to convince Baptista that he is insanely wealthy in order to fulfill Bianca's prosperity, and finds a wealthy merchant to impersonate his father in order to secure the marriage. A strong attraction or obsession will fool someone into thinking what they're feeling is love, causing them to do everything in their power to successfully win over they are infatuated with.

= "O Tranio, till I found it to be true, I never thought it possibly or likely. But see, while idly I stood looking on, I found the effect of love-in-idleness ..."= (Act 1, Scene i, Lines 150-153)

Lucentio, upon arriving to Padua with his servant Tranio, enters into a midst of people, containing Baptista (father) and Katherine and Bianca (daughters; older and younger, respectively), a wealthy family. Spotting Bianca, he unknowingly falls in love with her. Happening to eavesdrop on the the family's conversation, Lucentio learns that before Bianca can be married, Katherine must get married first, though, infamously, no man would pursue her. A quest worthy of Lucentio's desire, he decides take on the identity of a scholarly schoolmaster in order to heighten his chances in winning over Bianca, leaving Gremio and Hortensio, Baptista's servants, to find a suitable candidate for the ill-mannered Katherine. Lucentio is oblivious of the fact that Hortensio also wants to wed Bianca.

In "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," Scott is blown away by the good looks of Ramona Flowers after their first encounter and decides to stalk her at a party.

Scott is lovestruck when he first encounters Ramona at the library checking out books. While at a party with his band, he learns that Ramona is also there and tries to find her. Upon tracking her down, Scott musters up the energy to attempt to talk to her, fails miserably (with the story of the origins of Pac-Man), and stalks her throughout the length of the party. After hiding behind party-goers following her, she finally leaves and Scott asks around the party for information about her. Julie Powers, one of Scott's friends, unwillingly tells him that Ramona is an Amazon.ca delivery girl, which ultimately results in him ordering an unknown item online in order for them to meet each other. While going through all this trouble, Scott does not realize that his obsession with Ramona is so strong that he primarily forgets that he is still dating his current girlfriend, Knives Chau, basically meaning that he is cheating on her.

="Now let me see if I can Conster it: 'Hic ibat Simois,' I know you not, 'hic est Sigeia tellus,' I trust you not; 'Hic steterat Priami,' take heed he hear us not, 'regia,' presume not, 'celsa senis,' despair not."= (Act 3, Scene i, Lines 44-47)

Lucentio successfully disguises himself into a schoolmaster with the help of his servants. During a session where Bianca learns Latin and musical not scales, both men astutely attempt to court Bianca through clever messages. The quote above is Bianca's encrypted response to Lucentio's hidden message, which introduces himself and what his intentions are. Though Hortensio also attempts to court Bianca in musical note interpretation, it is evident that she prefers Lucentio over Hortensio, who is much younger and potentially wealthier.

Scott Pilgrim, upon defeating one of Ramona's "evil exes," is dragged away from the scene of the fight to be explained of the situation at hand.

Scott Pilgrim finds out the identity of the man he had defeated: Matthew Patel, Ramona's first and evil ex-boyfriend. During the bus ride home, Scott prompts the questions, "So...what was that all about?" Ramona replies, "I guess...if we're going to date, you may have to defeat my seven evil exes." It takes Scott the defeat of three ex-boyfriends to realize that the challenge of defeating six more evil ex-boyfriends is actually life threatening. "Scott, I don't have all the answers right now, I just like to live in the moment, if I can." To which Scott mutters, "I just like to live..." At the time of the concert where Matthew Patel showed up, Ramona and Scott were technically dating but did not realize it until his forewarning to Scott was fulfilled. Despite the fact that it would be extremely dangerous to go out with the girl of his dreams, Scott has the choice of either stopping the relationship or continuing it with his own life at stake. Like Bianca's preference of the younger man, Lucentio, over Hortensio, Ramona prefers that she and Scott break up instead of preserving a relationship that is meaningful to both of them. "You're the nicest guy I've ever dated."

Love fuels the motive of many nonsensical actions. Love at first sight is a concept that works for both Lucentio, who eventually marries Bianca through romantic love and Scott Pilgrim, who defeats every evil ex-boyfriend and restarts a new relationship with Ramona. Though love induces happiness and bliss and is something worthwhile, their intentions are altered towards their infatuation, which may not always be good. Perhaps one might be falling into a pit of inconspicuous bewitchment, not love.