Beauty is the key to a man’s heart

Beauty is the key to a man’s heart  

Comparing “The Taming of the Shrew” to “Shallow Hal”

“The Taming of the Shrew”, was a play written by William Shakespeare. The story was about suitors trying to marry two prestigious daughters. Katherine, the eldest daughter was not fancied by many men. Most people would describe her as discourteous. Bianca the youngest daughter on the other hand was the complete opposite of her sister. There were many pursuits of marriage but Katherine was to be counted before Bianca could. This caused Petruchio, Katherine's only suitor to become interested in her. However it was for the money and assets he would obtain after the marriage. The movie “Shallow Hal” is about a middle aged man having unrealistic high standards for women. Hal only makes advances with “attractive women,” while ignoring and even shaming  the women who he feels is not the physical standard that an average woman should be.

In the movie “Shallow Hal,” the main character Hal judges women based off of their physical appearances. Beauty is a requirement for Hal in order for him to pursue a relationship. However, it blinds him from the internal beauty that a woman may have. It seems that Hal views women as a trophy or a piece of property. The play “The Taming of the Shrew,” mentions the value of women which wasn’t presented as much. Petruchio, a suitor in the play, believed that his wife Katherine was his property once they were married. Hal and Petruchio both feel that they can control women to suit their own liking. Although Hal and Petruchio have different agendas, the play and the movie show that no matter the time period women have high standards inflicted onto them from men, causing women to develop insecurities and self hate.

“And woo her with some spirit when she comes! Say that she rail, why then I’ll tell her plain She sings as sweetly as a nightingale. Say that she frown, I’ll say she looks as clear As morning roses newly washed with dew…..”

(Act 11, Scene 1, 177-181)

In this quote, Petruchio talks about his plan to “woo” Katherine, the woman who he was pursuing. He created a specific plan to make sure that he will be able to think ahead to convince her to fall for him, or at least make her have interest in him.   

This shows that no matter if a woman protests, a man will try and control her. This idea is seen throughout the play as well as the movie.

(Timestamp, 9:07)

In this scene, Hal is trying to pursue a relationship with a woman. She timidly tells him that she is not physically attracted to him because she wanted to spare his feelings. Hal tries to convince her that attraction comes later in a relationship. He speaks to her as if her opinion does not matter, because he was out to get what he wanted: her. After a long back and forth they went their separate ways. After the woman leaves Hal gives her a look as if she is disgusting. Hal was experiencing the way he treated women. The difference is Hal feels that there is something wrong with the woman and not him, which is why he gave that look at the end. What is interesting about what Hal said is that attraction coming later in a relationship only applies to men. There is a double standard for men and that is proven in both the movie and play.

“That hearing if her beauty and her wit, Her affability and bashful modesty….”

(Act ll, Scene l, 51-53)

In this scene Petruchio was talking about how much he likes Katherine. The first thing that he talks about is her beauty, which shows he prioritizes it over her other traits. When men talk about women in the book they tend to list their beauty before anything else. When women are held to very high beauty standards, it can create insecurities because they may not feel like they fulfill those standards. When it was time for marriage between Katherine and Petruchio it was difficult for the both of them adjusting to each other. Petruchio wanted to control Katherine but she was defiant, which resulted in physical restraints.

This proves that a relationship cannot only rely on beauty or it will not last. “Shallow Hal” depicts a relationship being about the inner beauty and having an understanding that each person is respected in all areas.

(Timestamp 44:06)

In this scene of the movie, Hal and Rosemary are walking together towards Hal’s apartment. When they both reach the apartment building Hal talks about what he loves and likes about Rosemary, his main interest is her body. He tells her that she is beautiful and that she is not fat, when in actuality she is. At this point in the movie Hal sees the inner beauty of women instead of just their appearance. In Rosemary’s case she is overweight and is not “attractive” in Hal’s definition. Rosemary knows that a guy like Hal doesn’t come around and she was surprised that he took a liking to her. When Hal starts to compliment her, she is not able to bear it. In Rosemary’s eyes Hal loves everything she hates. She feels like she isn't beautiful because of the pressure society puts on her. This caused her to doubt the love that Hal professed to her, because she doesn’t know what it feels like to be truly loved when she couldn’t even love herself.