The Taming of the Shrew
- Thread starter MangaDex
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Thank you very much for picking this back up @thebenefactor ! I'm really enjoying the author's take on TotS so far. 
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The source material was a writen as a comedy, but it is pretty tragic from the point of view of kat.
However this adaptation is, to this point, pretty lovely.
Thank you @thebenefactor for translating it!
However this adaptation is, to this point, pretty lovely.
Thank you @thebenefactor for translating it!
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Ah @thebenefactor. I see you doing good work here as well. Awesome.
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Both @Purplelibraryguy and @Kendama had some good points. While some of the concepts and presentations of social views in it might seem off in comparison to more modern social perceptions I try to take literature in perspective of when they were produced rather than attempt to judge them by my modern sensibilities. For example, I can enjoy Edgar Rice Burroughs even if his "science" elements are silly especially given what we now know and his social interpretations are at times idealistic, bigotic, or just stereotypical. Shakespeare, at the end of the day when all is done, wasn't interested in making a social statement with his work (which more and more seems to be demanded of our entertainments by some people at the cost of real entertaining) but simply creating something that would appeal to the masses and let him pay the rent.
That said, The Taming of the Shrew is one of my favorite Shakespeare so I've seen a number of presentations of it from Burton's and Taylor's more famous one, to John Cleese's spin in the role of Petruchio, to even the teen comedy version "10 things I hate about you" and found each to be enjoyable even as how they chose to interpret the play differed.
What I find interesting in this version is in how the creator is choosing to portray Bianca as being more assertive and proactive in manipulating events with her older sister in order to advance her own wants. Its different from how I feel she is usually portrayed and this makes me want to follow this web comic just to see how this is played out.
That said, The Taming of the Shrew is one of my favorite Shakespeare so I've seen a number of presentations of it from Burton's and Taylor's more famous one, to John Cleese's spin in the role of Petruchio, to even the teen comedy version "10 things I hate about you" and found each to be enjoyable even as how they chose to interpret the play differed.
What I find interesting in this version is in how the creator is choosing to portray Bianca as being more assertive and proactive in manipulating events with her older sister in order to advance her own wants. Its different from how I feel she is usually portrayed and this makes me want to follow this web comic just to see how this is played out.
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@Reader1138 This is meandering sideways, but I think whether a social/political element adds or detracts from the entertainment of something like a play, movie, manga or whatever depends on how it's done. For instance, I'm a Hayao Miyazaki fan. I think it's always been pretty obvious that there are strong environmentalist themes in Miyazaki's stuff, sometimes so obvious he's hitting you over the head with a hammer like in Princess Mononoke, sometimes a bit more whimsical like when they're cleansing the river spirit in Spirited Away and Yubaba's waving her fans conducting the workers as they all HEAVE! to pull the garbage out. And yet I've never minded even when it's heavy-handed--it's always so beautiful. Miyazaki also often has a definite anti-war message, and the chilling images of war can be some of the most powerful in his movies. Overall, I think Miyazaki's stuff would be less powerful without the statements, not more entertaining. IMO there's a fair amount of stuff like that, where saying something makes a work stronger.
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@Purplelibraryguy I don't disagree that entertainments (i.e movie, tv, books, events, etc) with a message to impart can't be enjoyable. The problem is too often when its done now days, its done with the subtlety of a jackhammer at 7am on a Saturday. The original Star Trek series is famous for its subtext in its plots (both light and heavy handed) and yet those episodes are enjoyed by people of widely varying stripes because they are woven into (mostly) good plots. Miyazaki is undeniably a genius and so understands when heavy is needed to make a more powerful statement and when soft is more effective in leaving you with something that resonates even after the credits roll. He might have a message to impart but he understands it needs to be conveyed in an entertaining manner and not as a badly wrapped lecture.
But now days it feels like to many works get made and judged on not the skill in which emotions are evoked, or how deftly the plot works but instead on if the right social boxes are checked and the wrong stereotypes are avoided. The result is rather than good drama, you get formulaic moralizing parables.
But now days it feels like to many works get made and judged on not the skill in which emotions are evoked, or how deftly the plot works but instead on if the right social boxes are checked and the wrong stereotypes are avoided. The result is rather than good drama, you get formulaic moralizing parables.
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@Reader1138 I have no argument with any of that.
(Plus, I too like Edgar Rice Burroughs, partly because of the silliness. Sometimes he'll pull off something that by the normal rules is utterly awful storytelling, but it's done so brazenly that I just stare in awe and then start laughing. Like the way he shamelessly exploits the variable time schtick in Pellucidar for the most ludicrous ass-pull deus ex machinas--they're so beautifully cheesy you can't hate them. For those who don't know about Burroughs--like a hundred years ago, as well as the Mars/Barsoom stuff, the original Tarzan, and many many more, he wrote this hollow earth thing, with some kind of flaming ball of gas in the centre lighting it; then he claims that, since there isn't a sun rising and setting to regulate it, time there goes totally differently for people in different places. So then the MC is hidden, watching some reptile bad guys doing evil things at this pool. But then he falls in the pool, oh no! But he quickly dives, swimming underwater, doesn't think they've noticed him, yay! But he's running out of air, when he surfaces they'll see him and kill him, oh no! So he holds his breath as long as he can, finally comes up for air and . . . it's been weeks and the bad guys all left. I kid you not.)
(Plus, I too like Edgar Rice Burroughs, partly because of the silliness. Sometimes he'll pull off something that by the normal rules is utterly awful storytelling, but it's done so brazenly that I just stare in awe and then start laughing. Like the way he shamelessly exploits the variable time schtick in Pellucidar for the most ludicrous ass-pull deus ex machinas--they're so beautifully cheesy you can't hate them. For those who don't know about Burroughs--like a hundred years ago, as well as the Mars/Barsoom stuff, the original Tarzan, and many many more, he wrote this hollow earth thing, with some kind of flaming ball of gas in the centre lighting it; then he claims that, since there isn't a sun rising and setting to regulate it, time there goes totally differently for people in different places. So then the MC is hidden, watching some reptile bad guys doing evil things at this pool. But then he falls in the pool, oh no! But he quickly dives, swimming underwater, doesn't think they've noticed him, yay! But he's running out of air, when he surfaces they'll see him and kill him, oh no! So he holds his breath as long as he can, finally comes up for air and . . . it's been weeks and the bad guys all left. I kid you not.)
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@reader1138 and @purplelibraryguy As a fellow Miyazaki fan, I agree with your points.
I'd add that, in my view, the reason why social commentary without subtlety in fiction sounds heavy-handed and pedestrian is that the primary purpose of fiction is to entertain, in one way or another. Fiction evokes feelings on the readers/viewers - whether the plot is well-woven, whether the characters are relatable, whether the language is captivating. When authors care less about that than about preaching on a given thesis, it becomes an essay, and as such it fails on both accounts: it's not effective as fiction because it fails to engage the audience, and it's not effective as an essay because it lacks the rigour of one.
But I do think the best authors weave their worldviews into their works, but they do it in a way that enhances the value of the entertainment. Shakespeare didn't have to write a dissertation on the state of the Jew in Elisabethan England - all he had to do was to give Shylock one of the greatest speeches in the play and let the reader make of it what they wanted. It's when the readers feel strongly with the characters and the plot that they value the point or thesis the author makes. And if all of it operates in a subconscious level initially and later the reader has a realisation of the hidden meaning, then all the better, because that bridges emotion to reason and drives the point home more effectively than an essay ever could.
(The downside is that this subtlety sometimes leads to multiple interpretations of the work. People argue whether, and how much, The Merchant of Venice is anti-Jewish to this day. But it's fine: ambiguity in fiction leads to reflection and nothing bad can come of that so long as people keep open minds.)
Alas, as Reader1138 says, subtlety and reading in multiple levels is going the way of the dodo in contemporary fiction.
The Taming of the Shrew is by no means one of my favourite Shakespearean comedies, I must say. That title would go to *Love's Labour's Lost* or *The Merry Wives of Windsor* if we go by humour alone; or to *As you like it* and *A Midsummer Night's Dream* on account of the overall quality. This webtoon appeals to me precisely because Petruchio doesn't have it easy. I found the play unbalanced in that respect: while Beatrice and Benedick bicker as equals throughout *Much ado about nothing*, in *The Shrew* Katherine is a little too thoroughly abused by Petruchio for my taste.
I'd add that, in my view, the reason why social commentary without subtlety in fiction sounds heavy-handed and pedestrian is that the primary purpose of fiction is to entertain, in one way or another. Fiction evokes feelings on the readers/viewers - whether the plot is well-woven, whether the characters are relatable, whether the language is captivating. When authors care less about that than about preaching on a given thesis, it becomes an essay, and as such it fails on both accounts: it's not effective as fiction because it fails to engage the audience, and it's not effective as an essay because it lacks the rigour of one.
But I do think the best authors weave their worldviews into their works, but they do it in a way that enhances the value of the entertainment. Shakespeare didn't have to write a dissertation on the state of the Jew in Elisabethan England - all he had to do was to give Shylock one of the greatest speeches in the play and let the reader make of it what they wanted. It's when the readers feel strongly with the characters and the plot that they value the point or thesis the author makes. And if all of it operates in a subconscious level initially and later the reader has a realisation of the hidden meaning, then all the better, because that bridges emotion to reason and drives the point home more effectively than an essay ever could.
(The downside is that this subtlety sometimes leads to multiple interpretations of the work. People argue whether, and how much, The Merchant of Venice is anti-Jewish to this day. But it's fine: ambiguity in fiction leads to reflection and nothing bad can come of that so long as people keep open minds.)
Alas, as Reader1138 says, subtlety and reading in multiple levels is going the way of the dodo in contemporary fiction.
The Taming of the Shrew is by no means one of my favourite Shakespearean comedies, I must say. That title would go to *Love's Labour's Lost* or *The Merry Wives of Windsor* if we go by humour alone; or to *As you like it* and *A Midsummer Night's Dream* on account of the overall quality. This webtoon appeals to me precisely because Petruchio doesn't have it easy. I found the play unbalanced in that respect: while Beatrice and Benedick bicker as equals throughout *Much ado about nothing*, in *The Shrew* Katherine is a little too thoroughly abused by Petruchio for my taste.
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i had feared that this would follow the (really... dubious...) path of the original, but i really enjoyed the different twist to this version!
it was interesting to see bianca more involved and i'm glad to see her growth, although admittedly the sister dynamic was kind of difficult to comprehend bc
i love the eventual dynamic of pet/kat, i believe it does justice to the original comedy while indeed appealing to modern tastes,, it seems that petruchio was tamed lol
also she's a bamf with a sword... what's not to love? kat-unnie STEP ON ME PLS!! TvT💕
it was interesting to see bianca more involved and i'm glad to see her growth, although admittedly the sister dynamic was kind of difficult to comprehend bc
would you seriously put yourself down to such an extent for the sake of your sister...? kat, that's not healthy..
also she's a bamf with a sword... what's not to love? kat-unnie STEP ON ME PLS!! TvT💕
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