10 Things I Hate About Taming The Shrew

"Oh please Justin. Don't tell me one of my favorite movies is Shakespeare." Oh yes. that's right. 10 Thing I Hate About You is nothing but Shakespeare!!! from the very beginning to the very end! "But Justin, i have heard of a lot of Shakespeare's plays but i have never heard of that one." that is for several reasons but the main one is due to the subject matter. now by no means are Shakespeare's plays excessively violent and vulgar, but this one has been a consideration due to the messages it possibly delivers to the audiences. The play's apparent misogynistic elements have become the subject of considerable controversy, particularly among modern audiences and readers. It has nevertheless been adapted numerous times for stage, screen, opera, and musical theatre.  the most famous adaptations being Cole Porter's musical Kiss Me, Kate and the 1967 film version of the original play, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.just goes to show you that he is everywhere!!!

 http://10thingsihateaboutshrew.weebly.com/10-things-i-hate-about-you.html

West Side Story. Thats Right...It's Shakespeare

Oh Yea! That's Right! You thought," justin, there is now way you can keep going on this Shakespeare crap".  WELL THINK AGAIN SUCKKKA!!! I'M JUST GETTING STARTED!!! Now we can look at one of the most famous musicals in theater history that is influenced by the most famous love story in the history of the English language. (you can take that as a fact of opinion if you want, go ask a scholar, they will tell you the same thing) Romeo and Juliet has been made into many new renditions in the modern age, most notably the Romeo+Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio. But that was still using the original dialog from the script in a modern setting. With West Side Story, the time, setting, ethnicity, and language are changed completely, yet the underlining Shakespeare pokes his head out very prominently in the plot and structure of the play. the only plot difference would be the ending. in R&J both the protagonists die tragically unknowing "burring their parents strife". in WSS, The main male Tony is the only one to die while his love, Maria lives on after the play is over. however the end is still tragic enough to end the feud of the fighting gangs from with they come from. so see! Shakespeare is everywhere!!!

 http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpages/JHernandez/film.cfm?subpage=139311

The Lion King = Hamlet

Here we have one of the most popular renditions of hamlet ever devised. oh i know what you are thinking, Hey Justin you are crazy! They speak regular English in the lion king, you have no idea what you are talking about. no stupid i know that. I'm talking about the story, because there is almost no difference between the two. it might be because it was literally written with the Shakespearean play in mind. the story of hamlet is a play about the prince of Denmark, whose father is murdered by his uncle to claim the throne, and the prince then seeks exile until he returns with vengeance to reveal the truth about his uncle. unlike the lion king however, he dies in the precess. now that wouldn't make a very good Disney ending so it is changed to be a positive outcome. but this was very controversial due to the fact that this was the first Disney movie that portrayed an actual murder. so always look deeper before you say you think i don't know what I'm talking about!!!

 Schwalm, Karen. "Patriarchy in the Pride Lands." 26 Apr. 1995. Online posting. Web Site. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/~schwalm/lionking.html. World Wide Web. 2 Apr. 1998.
 Brandes, Georg. "The Classic Tendency of the Tragedy." William Shakespeare, A Critical Study. 1898. Frederick Ungar Publishing Co: 1963.

SHAKESPEARE!!!!!!!!! Good, now that i have your attention i can get my point to you. Usually when that word is said, fear is struck into the hearts and hears of high school students across the country. Who could blame them. I mean the Language is different, the events in the plays happened centuries before modern times, so who cares right? I do. I am a Theatre major in college and have been exposed to all of his plays for years now and i absolutely love them. almost no other playwright has created characters that have influenced so many others in pop culture and literature. That's what this blog is about. An exposure to the characters and stories immortalized by Shakespeare that influence many other characters in film, literature, and Theater. These characters and stories shouldn't be a shock to anyone...but they might.