Review: 10 Things I Hate About The Taming of the Shrew

10 Things I Hate About Taming The Shrew

He was an outdated mass-content producing sellout: Shakespeare wrote to get paid, and so used his work to fuel the intentions and the values of those doing the paying. Including writing female characters as possessions of men to be treated as they saw fit.

Gillian English is an angry woman, and has every right to be. Shakespeare is so revered in society but, as English argues, this mindless reverence is prohibiting new stories from being told and preventing traditionally oppressed voices from speaking up. No one is safe from her fervid rampage – Disney, Weinstein, the man who physically blocked her on the footpath because he wanted to touch her breasts.

English is passionate and commanding as she runs through her 10 reasons why The Taming of the Shrew should be put to bed. What element of this story is relevant to our culture and society? How does such an archaic tale move discourse forward toward equality? The relatability of English’s stories is what is so endearing, she draws the women of the room in with her personality, and she rocks and startles the men with her brutal honesty.

Growing up, English was taught by her father how to physically defend herself, working from the feet up to the throat. In her twenties, she was taught by another woman how to grab and rip a man’s dick off. She was promised it would ‘pop right outta there’. In a world where women still need to walk home with keys between their fingers, English makes a strong argument to leave this story in the past. Some of English's points can feel a little disconnected from Shakespeare and her original argument at times, but her gusto and persona are captivating.