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Kate & |
HER: Take your pick: either Acid-tongued Shrew in need of a Good Man or Smart Ambitious Woman with limited options in sixteenth-century upper-crust society.
HIM: Swaggering, Arrogant Gold Digger with six-pack abs. Loves money more than love.
MEET CUTE: Lust at first sight. Blind date arranged by father looking to marry off old-maid daughter. Verbal sparring establishing the two are intellectual equals. Did I mention lust?
HISTORICAL NOTE: The meeting of Kate and Petruchio has inspired every rom-com since the dawn of time. And the taming of Kate by Petruchio has aroused hatred in every feminist who ever read the play.
RELATIONSHIP LOW POINTS: Forced arranged marriage; disastrous wedding (groom arrives late, wears a ridiculous outfit, and forces bride to leave without dinner); and harsh wife-taming process that includes starvation and sleep deprivation.
WHY THEY WORK: Smart is sexy. Sex is sexy. And no one else will have them.
HIS BEST LINE: “Why there’s a Wench! Come on, and kiss me, Kate.”
HER BEST LINE: “Asses are meant to bear and so are you.”
SHAKESPEAREAN COUPLE MOST LIKELY TO: Swing.
WHO PLAYS THEM IN THE MOVIE: Emma Stone and Justin Timberlake.
CHEMISTRY FACTOR: 4.5 OUT OF 5