Where Two Raging Fires Meet: Using Online Dating to Teach Taming of the Shrew

“And where two raging fires meet together they do consume the thing that feeds their fury. Though little fire grows great with little wind, yet extreme gusts will blow out fire and all. So I to her, and so she yields to me, for I am rough and woo not like a babe” brags Petruchio (42).

In Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare presents the story of what happens when “two raging fires meet.” Did Katherine and Petruchio in fact “consume the thing that feeds their fury”? And what exactly is that “thing” at the source of their–issues? Did Petruchio’s “extreme gusts” in fact “blow out” their fire?

The following lesson plan inspires students to think through these questions by taking contemporary knowledge and dating experiences/advice and applying it to the characters in this play. How do the characters manipulate one another? What rhetorical strategies would/could be used to “market” these people as potential matches? How might this play “play” out in modern, online dating culture?

Overall goal/objective/theme To link Taming of the Shrew’s courtship rituals and language to students’ contemporary experiences/knowledge of dating culture, to spur empathy with the characters and lively discussion surrounding the play’s characters and plot, and to practice close-reading, cultural analysis, and synthesis skills across cultures/time periods.

What experience/knowledge do students already have? What is my strategy to accommodate all levels? (Audience): This activity is designed for introductory level, non-English majors. It is designed as though they had never read Taming of the Shrew before this class. Students will be familiar with modern courtship rituals and online dating practices.

Beginning: How will I engage the learners: motivational strategy, hook, activation of prior knowledge?
To begin, show a clip from Zeffirelli’s 1967 Taming of the Shrew as representative of the culture/time in which Shakespeare wrote–the scene in which Petruchio says “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. Say she be mute and will not speak a word, then I’ll commend her volubility. And say she uttereth piercing eloquence. …” (44).

Ask students to reflect on what has changed, what has stayed the same, culturally–according to these adaptations, at least. Provide students with hard copies of the scene’s script to take notes on; this should be from the edition of the play they are assigned to read, for instance, the Penguin Edition, as applicable.

Then, have students write their own mini papers with a thesis statement making a claim on the courtship practices displayed in Shrew: What is different in our cultures, what has stayed the same, and why do you think that is, citing evidence from the text and from their own interpretation (using specific examples) of contemporary dating culture.

Middle: How does the lesson develop? How are new concepts/processes learned? By gradual empowerment? Modeled, shared or guided instruction?

Divide students into discussion teams of 3-5, depending on the class size, to discuss their mini papers/claims for up to 10 minutes.

Then, pass out excerpts of modern dating advice. This could be from, for instance, Become Your Own Matchmaker: 8 Easy Steps for Attracting Your Perfect Mate by a reality TV dating coach/matchmaker. Also show a 3-5 minute YouTube clip with “professional” advice on how to create an online dating profile (such as this). What is the female’s role in courtship according to these “steps”? What is the male’s role? How does this shed light on Petruchio and Katherine, Bianca and her suitors? If you were Katherine’s father, how would you “market” your daughter(s)? How would you “market” yourself if you were Petruchio or the other male characters in the play?

Each team will then work together to create an online dating profile of their assigned character: Katherine, Petruchio, Bianca, Lucentio (use Gremio and Hortensio for additional teams if needed). (These profiles can be used for a later activity in which the online personas interact with dialogue from the play.)

End: How will I conclude this lesson? How will we integrate the ideas/experiences? How will I check for understanding? Application–what will learners do to demonstrate their learning?
Provide each team with 5-10 minutes as appropriate to your class time, to project their character’s online dating profile and present their rhetorical choices to the class. These online dating profiles must include examples/evidence from the play, and how it is recast to show that this is a person people would/would not want to date. At the end, conduct a synthesis discussion and/or “exit slip” to debrief what was learned on the characters, strategies and themes of the play, etc.

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