10 Things I Hate About You Movie Analysis

"10 Things I Hate About You" Is the story is a modern retelling of the William Shakespeare play, The Taming of the Shrew. It was directed by Gil Junger and stars Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona and Julia Stiles as Kat Stratford. It is set mostly in a high school. The picture was somewhat successful when it was released on March 31, 1999. It has since become a romantic comedy fan favorite.

In the film, Kat Stratford is in English class when she raises her hand to read her own interpretation of William Shakespeare's Sonnet 141, which was assigned to the class. In the poem it is clear that the message Kat is trying to convey in the first lines of the poem the speaker, Kat, indirectly addresses Patrick, telling him about all the things she hates about his actions and habits. Some of these are more significant than others, such as the way he lies to her, his boots, and his hairstyle. The poem's second half is more heartfelt. The speaker tackles the issues at the heart of their relationship, as well as the reality that she does not, in fact, hate Patrick.

Kat's poetry was created in response to Patrick, who broke her heart when she learned she was falling for a guy who was being paid to take her out. Kat did not know Patrick wasn't in it for the money at the time, but she was so heartbroken that she composed her English assignment about how she felt about him. Kat begins '10 Things I Hate About You' by informing Patrick that she hates the way he speaks to her in the first lines. There is an example of a superficial irritation and a more emotional irritation in this line. The way he speaks to her irritates her, implying that there is something more wrong at the heart of their relationship.

We, the audience, can understand the pathos used in the poem and sense Kat's passion and sadness throughout the poem. Kat, who is portrayed in the film as a strong character who is unconcerned about highschool males or relationships, is self-sufficient and closed. It took a lot for Kat to let someone in and fall in love with him. Kat was broken in a way when she discovered the truth about why he approached her and pushed his luck to go out with her several times. She felt stupid and hated herself for falling for him.

As Stratford stood in front of her class amongst peers who feared her, she showed vulnerability and shed tears.   Patrick's remorse and narrowed brows were visible and expressed solely through his facial expressions. Kat kept eye contact with him throughout the poem, indicating that it was addressed to him. Kat included particular details to let the audience know it was about him, such as "the way you cut your hair" and "I despise your big idiotic combat boots," which he wore in multiple scenes. When Kat spends time with Patrick, she notices both major and minor characteristics about him.

In each line Kat makes use of different phrases in speech or writing. We recognize that the   poem was directed toward Patrick. The poem has a fair usage of anaphora as she began each sentence with “I hate” as well as irony because the things she goes on about hating are just distractions she made for herself because she is in love with him. Towards the end we see a heartwarming use of the antithesis in the statement "But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you " this sentence displays two meanings to the phrase which are contrasting, and mean opposite things. 

Kat goes over a few more aspects of Heath Ledger's character, Patrick, that irritate her. This includes his willingness to bluff and his tendency for being "always right." These items, along with the ones that follow, are piled on top of one another to give a very clear picture of their relationship. Even if you haven't seen the movie, you'll be able to comprehend the majority of what she's trying to say. Yet, because of its vagueness and reliance on allusion, readers or listeners will almost certainly be able to connect the lines to someone in their lives now or in the past. 

Ultimately, Kat begins to cry and tells Patrick that she hates the fact that she doesn't hate him at all. She stresses this with repetition in the last phrase, claiming that she doesn't hate him  “even a little bit, not even at all.”  This completely invalidates what she's stated so far and further twists the emotions of the poem that concludes with her exiting the classroom.