Gender issues are explored in both Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and the Zeffirelli film adaptation of the play through cultural context, characterisation, symbolism and the specific portrayal of Katherina and Petruchio's relationship, and are adjusted to meet the needs of very different audiences. Firstly, the cultural context of each text is vital to their portrayal of gender issues in the play. Both versions of the play were pitched as comedies. Shakespeare wrote the …showed first 75 words of 1368 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1368 total…obedience were not enough, Kate shows one more sign. As she concludes the scene and the play, Kate offers to put her hand beneath her husband's foot, an Elizabethan symbol of wifely obedience. In conclusion, both texts represent gender issues as a consequence of their respective cultural contexts, one representing pre-feminist consciousness and the other representing a period of a blossoming feminist movement, with particular attention paid to characterisation, symbolism and Kate and Petruchio's relationship.