The Shrew
When Michael encounters Kat in the school parking lot at the beginning of the film, he tells Cameron he had a run-in with "the shrew." This term is taken directly from Shakespeare's play on which the film is based, The Taming of the Shrew. But the term itself is also a metaphor: a shrew is a small, mole-like animal, but the word (even in the Renaissance) evolved to be a derogatory term for a difficult or challenging woman.
The Feminine Mystique
When Kat thrusts a copy of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique in Patrick's face at the bookstore, it operates as a metaphor for her current agitated and hostile state. The Feminine Mystique is a book often credited with introducing second-wave feminism in the United States, a movement that focused on criticizing patriarchal or male-dominated institutions across the country.
Kat's Poem
Kat's poem that she delivers at the end of the film is also a metaphor for her character. The poem purports to list all the qualities she hates about Patrick (though she does not name him specifically), but ends with her admitting that the thing she hates most is that she does not hate him at all. This admission shows how the poem, like Kat, appears to be one thing (harsh and hateful) when it is actually a declaration of heartbrokenness and vulnerability.
Shakespeare's Words
At various points throughout the film, characters will use metaphors taken directly from Shakespeare's work. When Cameron sees Bianca for the first time, for example, he says, "I burn, I pine, I perish," indicating his sudden and all-encompassing infatuation with her. By lifting these metaphors directly from the film's source material, the film becomes more dramatic and theatrical than other movies in its genre.
Bratwurst
Ms. Perdy, the school guidance counselor, is only in the film for a few minutes, but is a source of entertainment given that, while she speaks with students, she is simultaneously writing erotic literature. When she confronts Patrick at the beginning of the film for flashing the lunch lady, he tells her, "it was just a bratwurst." When Patrick leaves, Ms. Perdy then uses the word "bratwurst" as a metaphor for a character's penis in her erotic novel. The absurdity of Ms. Perdy's character (and other adults in the film, like Mr. Stratford) pokes fun at the perceived professionalism and maturity that authority figures are supposed to possess.
