Summary
In English class on Monday, Mr. Morgan reads a Shakespearean sonnet to the class and tells the students that their new assignment is to write their own Shakespearean sonnet. Meanwhile, Michael begins flirting with Mandella by quoting Shakespeare.
Joey asks Bianca to prom, and pays Patrick extra money to take Kat. Patrick initially rejects his offer but when Joey offers him more money, he takes it.
Knowing he has to get back on Kat's good side after what happened the night of the party, he follows her to a music store where he watches her play a guitar. He later approaches her in a book store, only to be insulted and rejected by her.
Michael and Cameron convince Patrick that he needs to embarrass himself the way Kat was embarrassed in the car.
One afternoon during Kat's soccer practice, Patrick hijacks the school's P.A. system and sings "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" over the loudspeaker, which lands him in detention.
Kat sneaks Patrick out of detention by flashing the moderator. She and Patrick spend the afternoon getting to know each other and playing paintball, where they have their first kiss.
But when Patrick pressures Kat to go to prom with him, she becomes suspicious of his motives.
Analysis
This section of the film focuses almost exclusively on the developing relationship between Kat and Patrick.
After Bogey's party, Kat returns to her old self – antisocial, hateful toward men, and especially hateful toward Patrick for embarrassing her when she made herself vulnerable. When Patrick approaches Kat in the bookstore, she refuses to respond to his flirtatious behavior and instead thrusts a copy of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique in his face. This book is significant because it is widely credited with introducing second-wave feminism to American discourse, emphasizing Kat's hostile reaction to Patrick's continued pursuit.
In this way, the film begins to follow a back-and-forth plot trajectory in which it is unclear whether Kat will ever really soften to Patrick or her peers. This "return" to Kat's personality as it existed at the beginning of the film showcases the depth of her convictions while also suggesting that there is a deeper reason why Kat is so loathsome toward socializing and dating.
Viewers are finally treated to Patrick's "grand gesture" that ultimately brings him back into Kat's good graces. The scene in which Patrick takes over the school's P.A. system and performs Frank Sinatra's "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" in the stands of the soccer field has become one of the most famous scenes in American teen comedies.
This scene is important for two reasons: first, it operates as a major turn for the events of the film, as Kat responds to the gesture by sneaking Patrick out of detention and starting a relationship with him. Second, however, this scene further indicates that both Patrick and Kat have to change slightly in order to be together. That is, the responsibility does not fall solely on Kat to "soften" or become more social; instead, Patrick too has to "sacrifice himself" by giving an embarrassing performance that is completely out of character for his quiet, mysterious, and rebellious self. In this way, the film departs from the plot of its source material by suggesting that it is not necessarily Kat alone who needs to be "tamed."
