Summary
Bianca is frustrated that Cameron has not asked her out yet. Meanwhile, Michael asks Mandella to the prom by sending her an invitation from "William Shakespeare."
Bianca is upset that she cannot go to the prom because Kat refuses to. Kat explains to her that, in ninth grade, she had sex with Joey, who immediately dumped her. This, she explains, is why she is so antisocial. Bianca is still upset with Kat because she knows she aided their father in keeping her from dating, but Kat swears she was only trying to protect her sister.
Kat decides to go to the prom as a favor to her sister. Bianca goes with Cameron. At prom, Kat apologizes to Patrick for questioning his motives. Meanwhile, Joey shows up to the Stratford house to pick up Bianca, but she has already left with Cameron.
Bianca hears from Chastity in the bathroom that Joey had a bet going with his friends that he would have sex with Bianca on prom night. Joey confronts Patrick at the prom about their deal, but Kat overhears. Realizing Patrick had not been honest with her, she leaves the prom. Joey finds Cameron and punches him in the face. Then Bianca beats Joey up.
In the aftermath of the disastrous prom, Cameron and Bianca are still together. Mr. Stratford approaches Kat and tells her he has made a mistake in being so overprotective. He gives her his blessing to attend Sarah Lawrence.
Back in school, Kat volunteers to read her sonnet out loud in English class. The poem is about all the things she hates about Patrick, but ends with her admitting she still loves him.
When Kat goes to her car at the end of the school day, she sees a brand new guitar in the front seat. Patrick approaches her and tells her he spent the money Joey gave him on the guitar. The two make up with a kiss.
Analysis
The final section of the film is filled with major revelations, most notably the revelation to Kat that Patrick was bribed by Joey to date her, as well as the revelation that Kat and Joey used to date. This latter information was until this point unbeknownst even to the audience. When Kat reveals that the reason behind her antisocial behavior is because she had earlier succumbed to peer pressure and suffered for it, the harsher elements of her personality begin to make sense both to Bianca and to the viewer.
This conversation is also significant because it sparks a deeper understanding between the two sisters: Bianca sympathizes with her sister and finally understands that there is a reason behind her hatred for men (and Joey in particular). Furthermore, this conversation also inspires Kat to rethink her perception of Bianca, as Bianca points out that by refusing to date, Kat has only been aiding their father in his overprotective quest to keep both his daughters separated from important teenage experiences. After this conversation, the relationship between the sisters starts to heal, a phenomenon that Bianca makes literal when she beats Joey up at prom in the name of her sister.
The end of the film also features Kat's own transformation when she reads her sonnet aloud for her English class. The poem is an example of irony because it purports to describe all the things she hates about Patrick while at the very end suggesting that she is heartbroken over what happened. In this way, Kat's poem becomes a mirror of her own character: harsh and critical on the outside, but ultimately honest and vulnerable.
Again, however, the film departs slightly from its precursor, as Kat's transformation is more nuanced than simply becoming a more "ideal" woman for Patrick. On the contrary, the film allows Kat to continue being headstrong (evidenced by her warning to Patrick at the end of the film: "You can't just buy me a guitar every time you screw up you know") while also showing how all of her relationships (not just the one with Patrick) have influenced her new vulnerability. These other relationships include that between her and Bianca, as well as that between her and her father. In this way, the film fulfills some of the conventions of a bildungsroman, or coming-of-age tale, rather than simply regurgitating Shakespeare's plot in The Taming of the Shrew.
