Modernizing Shakespeare
10 Things I Hate About You is easily recognizable as a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew. The film presents modernized versions of the characters' names while also maintaining its central plot surrounding the "taming" of the obstinate woman. The play's subplot, featuring a fight amongst suitors for Bianca, also appears in the film version. Unlike the play, however, the film does not present Kat's character shift as a type of "taming." On the contrary, the film showcases a much more feminist perspective in which Kat's difficult personality is itself rendered endearing, and Patrick's manipulation of her is ultimately condemned rather than celebrated. In this way, the film reinvents Shakespeare's original plot (which many criticize as inherently misogynist) and modernizes it for a contemporary audience.
Feminism
Feminism figures heavily in the film, both as the butt of jokes and as part of the film's central message. Kat is a vocal feminist, but as a young high school student, is still ignorant of some of the nuances that feminist ideology includes. She listens to punk rock music by all-female bands, reads Sylvia Plath, and has a general distaste for men. But, as Mr. Morgan points out, Kat is a wealthy white teenager who, while criticizing the English curriculum for not including more women authors, fails to recognize the same curriculum's negligence toward people of color. In this way, Kat's feminism becomes a facet of her obstinate personality that many other characters mock. However, the film itself can be considered feminist in the way it rewrites Shakespeare's original plot to render Kat and Patrick's romance a naturally occurring event rather than the result of a man's power over a woman.
Unlikely Love
The film, like the original play, derives much of its entertainment value from its representation of unlikely pairs. The first pair is, of course, Kat and Patrick – two rebellious and difficult personalities who eventually come to appreciate in each other what everyone else finds so undesirable. The second unlikely pairing is between Bianca and Cameron, as Bianca's popularity originally spurs her interest in Joey rather than the timid and nerdy Cameron. That both couples end up together by the end of the film showcases the movie's (and the play's) interest in representing surprising but fulfilling love.
Peer Pressure
As 10 Things I Hate About You is first and foremost a film about high school romance, it features a significant number of moments related to peer pressure. Bianca is pressured by her friend, Chastity, to ignore Cameron and pursue the self-absorbed Joey instead. Kat represents a challenge to peer pressure as she consistently and intentionally attempts to stand out. Finally, Kat admits to Bianca that she was not always that way, explaining that she once succumbed to major peer pressure by having sex with Joey. Bianca is able to learn from her sister before it is too late, as she upends audience's own expectations of her by becoming more like Kat at the end of the film – foregoing peer pressure, rejecting Joey, and punching him in the nose.
Manipulation
Shakespeare's comedies are often the site of a number of plots and subplots that intersect at the end of the performance. More often than not, these performances also feature deeply complex schemes put in motion by different characters in order to enhance the complexity of the plot and increase narrative stakes. The film retains this quality of early modern theater, showing Cameron and Michael as the masterminds behind the plot to get Patrick to date Kat, while they eventually manipulate Joey to back them with money. In true Shakespearean fashion, the truth behind the plan eventually comes to light at the end of the movie, with various characters having to reckon with the feeling of being manipulated (Kat) or having been the person perpetrating the manipulative behavior (Patrick).
Deceit
Because the film is based on a Shakespearean comedy, one can expect that there will be at least a minor form of deceitful behavior in its plot. Indeed, Patrick deceives Kat into thinking he is genuinely interested in her when he is actually being paid by Joey, Cameron, and Michael to date her. The irony of the film is that, in attempting to deceive Kat for his own gain, Patrick realizes that he actually cares for her and begins acting genuinely toward her. In the end, the only character who was truly deceived throughout the film is Joey, who willingly paid Patrick thinking it would garner him favor with Bianca.
Growing Up
Each important character in 10 Things I Hate About You grows over the course of the film's plot. Kat, despite retaining her rebellious nature, softens by the end of the movie as she recognizes her feelings for Patrick. Bianca becomes more like her sister as she rejects the popular crowd, dates Cameron, and punches Joey in the face at prom. Patrick becomes more social throughout the film, and by the end of the movie is an honest friend to Cameron and Michael and honest romantic partner to Kat. Even the sisters' father, Walter Stratford, comes to realize that Kat is ready to live as an adult, and gives her his blessing to attend college across the country. The only character who experiences no growth at all is Joey, the clear antagonist of the film, who ends up alone and with a broken nose that could derail his modeling career.
