Maya+Wright

=Parental Control= Comparing "Madea's Family Reunion" to "The Taming of the Shrew".

In this visual essay I will be focusing on the roles that parents play in their kids relationships. In the book "The Taming of the Shrew" the father Baptista is forcing his daughter Katherine to marry Pertruccio which is the suitor he chose for her. In the movie "Madea's Family Reunion" the mother Victoria is also playing match maker for her daughter and cajoles her to marry Carlos. In both texts, neither parents showed too much concern as to whether their child would be happy with the mate that was chosen for them. Baptista chose Pertuccio to be Katherine's husband based on the amount of money and land he could give her. Victoria chose Carlos to marry Lisa because he was rich and handsome. Clearly these parents did not intend to find a lover for their daughters but simply a man they could call their husband. Parents only want their children to be married for the sake of having the title and the money. **To them love does not play a major factor and they used different methods to persuade their daughters into a loveless marriage and this type of control will always create a hatred towards the parents.** =**"Ay, when that special thing is well obtained, that is, her love, for that is all in all."**= (Act II, Scene 1, 135-136) In this quote, Baptista tells Pertruccio that in order to marry he must win Katherine's love first. Baptista's initial goal was for them to fall in love before they go married.

In this scene of "Madea's Family Renunion," Vanessa, Lisa's sister, is speaking to Lisa about her up coming wedding. Vanessa tells Lisa that she should not marry Carlos if she does not love him, but in response to this Lisa tells her that she will still marry him because their mother said love will come later after they are married. This short conversation says a lot about the their mother Victoria's approach to persuading her daughter to marry Carlos. She bribes her with the idea that they will be in love after they marry. Victoria and Baptista have different methods, Baptista thinks love should come before marriage and Victoria thinks love should come after marriage.
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 * Vanessa(sister)**: "You're the one getting married, you're the one in love."
 * Lisa:** "I don't love him the way he loves me."
 * Vanessa:** "Then, why are you marrying him?"
 * Lisa:** "Mom says love will come."

**"Call me daughter? Now I promise you you have showed a tender fatherly regard, to wish me wed to one half lunatic..."**
(Act II, Scene 1, 302-304) In this quote, Katherine is speaking to her father Baptista and chastising him for being so inconsiderate for trying to marry her off to a crazy man. She questions why he calls her his daughter when his actions are very contradictory. Baptista ignores Katherines desire not to marry Pertruccio and sends him the best of wishes on courting her and marrying her.

In this scene Lisa tells her mother that her fiance Carlos is abusing her. Most mothers may have had a more outraged response but Victoria was very calm and give her a simple solution. Change yourself and do what ever you can to insure his happiness and in return you will be happy too. Neither Katherine and Lisa want to be married to these men, they tell their parents and both of them shrug it off, one gives advise and the other ignores the problem all together.
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 * Lisa**: He hits me.
 * Victoria**: When?
 * Lisa**: Often.
 * Victoria**: Well, you must stop doing what you're doing to make him angry.
 * Lisa**: What?
 * Victoria**: Women sometimes have to deal with things to be comfortable.

(Act II, Scene 130-132)
In this quote Pertruccio is proving to Baptista that he is worthy to marry Katherine because of the amount of land and money he can give to her.
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 * Victoria**: "Of course you're going to marry him, what else are you going to do? Work in a bridal shop like your sister? Now, just be a good wife, do what the man says and you won't have any problems."

In this scene Lisa's mother Victoria is telling her that she must marry Carlos, that she has no choice because she needs the money and his support. Victoria and Baptista

In the end of "Madea's Family Reunion" Lisa does not marry Carlos, she stands up to her mother and lets her know that she is wrong for trying to make her marry someone she did not love. In the end of "The Taming of the Shrew" Katherine does marry Pertruccio and she does seem pretty happy with him, but she hardly speaks to her father. In both texts the daughters do not have a good relationship with their parents. Throughout the texts both parents were considerably impassive and it was clear that each parent child relationship was dysfunctional and became increasingly worse as the story went on and the plot played out. Parents should never intervene in their child's relationships because parent's ideas are completely different from their child's.