On the one hand, I would think the lyrics of "I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple" wouldn't necessarily present a problem even nowadays, because those lyrics are supposed to be sung by Lilli in the role of Kate, the "shrew" in the Shakespeare play, set hundreds of years ago in Renaissance Italy, not by Lilli as Lilli, the star of a 1940s Broadway-bound musical. But I guess the problem is that Kate's song of capitulation is what Lilli sings right after she returns to Fred, so I guess it's natural to interpret that the words Kate is singing are also what Lilli believes about herself, even if that's now what Porter and the Spewacks meant.
Are we agreed that this is the main issue with that song, and therefore with KISS ME, KATE in general? |
