The Taming of the Shrew steps forward and speaks directly to the audience as herself; "Well, I must own, it wounds me to the Heart/To play, unwomanly, so mean a Part./What – to submit, so tamely – so contented,/Thank Heav'n! I'm not the Thing I represented." Cole Porter's musical "Kiss Me, Kate" is an adaptation of "Taming of the Shrew". The music and lyrics are by Porter and the book is by Samuel and Bella Spewack. It is at least partially based on the 1935/1936 Theatre Guild production of "Taming of the Shrew", which starred husband and wife Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, whose backstage
The Taming of the Shrew contains the line "He calls his Kate, and she must come and kiss him." This must refer to "The Shrew", as there is no corresponding "kissing scene" in "A Shrew". There are also verbal similarities between both "Shrew" plays and the anonymous play "A Knack To Know A Knave" (first performed at The Rose on 10 June 1592). "Knack" features several passages common to both "A Shrew" and "The Shrew", but it also borrows several passages unique to "The Shrew". This suggests "The Shrew" was on stage prior to June 1592. In his 1982 edition of the play for The