The Taming of the Shrew as keeping her from eating and drinking, until she becomes a desirable, compliant, and obedient bride. The subplot features a competition between the suitors of Katherina's younger sister, Bianca, who is seen as the "ideal" woman. The question of whether the play is misogynistic or not has become the subject of considerable controversy, particularly among modern scholars, audiences, and readers. "The Taming of the Shrew" has been adapted numerous times for stage, screen, opera, ballet, and musical theatre; perhaps the most famous adaptations being Cole Porter's "Kiss Me, Kate" and the 1967 film of the play, starring Elizabeth Taylor and
The Taming of the Shrew Wallack, the opera premiered at Drury Lane, but it was not successful, and closed after only a few performances. Hermann Goetz' "Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung" (1874), with libretto by Joseph Viktor Widmann, is a comic opera, which focuses on the Bianca subplot, and cuts back the taming story. It was first performed at the original National Theatre Mannheim. John Kendrick Bangs' "Katherine: A Travesty" (1888) is a Gilbert and Sullivan-style parody operetta which premiered in the Metropolitan Opera. Spyridon Samaras' "La furia domata: commedia musicale in tre atti" (1895) is a now lost lyric comedy with libretto by Enrico Annibale Butti