 Baptista has two daughters: Kate and Bianca. Everyone wants to wed the fair Bianca, but nobody s much interested in problem child, Kate. Baptista declares that he won t give Bianca away in a marriage until he s found a husband for Kate, so all the suitors begin busily hunting out a madman who s willing to do it, and they find Petruchio: a man who s come to wive it wealthily in Padua. And Petruchio marries Kate with a plan to tame her, while everybody else begins scheming to win Bianca s hand.