Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies by Elizabeth Winkler
The theory that Shakespeare may not have written the works that bear his name is the most horrible, unspeakable subject in the history of English literature. Scholars admit that the Bard’s biography is a “black hole,” yet to publicly question the identity of the god of English literature is unacceptable, even (some say) “immoral.”
In Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies, journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler sets out to probe the origins of this literary taboo. Whisking you from London to Stratford-Upon-Avon to Washington, DC, she pulls back the curtain to show how the forces of nationalism and empire, religion and mythmaking, gender and class have shaped our admiration for Shakespeare across the centuries. As she considers the writers and thinkers—from Walt Whitman to Sigmund Freud to Supreme Court justices—who have grappled with the riddle of the plays’ origins, she explores who may perhaps have been hiding behind his name. A forgotten woman? A disgraced aristocrat? A government spy? Hovering over the mystery are Shakespeare’s plays themselves, with their love for mistaken identities, disguises, and things never quite being what they seem.
As she interviews scholars and sceptics, Winkler’s interest turns to the larger problem of historical truth—and of how human imperfections (bias, blindness, subjectivity) shape our construction of the past. History is a story, and the story we find may depend on the story we’re looking for.
Every purchase you make supports the work of Shakespeare's Globe. Thank you!
Detail
Author: Elizabeth Winkler
Format: Paperback
Size: 139 mm x 213 mm
Pages: 464
The theory that Shakespeare may not have written the works that bear his name is the most horrible, unspeakable subject in the history of English literature. Scholars admit that the Bard’s biography is a “black hole,” yet to publicly question the identity of the god of English literature is unacceptable, even (some say) “immoral.”
In Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies, journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler sets out to probe the origins of this literary taboo. Whisking you from London to Stratford-Upon-Avon to Washington, DC, she pulls back the curtain to show how the forces of nationalism and empire, religion and mythmaking, gender and class have shaped our admiration for Shakespeare across the centuries. As she considers the writers and thinkers—from Walt Whitman to Sigmund Freud to Supreme Court justices—who have grappled with the riddle of the plays’ origins, she explores who may perhaps have been hiding behind his name. A forgotten woman? A disgraced aristocrat? A government spy? Hovering over the mystery are Shakespeare’s plays themselves, with their love for mistaken identities, disguises, and things never quite being what they seem.
As she interviews scholars and sceptics, Winkler’s interest turns to the larger problem of historical truth—and of how human imperfections (bias, blindness, subjectivity) shape our construction of the past. History is a story, and the story we find may depend on the story we’re looking for.
Every purchase you make supports the work of Shakespeare's Globe. Thank you!
Detail
Author: Elizabeth Winkler
Format: Paperback
Size: 139 mm x 213 mm
Pages: 464
We aim to deliver shop products within:
UK – 1-5 business days
Europe – 1-2 weeks
Rest of world – 1-3 weeks
Please note: Print to order products are dispatched separately to the rest of your order. This means that if you order these items alongside other shop products, they won’t all arrive together, and you’ll get several deliveries.
We aim to deliver shop products within:
UK – 1-5 business days
Europe – 1-2 weeks
Rest of world – 1-3 weeks
Please note: Print to order products are dispatched separately to the rest of your order. This means that if you order these items alongside other shop products, they won’t all arrive together, and you’ll get several deliveries.
Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies by Elizabeth Winkler
The theory that Shakespeare may not have written the works that bear his name is the most horrible, unspeakable subject in the history of English literature. Scholars admit that the Bard’s biography is a “black hole,” yet to publicly question the identity of the god of English literature is unacceptable, even (some say) “immoral.”
In Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies, journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler sets out to probe the origins of this literary taboo. Whisking you from London to Stratford-Upon-Avon to Washington, DC, she pulls back the curtain to show how the forces of nationalism and empire, religion and mythmaking, gender and class have shaped our admiration for Shakespeare across the centuries. As she considers the writers and thinkers—from Walt Whitman to Sigmund Freud to Supreme Court justices—who have grappled with the riddle of the plays’ origins, she explores who may perhaps have been hiding behind his name. A forgotten woman? A disgraced aristocrat? A government spy? Hovering over the mystery are Shakespeare’s plays themselves, with their love for mistaken identities, disguises, and things never quite being what they seem.
As she interviews scholars and sceptics, Winkler’s interest turns to the larger problem of historical truth—and of how human imperfections (bias, blindness, subjectivity) shape our construction of the past. History is a story, and the story we find may depend on the story we’re looking for.
Every purchase you make supports the work of Shakespeare's Globe. Thank you!
Detail
Author: Elizabeth Winkler
Format: Paperback
Size: 139 mm x 213 mm
Pages: 464
The theory that Shakespeare may not have written the works that bear his name is the most horrible, unspeakable subject in the history of English literature. Scholars admit that the Bard’s biography is a “black hole,” yet to publicly question the identity of the god of English literature is unacceptable, even (some say) “immoral.”
In Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies, journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler sets out to probe the origins of this literary taboo. Whisking you from London to Stratford-Upon-Avon to Washington, DC, she pulls back the curtain to show how the forces of nationalism and empire, religion and mythmaking, gender and class have shaped our admiration for Shakespeare across the centuries. As she considers the writers and thinkers—from Walt Whitman to Sigmund Freud to Supreme Court justices—who have grappled with the riddle of the plays’ origins, she explores who may perhaps have been hiding behind his name. A forgotten woman? A disgraced aristocrat? A government spy? Hovering over the mystery are Shakespeare’s plays themselves, with their love for mistaken identities, disguises, and things never quite being what they seem.
As she interviews scholars and sceptics, Winkler’s interest turns to the larger problem of historical truth—and of how human imperfections (bias, blindness, subjectivity) shape our construction of the past. History is a story, and the story we find may depend on the story we’re looking for.
Every purchase you make supports the work of Shakespeare's Globe. Thank you!
Detail
Author: Elizabeth Winkler
Format: Paperback
Size: 139 mm x 213 mm
Pages: 464
We aim to deliver shop products within:
UK – 1-5 business days
Europe – 1-2 weeks
Rest of world – 1-3 weeks
Please note: Print to order products are dispatched separately to the rest of your order. This means that if you order these items alongside other shop products, they won’t all arrive together, and you’ll get several deliveries.
We aim to deliver shop products within:
UK – 1-5 business days
Europe – 1-2 weeks
Rest of world – 1-3 weeks
Please note: Print to order products are dispatched separately to the rest of your order. This means that if you order these items alongside other shop products, they won’t all arrive together, and you’ll get several deliveries.
