She Speaks!: What Shakespeare's Women Might Have Said

Dame Harriet Walter, renowned for her Shakespearean roles, has written new parts for thirty Shakespearean women, allowing them to speak their minds.
The book is a form of creative pastiche that solves some of the riddles surrounding Shakespeare's characters.
It offers fresh insights into the thoughts of characters such as Gertrude, Lady MacBeth, Juliet, Ophelia, Olivia, Miranda, and Cleopatra's handmaidens.
Walter argues that Shakespeare's plays mirror the hierarchy and patriarchy of his day, with women seldom centre stage and their function in the plot solely in relation to a man.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 17 October 2024
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

New parts for thirty of Shakespeare's women, letting them speak their minds, written by famed stage and screen actress, Dame Harriet Walter DBE, are bold and original. This book is a must-own for anyone who cares about Shakespeare and is a real celebration of her life and art. Harriet Walter's years of inhabiting and imbibing so many of those great roles give her a special licence to speak for them. However, the wit of these delightful poems also belies frustration, exasperation, and real affection. This brilliant book is a form of creative pastiche that solves some of the riddles surrounding Shakespeare's characters. It is an exhilarating read that tells you far more than a shelf full of solemn academic works. Dame Harriet Walter, renowned for her wonderful portrayals in Succession and Killing Eve, among others, is one of Britain's most esteemed Shakespearean actors. Now, having played most of Shakespeare's female characters, audaciously, she lets them speak their minds. With new parts for thirty Shakespearean women, written in Shakespearean verse and prose, Harriet Walter goes between the lines of the plays to let us hear what she imagines - sometimes playfully and sometimes searchingly - these women were really thinking. Here's what Gertrude longed to say; why Lady Macbeth felt she should be King; how Juliet's nurse bemoaned her loss; why Ariel is anxious about freedom and what Cleopatra's handmaidens really thought of her. Ophelia surprises us, Olivia surprises herself, and Miranda glimpses the future. These pieces are alongside other brilliant insights, from the .

Weight: 430g
Dimension: 223 x 145 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780349018911