Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies by Elizabeth Winkler
Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies
Subtitle: How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature
Author: Elizabeth Winkler
Genre: Non-fiction, History
Format: Physical ARC via Simon & Schuster
Publish Date: May 2023
Read: July 2023
Favorite Quote: “Don’t underestimate the psychological value of that feeling of direct connection with the author as a compensation for what might seem like worldly sacrifice required by heresy.”
Synopsis: Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies dives deep into the long-standing feud in the literary community of the true author of William Shakespeare’s works. The debate falls into two factions: Stratfordians (those who believe Williams Shakespeare was from Stratford-Upon-Avon, the son of a glover, and wrote the plays), and Anti-Stratfordians (those who acknowledge the existence of the man from Stratford-Upon-Avon but do not believe that man wrote the plays and sonnets we know today). Winkler dives deep into Stratfordians' entrenched beliefs and then breaks out the various potential authors in the Anti-Stratfordian camp. Was Shakespeare the 17th Earl of Oxford? Mary Sidney? Christopher Marlowe?
The interviews with scholars and Shakespeare experts are insightful, with everyone having opinions about Shakespeare’s authorship. In Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies, Winkler presents the information unbiasedly, letting the rhetoric speak for itself. With each chapter, I was newly convinced as to who the author of Shakespeare’s works may be. By the end, I’ve formed my own opinions, but, as you may imagine, we don’t have a definitive answer.
Rating: 5/5
If you like this, read*: Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant