“Though [Shakespeare’s] empathy for his female creations is miraculous, his plays mirror the hierarchy and patriarchy of his day with the result that women are seldom centre stage, have far fewer lines, and their function in the plot is always and solely in relation to a man. But not in these pages…”
Dame Harriet Walter, one of Britain’s most esteemed Shakespearean actors, imagines what Shakespeare’s women were really thinking in her fascinating new book She Speaks! 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.
Harriet is a leading British actor on stage and screen. She is renowned for her work on Succession, Killing Eve, The Crown and Downton Abbey. She has received a Laurence Olivier Award as well as numerous nominations including for a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Presented by Manchester Literature Festival. View the full 2024 Festival programme here.