Shakespeare's Daughters


Book Description

The father-daughter relationship was one that Shakespeare explored again and again. His typical pattern featured a middle-aged or older man, usually a widower, with an adolescent daughter who had spent most of her life under her father's control, protected in his house. The plays usually begin when the daughter is on the verge of womanhood and eager to assert her own identity and make her own decisions, especially in matters of the heart, even if it means going against her father's wishes. This work considers Capulet in Romeo and Juliet as an inept father to Juliet and Prospero in The Tempest as an able mentor to Miranda; Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Jessica in The Merchant of Venice and Desdemona in Othello as daughters who rebel against their fathers; Hero in Much Ado About Nothing, Lavinia in Titus Andronicus and Ophelia in Hamlet as daughters who acquiesce; Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew and Goneril and Regan in King Lear as daughters who cunningly play the good girl role; Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Viola in Twelfth Night and Rosalind in As You Like It as daughters who act in their fathers' places; and Marina in Pericles, Perdita in The Winter's Tale and Cordelia in Lear as daughters who forgive and heal.




My Father Had a Daughter


Book Description

In this wonderfully inventive novel, Grace Tiffany weaves fact with fiction to bring Judith Shakespeare to vibrant life. Through Judith's eyes, we glimpse the world of her famous playwright father: his work, his family, and his inspiration.




The Herbal Bed


Book Description

THE STORY: THE HERBAL BED is based on actual events that occurred in Stratford-upon-Avon in the summer of 1613, when William Shakespeare's elder daughter Susanna Hall was publicly accused of having a sexual liaison with Rafe Smith, a married neighb




Fathers and Daughters in Selected Shakespearean Plays


Book Description

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2, University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: Introduction Though the impression that numerous Shakespearean plays on fathers and daughters are very similar to each other is awaken, however this is not true. Many plays depict the same situations with similar circumstances, still it is a great fallacy to suppose that there is only few variation. Indisputably each play has different essential themes, different focus and particulars. Many elements seem similar or actually are really similar, however Shakespeare's subtle works are nevertheless unique and ingenious - each peace of work its own way. Among Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies there are a lot of plays in which the relationship between parents with their children is focussed. Particularly interesting is the relationship between fathers and daughters as it is most controversial. Shakespeare destines most of the father- daughter pairs to fail. Usually the father proves to be inept and incapable as he neither knows his own child's nature, nor is he able or willing to get to know her. His paternal authority does not allow him to descent on his daughter's level and make an attempt to understand her will and her needs. All the inept fathers of the further discussed plays undergo punishment - the death, either his daughter's or his own or both die. On that account he can be empathised with, of course, but yet it is often his lack of wisdom which results in a tragedy. Most of Shakespearian daughters are rebels who contradict their father's word and will. Obedience is every daughter's main duty and those who make an exception to the rule are definitely just as incapable daughters. However in comedies it is perfectly legitimate for a daughter to make her own choices and still be happy. Whereas in tragedies Shakespeare is not very generous with his heroines and does not bestow them such a lucky lot




Shakespeare's Fathers and Daughters


Book Description

A theme that obsessed Shakespeare in over 20 plays from Titus Andronicus to The Tempest was the relationship between a daughter and her father. This study traces chronologically the development of this theme, relating it to the little we know of his own two daughters, and sheds new light on his exploration of the family that so dominated his approach to drama. Drawing on a lifetime's experience of playing Shakespearean roles, Oliver Ford Davies, a former university lecturer and now an Honorary Associate Artist of the RSC and Olivier Award winner, has written an engaging and deeply researched study of a topic that has intrigued him from playing Capulet in 1967, King Lear in 2002, to Polonius in 2008.




Shakespeare's Daughter


Book Description

Susanna Shakespeare yearns to travel to London like her father, to experience the world of actors and poets and to follow her own dream of singing, a path usually followed only by men.




William Shakespeare


Book Description

Describes Shakespeare's experiences in London and his retirement to the country in a fictional account that includes excerpts from his works.




Fathers and Daughters in Shakespeare and Shaw


Book Description

How can the most silent member of the family carry the message of subversion against venerated institutions of state and society? Why would two playwrights, writing 300 years apart, employ the same dramatic methods for rebelling against the establishment, when these methods are virtually ignored by their contemporaries? This book considers these and similar questions. It examines the historical similarities of the eras in which Shakespeare and Shaw wrote and then explores types of father-daughter interactions, considering each in terms of the existing power structures of society. These two dramatists draw on themes of incest, daughter sacrifice, role playing, education, and androgyny to create both active and passive daughters. The daughters literally represent a challenge to the patriarchy and metaphorically extend that challenge to such institutions as church and state. The volume argues that the father-daughter relationship was the ideal dramatic vehicle for Shakespeare and Shaw to advance their social and political agendas. By exploring larger issues through the father-daughter relationship, both playwrights were able to avoid the watchful eyes of censors and comment on such topics as the divine right of kings, filial bonds of obedience, and even regicide.




King Lear


Book Description




The Book of Will


Book Description

Without William Shakespeare, we wouldn’t have literary masterpieces like Romeo and Juliet. But without Henry Condell and John Heminges, we would have lost half of Shakespeare’s plays forever! After the death of their friend and mentor, the two actors are determined to compile the First Folio and preserve the words that shaped their lives. They’ll just have to borrow, beg, and band together to get it done. Amidst the noise and color of Elizabethan London, THE BOOK OF WILL finds an unforgettable true story of love, loss, and laughter, and sheds new light on a man you may think you know.