Shakespeare’s Wife

By Germaine Greer
Review by Lizzie

In a Nutshell: Poor Ann Hathaway (Shakespeare’s wife, not the star of The Devil Wears Prada). For ages, scholars have painted her as a conspiring cougar who trapped innocent head-in-the-clouds Will into a loveless marriage. To the rescue comes feminist icon (and former contestant on Celebrity Big Brother UK) Germaine Greer. Equipped with an abundance of archival research about trade, marriage, religion, politics, publishing, gender roles and class in the 16th and 17th century, Greer shows how unjustified the Ann-haters are.

Indicative Quote: “If Ann Shakespeare had both skill and business acumen, she could have become a wealthy woman in her own right. So far we don’t know that she did, but we don’t know that she didn’t either.”

Three Words to Describe it: Assumptions battling assumptions

Reason I Liked It: Well, I should admit that I’m a bit of a Renaissance freak. I wrote a dissertation on a clown who morris danced from London to Norwich (why yes they do grant master’s for such ridiculousness). I appreciated Greer’s attacks against the institution of bardolatry and all those ego-fuelled academics who see a little bit of themselves in Shakespeare.

You’ll Like This If You Like: Natalie Zemon Davis’ The Return Of Martin Guerre

Book Club Ideas: Pack a bottle of champagne for a park performance of The Winter’s Tale. Raise a toast every time Hermione demonstrates her unwavering loyalty. Then bring the whole club home for a cuddle session in your second best bed. It may be second best, but it’s still good. Drink some malt while you chat about the benefits of breastfeeding.

Verdict: Hurray, it’s about time that somebody tackled the sexist attitudes that underlie representations of Ann Hathaway. Greer excels at revealing the groundless assumptions informing scholars’ work, but is less adept at constructing counter-representations of Ann. There simply isn’t enough evidence about her life to support sound arguments. Instead, Greer often wanders into long-winded tangents that seem irrelevant and confusing. Sometimes I just got completely lost, like when Greer starts talking about “Margaret Smith, the widow of John Smith, son of William Smith, the mercer and haberdasher and mother of Ralph Smith the hatter.” Who? I craved family trees, images, maps, timelines, anything that would help to order the bounty of characters and events that Greer refers to. Instead, I got a lot of words and some feeble footnotes.

Good Present For: That pompous Renaissance Lit Prof who constantly infuriated you with his misogynist comments.