Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare?

by Robin P. Williams

It is long overdue that someone took a closer look at the brilliant Mary Sidney. I have a suspicion that Mary Sidney’s life, and especially her dedication to the English language after her brother’s death, may throw important light on the mysterious authorship of the Shakespeare plays and poems. — Mark Rylance Actor; Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 1996–2006; Chairman of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust For more than two hundred years, a growing number of researchers have questioned whether the man named William Shakespeare actually wrote the works attributed to him. There is no paper trail for William Shakespeare—no record that he was ever paid for writing, nothing in his handwriting but a few signatures on legal documents, no evidence of his presence in the royal court except as an actor in his later years, no confirmation of his involvement in the literary circles of the time. With so little information about this man—and even less evidence connecting him to the plays and sonnets—what can and what can’t we assume about the author of the greatest works of the English language? For the first time, Robin P. Williams presents an in-depth inquiry into the possibility that Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke, wrote the works attributed to the man named William Shakespeare. As well educated as Queen Elizabeth I, this woman was at the forefront of the literary movement in England, yet not allowed to write for the public stage. But that’s just the beginning . . . The first question I am asked by curious freshmen in my Shakespeare course is always, “Who wrote these plays anyway?” Now, because of Robin Williams’ rigorous scholarship and artful sleuthing, Mary Sidney Herbert will forever have to be mentioned as a possible author of the Shakespeare canon. Sweet Swan of Avon doesn’t pretend to put the matter to rest, but simply shows how completely reasonable the authorship controversy is, and how the idea of a female playwright surprisingly answers more Shakespearean conundrums than it creates... — Cynthia Lee Katona Professor of Shakespeare and Women’s Studies, Ohlone College; Author of Book Savvy

Genres: Nonfiction, Shakespeare

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2006

About the author

Robin P. Williams is an American writer of computer-related books. She is particularly known for her manuals of style The Mac is Not a Typewriter and The Non-Designer's Design Book, as well as numerous manuals for various Mac OS operating systems and applications, including The Little Mac Book. Williams has also spent years studying William Shakespeare, and in 2006 issued her book Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare? in which she proposed the writer Mary Sidney as a candidate in the Shakespearean authorship question.

Reviews

[Jon]

I ordered this as the beginning research for my next painting 'William Shakespeare' yes it will be a painting of the Countess...

[Jyotsna Sreenivasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind-blowing! I never gave much thought to controversies over who wrote the Shakespearean plays, until I came across this book. Robin P. Williams uses a preponderance of evidence to show why Mary Sidney, one of the most educated women in England at the time, a master of multiple languages with an extensive personal library, a writer, and the host of the leading literary circle in England at that time, is a logical candidate for the author of the plays and sonnets. She also shows that Mary had a reason to hide her authorship (because it was considered shameful for a woman to write for the public theater, and if this secret were revealed, it could harm her sons' positions at court). Williams show that there is quite a lot of proof in favor of Mary Sidney's authorship, and very little to prove that William Shakespeare wrote the plays. Shakespeare may, in fact, have been nothing more than a play broker who attached his name to the manuscripts when he sold them to the printer. This book has made me interested in learning more about Mary Sidney as well as more about the authorship controversy surrounding the Shakespearean plays and sonnets.

[RoyalSoulGypsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible!

Until this book, I had little interest in Shakespeare, but Robin P. William's research and writing is so well done, unbiased and convincing that I absolutely believe that the playwright and poet known as Shakespeare was a woman and, most likely, Lady Mary Sidney.

William's compares the life of Lady Mary Sidney to the life of William Shakespeare and explains how his common life—as compared to Sidney's education, travels, wealth and life experiences—could never have inspired the ideas and events written about in the plays. William's goes out of her way to show that conventional scholars of Shakespeare cannot definitively state many of the 'facts' that are 'known' about the man referred to as Shakespeare but must prevaricate with 'could possibly' or 'most certainly' expressions of assumption. In contrast, William's well researched information is factual and where there is an educated guess, she clearly says so.

Written as part mystery and part history essay, this book is full of insight into the privileged life and theater world of Elizabethan England and is worth a read for this alone.

Although William's admits that her summation—that Mary Sidney is the real Shakespeare—is not 100% certain, it comes damn close and my 'feminine intuition' leads me to believe she is correct.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and extremely well- researched exploration of the possibility that Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, was the real author of Shakespeare's plays. I've always been resistant to the arguments for other possible authors - they've seemed to me to boil down to "A commoner couldn't possibly have written these plays, it MUST have been a nobleman" - but Robin Williams' case for Mary Sidney makes a lot of sense when you consider all the evidence. It's compelling to think that a gifted nobleWOMAN, trapped by the sexist strictures of her time, may have been the author of the plays I love, but forever unable to lay claim to them. I highly recommend this book, and I have to say - it's left me much more open-minded about the authorship question than I ever was before.

[Shakespearesmonkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a shred of direct evidence to link the Countess of Pembroke with the writing of Shakespeare but so much contextual and circumstantial data (more than the sum of other Shakespearean authorial claims combined) that I stayed glued to it like a detective book. Definitely a well researched stone thrown into the pool.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What if you come home from work and notice the following:

A window is broken.
Inside the house there are muddy footprints.
A light is on that wasn't on when you left the house.
A dresser drawer is open.
Clothes have been thrown onto the floor.
Your diamond brooch is not where you left it.
The back door is unlocked and open.

Each of these individual circumstances has a possible explanation: The kids playing ball broke the window, your teenager walked in with muddy feet, your husband came home to get something and left a light on, the housekeeper left a dresser drawer open, etc. But when you view the facts as a collection, you might entertain a different possibility, one that needs to be explored.

To be able to credit the most influential literary canon in human history to the man named William Shakespeare, one has to accept a mass of assumptions which range from implausible to bizarre.

Taken all together, the Authorship Question becomes urgent—not only to consider new possibilities, but to insist on valid documentation from original sources."

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book addressing the Authorship Question concerning the works of literature attributed to William Shakespeare. Robin makes a convincing argument that the biographical details of Mary Herbert's life map nicely to the tone of the works (particularly the sonnets, the younger male lover, and the older dark-haired woman), that many of the items referenced in the works can be found in Mary's private library, that the areas of expertise illustrated in the works are found in Mary's interests, and that references to the author of the works provided by other writers of the time fit closer to Mary Herbert than Shakespeare.

A very convincing book!

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing and well researched premise, supported by evidence. Almost nothing is known of Shakespeare, but Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, was educated, spoke several languages, was in the court of Queen Elizabeth, had two sons to whom the First Folio was dedicated, wrote sonnets to her brother, and the plays are written around her ancestors. It’s pretty hard to refute all that.

[Alleyne Dickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting treatise on the "Authorship Question." Easy to read and well laid out argument that Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke wrote the sonnets and plays attributed to Shakespeare. Not the research I really needed, but I enjoyed it. Food for thought.

[Stuart Faulkner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting book and whilst the information on Mary is largely not new, it's well presented, but the Shakespeare attribution is utter rubbish and has been shown to be so by countless subject matter experts. Avoid, unless you like conspiracy theories

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book completely blew my mind.

[Cori Macrae · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG who knew!!! Extremely readable and thought provoking.

[Pranjal Awasthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really ingenious subject matter which was fun and rather insightful to read. The book gives lots of food for thought to ponder over.

[Precious Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a long while I believed that Shakespearean scholars should take more seriously the case of Edward de Vere - or someone - because the actor from Avon just doesn't add up. Now we have an independent scholar ("independent" because traditional, tenured scholars won't rock their PhD boats)to put forth a wonderfully argued and documented case for Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke. It's hard not do a double take every page or so. The author asks that we simply consider possibilities - and after reading this book it is hard not to.

The author makes good use of comparative charts of the plays and poems and known biographical data of William Shakespeare and Mary Sydney. How little we actually know about William Shakespeare - he had minor debts which he did not repay, was accused of assualt, was a share-holder in a company of actors. Contrast this the wealth of data about the rich life of a woman who was as well educated as her queen and as any man in the realm, whose ancestors are the subject of the historical plays, who experienced the politcs and pomp of court, who was known and admired for her translations and plays written for small private audiences, whose brother esentially developed the English sonnet, who presided over a de-facto writing school at her estate on the River Avon and with one of the country's largest libraries, who was well-travelled on the continent, who in her maturity married a commoner. Sounds like the description of someone with a lot of material and talent.

I give the book a 4-star rating because I feel the author does not adequately address why Mary Sidney's son who had control of everything that was published in the realm, didn't have his mother's plays destroyed if he didn't want them public.

Especially satisfying is the author's interpretation of the Ben Jonson poem that traditionally was to have validadted the authorship of William Shakespeare. A very exciting book!

[Katarina Bambina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from my father because I love Shakespeare's plays and am an English and drama teacher; while I had heard of the Authorship Question, it was never really something that my Shakespeare professors discussed (although they would probably deny it), so I was very skeptical before reading this book.

The author has done extensive research, and I learned a lot about the time period and a very important family in Elizabethan England. Do I think that Mary Sidney wrote Shakespeare's sonnets and plays? The pages and pages of comparison charts between Sidney and Shakespeare do make her a strong candidate-- stronger, in my opinion, than other candidates. When I finished the book, it convinced me that Shakespeare probably did not write his sonnets and plays, but it did not 100% convince me that Sidney wrote all of them.

If you're ever in the UK, by the way, make a trip to Mary Sidney's home, Wilton House, near Salisbury. It is amazing!

[Marico · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Authorship question is presented like never before...with intelligent humor and amazing evidence. You do not have to be a history buff or even like Shakespeare to enjoy this book. I have to admit, I was skeptical to begin with. Many scholars have presented (and continue to present) evidence regarding what male author actually wrote Shakespeare, and none have mentioned a woman that I know of. Williams convinced me early on that a woman, and probably this woman, actually penned the work.

Can you tell I love this book? Read!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

OMG! A woman wrote Shakespeare! I wanted to hate and mistrust this recent addition to the vast pile on The Authorship Question. While I found the style a little overwrought and the book overdesigned to look more like an annotated book for kids (and the pink cover and title have a whiff of historical-romance novel), the research seems sound and Williams does build a compelling case. I wish I could bring myself to explore the competing views on this topic.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

First heard about this book from two actors(one man, one
A woman) who spoke to our adult Ed theater class. When asked who they personally believed to have written the works attributed to Shakespeare, they referred the class to this book.

Fascinating read. Very compelling arguments. I'm always dismayed by how little credit is given to earlier women writers.

The idea that a real woman wrote the works attributed to Shakespeare is awesome and convincing!!!

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more productions I see, the more I wonder: how is it that Shakespeare understood women so well? I began to wonder if these plays had actually been written by a woman, and posing the question to Google, found this book. Interesting, convincing, entertaining, well-written, well-researched, and well-thought out, this book can teach you much about Shakespeare and the environment -people, culture, restrictions- around him. Or perhaps, around her.

[Ellen Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robin P. Williams contributes many unique ideas to the authorship debate. Mary Sidney (Countess of Pembroke) was one of only a handful of educated women in Elizabethan England who was not only friends with Queen Elizabeth, but also held a soiree (Wilton's Circle) for educated writers at her home for two decades.
Williams puts forth arguments that I have not read in any other authorship texts. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in authorship studies.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another entry into the Authorship Question. I enjoy reading this book, but I am not wholly convinced that Mary Sidney actually wrote Shakespeare. She would have the noble part down pat in the plays, but some of the more earthy characters & situations, I have to wonder if she would have had the knowledge.

[Kim Ellsworth-evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a believer. While the author didn't give me quite enough evidence to convince the true professorial types, she convicted me. She certainly did an excellent job of supporting her points. I loved the book and recommend it to everyone.

[Russell Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good book. I don't think Mary Sidney wrote the plays, at least not alone, but she appears to have been in a position to have had something to do with them. Williams does a great job with the subject.

[autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

i thought this book was fascinating! i read this for school, so i only know a little bit about the other candidates, but i thought the author made a really compelling case for mary sidney as the true author of the shakespeare canon

[Jennifer]

Very interesting for anyone who has ever wondered who Shakespeare really was.

[Laron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! A must-read book. The evidence the author puts out there really makes you stop and think . . .

[Carol Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind boggling. Changes the way one thinks.