She Speaks!: What Shakespeare's Women Might Have Said

by Harriet Walter

A book of speeches by Shakespeare's women, by actress Dame Harriet Walter DBEDame Harriet Walter is one of Britain's most esteemed Shakespearean actors. Now, having played most of Shakespeare's female characters, audaciously, she lets them speak their minds.With new parts for thirty Shakespearean women, written in `Shakespearean' verse and prose, Harriet Walter goes between the lines of the plays to let us hear what she imagines -- sometimes playfully and sometimes searchingly -- these women were really thinking. 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; these pieces are alongside other brilliant insights, from the servants to the sovereigns. Harriet Walter says `Shakespeare's mind and words have been the backbone of our culture and they have seeped into my bloodstream over the decades that I have been privileged to speak them. As Ben Jonson said, he is a man for all times, but he is also a man of his time and there's the rub. Though his 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 ... '

Genres: Shakespeare, Poetry, Nonfiction, Feminism, Classics, Audiobook, Literary Criticism

256 pages, Hardcover

Published October 17, 2024

About the author

Dame Harriet Mary Walter DBE is a British actress. 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. In 2011, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama. She is the niece of Christopher Lee.

Walter began her career in 1974 and made her Broadway debut in 1983. For her work in various Royal Shakespeare Company productions, including Twelfth Night (1987–88) and Three Sisters (1988), she won the 1988 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival. Her other notable work for the RSC includes leading roles in Macbeth (1999) and Antony and Cleopatra (2006). She won the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth I in the 2005 London revival of Mary Stuart, and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play when she reprised the role on Broadway in 2009. She reprised her roles of Brutus in Julius Caesar (2012) and the title role in Henry IV (2014), as well as playing Prospero in The Tempest, as part of an all-female Shakespeare trilogy in 2016.

Her film appearances include Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Governess (1998), Villa des Roses (2002), Atonement (2007), The Young Victoria (2009), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), The Sense of an Ending (2017), Rocketman (2019) and Ridley Scott's The Last Duel (2021). On television she starred as Harriet Vane in the 1987 BBC Wimsey dramatisations, as Natalie Chandler in the ITV drama series Law & Order: UK (2009–14), in four episodes of Downton Abbey (2013–15), as Clementine Churchill in The Crown (2016), in Succession (2018-), and in the third season of Killing Eve (2020).

(with thanks to Wikipedia)

Reviews

[ancientreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been fortunate enough to see (the extraordinary, the spellbinding) Harriet Walter in the Donmar Warehouse all-female productions of Henry IV and The Tempest, I was eager to discover -- what the subtitle says.

She Speaks! is a bit of a mixed bag, and if you expect, as I did, semi-scholarly takes on the perspectives of Shakespeare's women, back right up. What Walter did was to write dialogue in the characters' voices; the trouble with that is, we can take as many sledgehammers as we like to Bill S.'s pedestal, but it will still be true that his language is something like miraculous in its power and beauty. Poetic dialogue written for any of his characters is inevitably going to be compared with the poetic dialogue he actually wrote, and it's inevitably going to disappoint.

I managed, after a while, to shift perspective; taken on its own terms, Walter's dialogue is sometimes predictable but also sometimes clever, funny, insightful, moving. Here's Hamlet's mother, Gertrude:

But knowing you, you won’t make up your mind
Until the court is poisoned, every one. Including you, my fallen sparrow son.
But break my heart for Will has held my tongue.

Desdemona: "I catch my breath, succumbing to your might. I just woke up as you put out my light."

Cressida:

Still women weep while men still go to wars
Unwinnable, pick cities to the bone,
Their displaced people, sick and in despair,
Turned back from borders like a beating tide
That has no choice but stronger to return.
And in this havoc hearts grow thick with hate,
Turned inward or displayed in proud parades
Too often misdirected ’gainst the slaves
And not the unseen hand that holds the chain.
Though you have told yourselves that much has changed,
The topsoil shifts. The twisted roots remain.

Alternatively, you can skip all the poetry if you like, and read She Speaks! for everything else: Walter's discussions of the plays, of theatrical history, of her experiences as an actor, of particular scenes (notably, for instance, the scene in which Richard III seduces Lady Anne into agreeing to marry him. I once saw Ian McKellen in this role, proving that it's possible to seduce the audience too. What I would have given to see Harriet Walter as Lady Anne! but alas, she's never played that role).

Thanks to Union Square and Edelweiss for the ARC. This review reflects my honest opinions.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working from the premise that not all of Shakespeare's women characters are quite as developed, or revealing, as we might like, Harriet Walter uses her experience at having played many of these women to let them speak their minds and reveal what she thinks they were really thinking. Each part is introduced with details on what has prompted the selection and direction of the narrative.

Cressida, Desdemona, the witches from Macbeth and Mistress Quickley were highlights but the latter poems from Romeo and Juliet and in particular Thd Tempest were not quite as good.

Would highly recommend this book though.

[Helen Cairns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this clever book by Harriet Walter. So much more than a celebrity concoction.

[Davida Chazan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75/5 Stars. This wasn't what I was expecting, but what I got was actually really good. Here's my review. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2024/10/1...

[Helen Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to attend the live recording of Weirdos’ Book Club at South Bank where Sara and Cariad chatted to Harriet Walter about this book and Harriet enchanted us by reading from it. I, immediately, bought a copy (graciously signed by Harriet). What a wonderful talent! Harriet’s writing, both as introduction to each piece with insight into her thoughts and career, and in verse and iambic pentameter is outstanding. She captures the heart of her chosen characters with wit, humour and pathos. Absolutely loved this book and will dip back in frequently.

[Crystaline John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly enjoyable re-imaginations of the Bard’s stories and characters. Being the English literature nerd I am, this was a treasure to find and read. Harriet Walter skillfully imagines rounded lives and lines of marginalized/flat/ mentioned-just-once characters (mostly women) along with reflections that explain her imaginations. Her lines for these characters are informed by the plays they are from, the re-adaptations of these plays, and the history of women’s lives before and around the time Shakespeare was writing. I took my time with the book and will definitely be rereading several parts again and again.

[Jane Fudger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different and original take on Shakespeare's women by the classical actress Dame Harriet Walter best known for her acting as Ophelia in Hamlet.
The book depicts new parts for thirty of Shakespeares women letting them speak their own thoughts instead of those of Shakespeare - she unpicks and recentres the inner life of the women, writing their responses in Shakesperian sonnet form but with a modern twist. The result is an incisive charming and funny book.

[JHM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dame Harriet Walter, one of the leading Shakespearean actresses of our time, has written a very interesting book in which she imagines what Shakespeare's female characters (plus Ariel and Caliban) might have said beyond limits of The Bard's scripts.

The poetry is good, but as someone with a history of engaging with Shakespeare both academically and on stage, I very much appreciated Walter's insights into the characters and her "what if's." My favorite was "What if Ophelia, like Hamlet, was feigning madness?" Walters explores two different fates for Ophelia: one in which Gertrude describes the truth of the ugliness of her drowning, not the flower-strewn, singing version from the play, the other having Ophelia collude with the Gravedigger to put someone else's body in the casket while she runs off to a new life.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

British actress Harriet Walters reflects on Shakespeare’s female characters and creates monologues of what she thinks they would have said if given more voice. Such a fun, thoughtful and insightful read.

[Vivienne Ross]

Thoroughly enjoyed

[Jude Brigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the commentary as much if not more than the speeches. I think it would make an entertaining and interesting evening entertainment. I would keep at least some of the commentary.

[Holly Pickett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The part I enjoyed most about this book was the essays that preceded each speech. Heading about now Harriet inhabited certain roles and the stories behind the productions is really fascinating. Particularly the perspectives she has around how much prep she feels she needs to have done as an actor in order to feel like you can speak in the voice of a character. I recommend the audio book as you get to hear Harriet Walter’s acting shine through the scenes.

[Nicola Friar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant and original re-imagining of the lives of Shakespeare's women. She Speaks! is an amazing volume of historical fact and modern creativity from Dame Harriet Walter who asks and answers the question of what Shakespeare's women might have said if given the chance. There is one extraordinary piece in which women from different plays come together in mutual discussion. Walter knows these characters very well indeed, having played many of them, and lends a depth to her re-imaginings and original pieces that other contemporary writers can't reach. It's near perfect but does run out of steam a little towards the end. 4. 5 stars.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was brilliant! Harriet Walter introduces each of the pieces with a short essay and then launches into reflections through poetry (and one piece of prose) in making Shakespeare's often underwhelmingly written female characters or creating a different perspective on some of Shakespeare's more well known characters. Having read Walter's previous books I knew that it would be incredibly readable but this is my favourite of Walter's books. Loved it!

[W Willowcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique and interesting take on Shakespeare’s female characters. I have shared the author’s frustration with the small roles of even the most significant female characters in most of his works. It was wonderful for them to be given a voice. Thoroughly recommend this book.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are American, like me, you might know Walter from Succession, Silo, or Law and Order: UK. However, Walter is also well known for her performance in Shakespeare. One of the few that made to American viewers was her Brutus in Julius Caeser. If you can catch it, do so.

This book perhaps isn't the best poetry in the world, a conclusion that I think Walter might even agree with considering her introduction. Walter presents various other voices from Shakespeare, predominately female, though Ariel and Caliban are included (and while they are other, Ariel to me is gender neutral, and Caliban is male). She also a series of sonnets written in the voice of Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathway. This was a nice touch. We don't know what the Shakespeares marriage was like, and many critics seem to have a default setting of "she was not worthy of the great Bard because she was older than him and most likely illiterate" . Granted this is possible, but well, read Greer's Shakespeare's Wife for the rebuttal. Walter's Hathaway poems are more wondering, trying to flesh out the marriage but nice nonetheless.

I also like that while Walter used many of the famous woman's roles, she kept Beatrice out. Don't get me wrong, I love Beatrice but Much Ado is really Beatrice and Benedick. It was nice to see Hero get more.

The poems could be used as acting speeches. But what I really did enjoy of the book was the introductions to each section where you get acting stories as well as bits about the play.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous. Dame Harriet Walter is well-known for her many film and television roles such as in Sense and Sensibility , and more recently, Ted Lasso , Succession , and Silo . On the stage, she is an acclaimed Shakespearian actress. In this book, she reads into Shakespeare's plays to draw out her insights into his female characters, imagining what they might say if they were allowed to take center stage.

Each short original creative piece is delivered in a Shakespearian style, and briefly introduced by Walter with a preface as to her inspiration and intention. Each chapter is penetrating, perceptive, witty, judicious, and thought-provoking. I learned much about Shakespeare too. Furthermore, it was an immense treat to have Walter perform her work -- the audio edition is not to be missed. An enthusiastic 5 stars! Bravo!

[Anne Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fabulous idea for a wonderful book. I really enjoyed the author's interpretation of what Shakespeare's women might have said, and there is a great deal of wit and wisdom here. Some of the poetry is stunning and could easily stand alone. It was also interesting to hear more about Walter's own theatrical experiences with the texts. Recommended.

[Amy James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a wonderful piece of writing, exploring Shakespeare's women in inventive and touching ways. I was disappointed not to see some of my favourite heroines initially, but understood Walter's impulse to give voice to the less heard women in his works.
I took the authors suggestion to read it out loud and would highly recommend this, I felt that it really added to the experience.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for the audible read by Harriet, it’s so wonderful to hear her voice and her unique take on the characters I studied at school and the plays I’ve seen. ‘Measure for Measure’ was especially interesting as I hated that at A level many years before #metoo. This was a birthday present and I also have the book.

[Elvira Brock Mendoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book. Might have helped a more thorough explanation of the plays and even recent adaptions or "based on" films. Shakespeare is Shakespeare so any tool to help him understand more is highly appreciated. Even, like in the case of this book guessing is the way to wonder what went through his head.

[Suzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the playful inventiveness of this book and how that was juxtaposed with real experiences and autobiography of the characters. Really fascinating take on some old favourites and very very clever use of the Shakespeare cannon. Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommended.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harriet Walter reimagines female Shakespeare characters with a voice. these speeches she writes are comical, give an insight into society and it is somehow done in iambic pentameter a lot of the time! Walter also gives a glimpse into her career and the questions she has along the way. I enjoyed this reinvention and it has made me question some of the characters of Shakespeare's most famous plays.

[Matt Carton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this fun little book. I bought this because I enjoyed Walter’s Brutus and Other Heroines so much. Here Dame Harriet gives iambic pentameter voice to most of the women in the Bard’s canon. Of note, the roundtable discussion with the “motherless” women is a brilliant.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clever book about Shakespeare’s women and what they might have wanted to say. Harriet Walter writes their speeches well. I’d have liked more of the prose about each character, and hearing more about Walter’s experiences playing them.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Duet of the Interchangeables” written for Mariana and Diana is a banger.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed a different view of Shakespeare’s characters.

[Kayla]

*Audio. Narrated by Harriet Walter

[Pers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is excellent. Thought-provoking, intriguing, and beautifully done.

[Melanie Stoop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great audio book, but I am not sure as enjoying if reading