servemethesky's review
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
4.0
PHEW! I finally finished this one. My colleague is giving a talk about this book and the title intrigued me. This was a fascinating read, though dense and overly detailed at times.
I enjoyed following Winkler’s journey through the Shakespeare authorship question. Even as an English major in college, who studied abroad in England and visited Stratford upon Avon, I had no idea there even *was* an authorship question 🤯 Wild! Since I’ve visited Stratford I especially enjoyed her chapter poking fun at what a hollow tourist trap it is.
I found myself being taken in by each candidate. I found the case for Oxford SO convincing, then was also convinced by the case for Marlowe 😅 I appreciate that she concluded by emphasizing that it’s okay to doubt and embracing uncertainty is worthwhile. Ros Barber ended up being one of my favorite people Winkler talked to; her willingness to stay doubtful to encourage more scholarship and just keep dismantling the Stratfordian assumptions seemed so smart to me.
It’s such an interesting question, psychologically, to see who is attracted to which side and why. Why are some so willing to embrace alternative theories? Why do some cling to the traditional narrative so tightly? There are many fascinating intersections that still feel relevant today, like class, gender, and sexuality. Was Shakespeare queer? Was he an aristocrat? Was he a woman? I hope people will keep looking for the answers!
At the same time, part of me kept feeling like it’s hard to want to keep devoting resources to this old dead white person when we could be investing in underrepresented playwrights and poets instead 🤷🏼♀️ But still a well written and thought provoking read!
I enjoyed following Winkler’s journey through the Shakespeare authorship question. Even as an English major in college, who studied abroad in England and visited Stratford upon Avon, I had no idea there even *was* an authorship question 🤯 Wild! Since I’ve visited Stratford I especially enjoyed her chapter poking fun at what a hollow tourist trap it is.
I found myself being taken in by each candidate. I found the case for Oxford SO convincing, then was also convinced by the case for Marlowe 😅 I appreciate that she concluded by emphasizing that it’s okay to doubt and embracing uncertainty is worthwhile. Ros Barber ended up being one of my favorite people Winkler talked to; her willingness to stay doubtful to encourage more scholarship and just keep dismantling the Stratfordian assumptions seemed so smart to me.
It’s such an interesting question, psychologically, to see who is attracted to which side and why. Why are some so willing to embrace alternative theories? Why do some cling to the traditional narrative so tightly? There are many fascinating intersections that still feel relevant today, like class, gender, and sexuality. Was Shakespeare queer? Was he an aristocrat? Was he a woman? I hope people will keep looking for the answers!
At the same time, part of me kept feeling like it’s hard to want to keep devoting resources to this old dead white person when we could be investing in underrepresented playwrights and poets instead 🤷🏼♀️ But still a well written and thought provoking read!
sammies_shelf's review against another edition
Hoping to come back to this in physical format as opposed to digital!