British Universities Film & Video Council

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Shakespeare and the Suffragettes

Synopsis
Five young scholars re-evaluate the playwrights work. In the opening programme Sophie Duncan reveals how Shakespeare’s heroines helped transform Victorian schoolgirls into Edwardian activists. The 19th century actress Ellen Terry told the suffragettes that they had more in common with Shakespeare’s female characters than with the fragile, domestic ladies of Victorian novels. Duncan’s new research starts with the unanticipated results of a competition run in the Girls’ Own paper in 1888 to find its readers’ favourite Shakespearean heroine. It moves into more conventional scholarly territory with an analysis of a Suffragist-led production of The Winter’s Tale in 1914, and its impact on English Suffragettes as a depiction of violence against women and the transformative power of female friendship.
Series
Essay: Shakespeare 400, The
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Radio
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
feminism; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); suffragette movement

Credits

Producer
Beaty Rubens
Contributor
Sophie Duncan

Archive

Name

British Library Sound Archive

Email
listening@bl.uk
Web
http://www.bl.uk/nsa External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7412 7676
Fax
020 7412 7441
Address
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB
View this record on the Shakespeare site for additional details

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