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New parts for thirty of Shakespeare’s women, letting them speak their minds, written by famed stage and screen actress, Dame Harriet Walter DBE

‘Bold and original… a book that anyone who cares about Shakespeare will want to own, and share’ JAMES SHAPIRO

‘With her gravitas, empathy, intellect and absolute belly laugh wit, the unheard voices soar. A real celebration of her life and art’ PHYLLIDA LLOYD

‘Harriet Walter’s years of inhabiting and imbibing so many of those great roles gives her a special licence to speak for them. But the wit of these delightful poems also belies frustration, exasperation, and like a true “Lover’s Complaint”, real affection’ GREG DORAN

Dame Harriet Walter, renowned for her wonderful portrayals in Succession and Killing Eve, among others, 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…’

Publisher Review

She Speaks! – bold and original – is many rewarding books in one. In these pages one of the great actors of our age asks: ‘What were Ophelia, Rosalind, Cleopatra and Shakespeare’s other women characters really thinking?’ Drawing on her own rich performance history, Harriet Walter gives them voice in Shakespearean pentameter verse, and what they have to say is both witty and profound. I was dazzled many years ago when I saw her play Ophelia at the Royal Court, and continue to be dazzled by her brilliance and hard-won insights into the plays. It’s a book that anyone who cares about Shakespeare will want to own, and share * James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare * Did Lady Macbeth instruct the weird sisters what to tell her husband? What happened when Cleopatra was reunited with Mark Antony in Heaven? And what did Hermione really do shut away for those sixteen years?
Harriet Walter’s years of inhabiting and imbibing so many of those great roles gives her a special licence to speak for them. But the wit of these delightful poems also belies frustration, exasperation, and like a true “Lover’s Complaint”, real affection * Greg Doran, former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company * With her gravitas, empathy, intellect and absolute belly laugh wit, the unheard voices soar. A real celebration of her life and art * Phyllida Lloyd, BAFTA and Tony winning theatre and film director * Brilliant, witty but also profound and moving. They are an astonishing achievement, technically, but also in their emotion. They haul you into an alternative universe with such brevity and in such a striking way. They are funny, disturbing, challenging and sometimes heartbreaking. They are a triumph and I am sure will become instant classics. * David Thompson, Origin Films * The writing is effortlessly witty, charming, surprising, delightful… moving… just GORGEOUS. I cheered aloud at the end of Kate! Clearly Harriet Walter should’ve been in the writers’ room with us for Succession * Francesca Gardiner, writer, Succession * What a privilege, joy and utter pleasure to read Harriet Walter’s marvellous verse … One of the most joyful aspects of the work is that of course, Harriet is the ‘real deal’, in that she has lived and breathed life into these women – and men – on the page and brought them not only to the stage but to the ear, also. This gives us, the reader, an especial ringside seat to the arena where a Shakespearean artist shares her private passions, realizations, discoveries and internal debate; the character of this piece, is above all, undeniably Harriet Walter * Claire van Kampen, Senior Research Fellow & Associate Shakespeare’s Globe * If you liked Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife – you will love this incisive, funny, mischievously subversive homage to Shakespeare’s heroines, written by one of mine * Meera Syal * With her characteristic wit, playfulness and fierce intelligence, Harriet Walter gives tantalising voice to the bard’s female greats. Her extensive experience, passionate advocacy and vibrant imagination make this collection a must-read for all lovers and curious-ers of Shakespeare’s women * Tamsin Greig * An invaluable book for actors and enthusiasts alike. If like me you have struggled with Shakespeare’s representation of female characters Walter’s crystal clear analysis will restore your faith. She unpicks and re-centres their inner life and journey as only one of our most talented and celebrated classical actors could. A must read! * Maxine Peake * Nothing Harriet Walter does surprises me, but this took me aback. It is STUNNING and I simply sat and read it right through, and shall start again at once. I had no idea that Harriet Walter is such a sensationally fine poet. Astonishing * Joanna Lumley * This is unlike any other book to do with Shakespeare that I’ve ever read. It’s more fun for a start. If I were a teacher, I would put this on the curriculum pronto * Rachel Sterling *