We visited the British Library last week, and I bought Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb. The book features in the wonderful book and film, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Following yesterday’s post about misogyny, I can’t help telling you about the preface. The book was first published in 1807, so it reflects the times. Bear in mind it’s written for children. I shall quote a few excerpts.
“It was no easy matter to give the histories of men and women in terms familiar to the apprehension of a very young mind. For young ladies too, it has been the intention chiefly to write; because boys being generally permitted the use of their fathers’ libraries at a much earlier age than girls are, they frequently have the best scenes of Shakespeare by heart, before their sisters are permitted to look into this manly book; and, therefore, instead of recommending these Tales to the perusal of young gentlemen who can read them so much better in the originals, their kind assistance is rather requested in explaining to their sisters such parts as are hardest for them, to understand:”
“(Carefully selecting what is proper for a young sister’s ear)”
For us today, the social divides between rich and poor, men and women, gay, straight and everything around and in-between, still exist, although great progress has been made. Yet in 1807 the world was one in which only the rich had books, and boys got to read them years before their sisters. The rich boys were also encouraged to censor what they deigned to read to their sisters. Roll on 1811 and the publication of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility!
There was an exhibit in the British Library about women actors. In Shakespeare’s day women were usually played by boys. Apparently the first female professional actor was probably Anne Marshall playing Desdemona in 1660.
Thinking about it, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was primarily about the woman’s right to choose who she loved, what she read, and what she wrote.