Anne Shakespeare and what is philosophy?
The type of philosophy I am interested in exploring is that philosophy which defines a person’s worldview and for Anne Shakespeare, her philosophy of life is very complex (just as our very own). And while we (as mere mortals) may have some difficulty in articulating what our own philosophy or worldview may consist of, we are in the fortunate position of having at our disposal Anne’s whole catalogue of plays, poems and Sonnets, from which to draw on in articulating what her philosophy or worldview consisted of.
It is my belief that Anne came to her worldview full of optimism and idealism centred on her belief in the humanism which would fulfil her longing for a different society; a different way of living; a different way and means of relating between the sexes. Her history plays are full of this seeking through history for what constituted for her the “perfect” monarchy; one built on responsibility for all citizens and in return, a more free and equal society (especially for women). A society where the individual had the agency to exercise their free will (free from religious dogma and authoritarian monarchy); a society where the individual not only exercised their God-given right to free will but in turn to take responsibility for the consequences for exercising their free will.
In my forthcoming book, “Shake-speare: The Inside Story”, I explore these very questions through analysing Anne’s core beliefs of love, nature, free will and humanism, all told through her feminine voice and using her Sonnets in this analysis. And why I will be turning to her plays in my third book, “Shake-speare’s Problem Plays (A new interpretation)”. I am fascinated by what happened to Anne’s core beliefs and her worldview around the turn of the 16th century. Here, in this period, we have not only her “problem plays” but they are interspersed between her great tragedies. Which, for me, speak volumes about how Anne became disillusioned with the failure of her humanist project to achieve the high ideals she had for it. Her worldview that she had come to believe in her younger days that would lead to a better and more just and equal society. And here in her great tragedies we see the dying of the light of her humanism and the void left being filled with rage, regret, frustration, sadness and a sense of loss. But also here we can see also the sadness and disillusionment she must have come to feel in her own personal life as her husband, William, continued to have affairs and yet continued to want Anne to keep on loving him (as we witness in some of her sonnets where William continues to demand she praise him and remain faithful to him).
More to come.
