Women of Will: The Remarkable Evolution of Shakespeare's Female Characters

If I hadn’t bought this book in Kindle format, I would be throwing it out the window. It is such a frustrating read for anyone who is interested accuracy. I’m only a quarter of the way through this book and it is filled with many of the author’s suppositions about Shakespeare stated as facts. Perhaps Ms. Packard’s Women of Will should be listed under historical fiction. The author, who is an accomplished Shakespearean actor and director, appears to have little knowledge of the history she purports to tell.She has Shakespeare writing Henry VI Part I while still a boy at school. This is problematic since there is no evidence that he actually attended the Stratford grammar school yet she states his attendance as an established fact and then goes on to suppose he was writing his first play while still in school. She does a lot of supposing and creating an imaginary life for Shakespeare without regard to the known facts of his life. Packard has young Shakespeare probably leaving Stratford with a troupe of actors, but “however he left he swore to send every penny he earned back to Anne and the kids.” How could she know this? No Shakespeare letter, diary, note or manuscript exists to confirm this statement.Packer states as a fact that the dowager Countess of Southampton commissioned Shakespeare to write the procreation sonnets to encourage her son to marry. This is another of her suppositions unsupported by any verifiable facts. Many Shakespeare scholars would be deliriously happy if this was a proven fact since this would help solve many of the mysteries surrounding Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Shakespeare scholars have long searched for direct evidence linking Shakespeare to his supposed patron the Earl of Southampton or even the Southampton family but they have found none. The only known link is Shakespeare dedicated two narrative poems to the young Earl.She also claims that Lord Burghley was trying to arrange a marriage between his daughter and the Earl of Southampton. Burghley’s daughter Anne married Edward de Vere the Earl of Oxford. Burghley was actually trying to arrange a marriage between his granddaughter Elizabeth de Vere and the Earl of Southampton. A simple fact check would have avoided this gaff. These are just some of the inaccuracies found in this book.The lack of citations in Women of Will is a good indication that much of Packer’s Shakespeare comes from her fertile imagination and has little to do with the facts. A scholarly treatise requires citations whereas a historical fiction novel requires none. I suggest that Ms. Packer read Diana Price’s Shakespeare’s Unorthodox Biography for a strong dose of much needed reality.

Listen to this work -- don't read it. You will come away with an entirely different perspective. I did not read the book; rather I listened to the unabridged version on MP3. The audio version is narrated by the author and her partner in the Women of Will Project, Nigel Gore. Tina Packer is, in my opinion, first and foremost and actress. Women of Will is truly a performance piece and the book is for all intents a script. Like most scripts it best comes alive when watched or in this case listened to. The scenes cited in the book are enacted on the disk. The slower pace of the recitation forces one to "listen" to what is being said instead of skimming. This work deserves a deeper consideration. Despite the author's considerable speculation the thesis that if the plays are ordered correctly one can discern a changing attitude of Shakespeare toward women as he matured is interesting and deserves consideration. I found the entire audiobook to be fascinating and listened to several parts a number of times.

The book isn't bad, it's just not what's on the cover...Packer spends around a hundred pages altogether discussing Shakespeare's women. The other 200 discuss elements of the live version of the book; her own experiences as an actor, whether in Shakespeare or not; talking about what the men do in the plays; or simply explaining the plots, sometimes at great length. What she does speak of regarding Shakespeare's women is fascinating - it's just sidelined over and over with many digressions.There's also the occasional questionable assertion - for example, she observes in Macbeth how Malcolm in 4.3 fears himself as monarch to be a terrible despot and insatiable lecher, without also pointing out that at the end of that bit he tells Macduff, basically, 'J/K that was all lies LOL'.As rumination on Packer's own actor's and scholar's life with Shakespeare, the book is great. As a study on women, it leaves one wanting more.

Shakespeare had the rare, if not unique, ability to view the human condition from every conceivable perspective. Ms. Packer does an excellent and persuasive job of explicating her thesis concerning the growth and evolution of his presentation of women and the impact his ultimate view of their nature and inherent attributes should have on civilized society. The book is a valuable addition to the field of Shakespeare studies and to every reader in search of life's meaning.

A very interesting good read to add to the explosion of Shakespeare scholarship in the 400th anniversary. Ms. Packer includes a convincing explanation of how Shakespeare progresses in writing women's parts, why they are written that way for male actors and what his life may have been like. All this is covered in an eminently readable way.. She takes a scholarly subject and draws the common reader into the story. Perhaps a writing career after she is done with the theater.

Excellent book, though you have to already know pretty much about Shakespeare and his plays to really appreciate Packer's comments about acting the women's roles and coming to understand that Shakespeare's women are more active than they at first seem.

Excellent!Many new insights from a woman who has both acted and directed many of Shakespeare's plays.Her thoughts on how it feels when you immerse yourself in one of Shakespeare's characters and present it on the stageare revealing and sometimes surprising. Required reading for anyone who has a love of Shakespeare, and wants to share it withsomeone as knowledgeable as Tina Packer.

All you feminists: This book proves the love Shakespeare had for women and his understanding of women. Read this book if you dare! You will have to change your attitude towards William the Bard!

The Must to get to know Shakespeare thoroughly, a revelation what this great author gave to the world of poetry.

Being an actor myself I rediscovered my passion for the stage in this book. I am also involved in lifetime learning about women in Shakespeare. So this survey is a source of discovery from an actor's point of view.

The book feels like a series of lectures. The content is very interesting and enlightening

Good book