The Bluestockings
In Our Time: Culture
00:00
Women Can Understand Shakespeare Because They Are Women
Elizabeth montague attacked voltaire on the basis that only women can understand shakespeare. She re translates his mistranslations back into bad english to point out that he doesn't understand the language. It's quite a provocative thing to do, and i think she could do it in a way that samuel johnson probably wouldn't dare to. On one level, women usually have an am education in the classics. And at the beginning of the eighteenth century, this is still a very live debate. The tension between ancient and modern literature. A these women at the forefront, a near the cutting edge ofof not only contributing to er the idea of a national literature but also making their own
Transcript
Play full episode
