Jackie French, The Diary of William Shakespeare, Gentlemen, HarperCollins, 1 August 2016, 288pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781460750575
This is perhaps the most difficult review I have written because this jewel by Jackie French left me conflicted. I have procrastinated while I spun the ideas and emotions aroused by this version of Shakespeare’s story in my mind.
Firstly, I despised William Shakespeare in all his personas, the arrogant gentlemen, the tortured artist, the unfulfilled lover, the weak son, the unfaithful husband, and the chauvinistic father. His inaction in creating his own happiness was frustrating, particularly because he was aware of it, and bemoaned it in every entry of his diary. This was only highlighted with snippets of tragic narrative intertwined with Shakespeare’s story. There was Ned, his best friend who was effectively sold into prostitution and committed suicide shortly after, Judyth, his lover whose life saw the most pathetic calamities after falling in love with Shakespeare until she met a truly horrendous end, and Anne, his ‘dutiful’ wife whose worth was only ever measured by what she could give to her self-absorbed husband.
Never before has it been so obvious to me that readers bring a multitude of meaning to a text framed by their gender, social standing and personal experience than in my reading of this book. I related far more to the female characters, even though they were perpetually sidelined, and felt very little sympathy for Shakespeare’s plight, if it can be labeled as such. He was selfish to the last, “why had I never known my wife till now? This wife who read and thought?” he asks before begging for a second chance. I felt like screaming at him, “because you are an arrogant, egotistical fool!” This thread of Shakespeare’s reflection leads him to declare, “I will be cramped and confined no longer by the prison of a family…”
Of course, all of the traits I have mentioned in the protagonist, Shakespeare can be dismissed due to the era-specific gender roles, social hierarchies and the complex cultural norms of the time in which the story is set. The fact that I was driven to such passionate hatred of Shakespeare in light of this, is testimony to French’s genius as a writer. Each entry is rich in description of the intricate details of life in the sixteen hundreds, and it was not hard to miss French’s love of historical minutiae. I did, however find myself skimming over the diet and toileting aspect of the diary entries even though I understand their inclusion is historically significant, and they were often used to highlight times of distress or contentment on Shakespeare’s behalf.
I found French’s Acknowledgments and Author’s Notes very interesting, particularly her claim that her version of Shakespeare’s life is not just possible but plausible. It is not hard to see the value of placing this book alongside Shakespeare’s plays in the Secondary English Curriculum as it gives an insight into the man and the melodramatic life he lead.
This is a must read for lovers of Shakespeare, teachers of English, those who relish historical fiction and anyone who just enjoys a melodramatic narrative in its purest form.
Reviewed by Katie Mineeff
- Read Rebecca Kemble’s review of The Diary of William Shakespeare, Gentleman
