The female editors behind Shakespeare's work surface history

According to the British "Guardian" news, recently, independent scholar Molly G. G. Yarn's book Shakespeare's 'Lady Editors' was officially published by Cambridge University Press. In this book, the author identifies more than 60 female editors who have participated in the editing of different editions of Shakespeare's works, presenting their life courses and academic contributions, and trying to reconstruct the previous male-dominated history of Shakespeare's works.

Compiled | Wu Junshen

In 1869, an anonymous critic, commenting on an illustrated version of Shakespeare's play edited by Charles and Mary Cowden Clarke, argued that "countless changes made by the editor to the original that caused the work to be mutilated and corrupt," and blamed these problems on Mary, hoping that "mary, the female editor, would not tamper with the language of the great poet in this way." More than 150 years later, a new book will re-present the stories of the female editors behind Shakespeare's work. The book aims to subvert the male-dominated history of Shakespeare's writings.

Independent scholar Molly M. In writing Shakespeare's 'Lady Editors,' Molly G. Yarn referenced the archives of various universities and libraries, as well as the records of government agencies. The book was officially published on 9 December by Cambridge University Press. In the book, she studied the letters, diaries, contracts, books, and wills of female editors in an attempt to present their life course and academic contributions.

Shakespeare's "Female Editors" in English.

"I underestimated the number I could find – I estimated that there were about 20, and at most 30 or 35 would be fine, yet it was clear that I was getting far more than I could have imagined." Jahn himself is also the associate editor of the new edition of The Complete Works of Shakespeare at The Royal Shakespeare Company, "I have included 69 female editors in the book, but the actual number should be higher." There are a few people I left out for technical reasons, and I'm sure there must be many more who haven't been discovered. We still have a lot of work to do in this area. She added.

Yarn specifically mentioned the work of Clara Longworth de Chambrun. Born into a political family in the United States, the latter married Aldebert de Chambrun, a descendant of the Marquis de Lafayette, known as the Countess of Chambrun.

She received her Ph.D. from the Sorbonne at the age of 48 and was one of the founders of the American Library in Paris. During the Nazi occupation, the library remained open to the public. When Nazi regulations banned Jews from entering libraries, the countess and staff hand-delivered the books to Jewish subscribers. Yarn said. It is reported that Chambrun edited the 1913 edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets.

At the same time, Jahn considers Laura Jewry Valentine to be the editor of the 1868 Chandos Classics edition of Shakespeare's work. She said: "I love the story of Laura-Julie Valentine. She was the daughter of a naval lieutenant who later traveled to India to become a governess. Later, she became a novelist and an editor of Shakespeare's works. The scholar continued: "I have studied the lives of every female editor with great involvement, even those whose lives are less ups and downs – many of them are teachers who have worked for decades and have influenced countless students, and I am honored and proud to be able to document their work." ”

In Yarn's view, while some previous scholars have identified some of the list of female editors of Shakespeare's works, the main academic work revolves around individual editors, such as Cowden Clark. She was the first female editor of Shakespeare's work, editing and publishing the 1860 edition of Shakespeare's plays.

The Corden Clarkes—perhaps anticipating criticism—wrote in the preface to the 1860 edition: "While male editors use male judgment to decide which expressions are best to remove from Shakespeare's revised version, female editors use female discernment to assist in the revision of passages in Shakespeare's plays... Perhaps Shakespeare is not so much a man as a man—he himself contains the best part of both a woman's and a man's nature. ”

Yarn sees her former teacher, Ann Thompson, as her guide on the subject. Ann Thompson is one of the editors-in-chief of arden's Shakespeare series and a professor at King's College London. "In the 1980s and 1990s, Ann was an important voice in pointing out the gender gap in the editing of Shakespeare's works and elucidating the principles of feminist editing." Yarn continued: "Over the past few decades, more and more women have been involved in editing Shakespeare's works, thanks to the great efforts of Ann and her allies. ”

But Yarn believes we still have a long way to go: "We still need to increase the diversity of editors in terms of race, nationality, religion, disability, gender identity, educational background, institutional affiliation, and so on." Editing is not a neutral job... As I said in my postscript, now we need to think about how to make broad, lasting change, rather than just focusing on the ratio of male to female editors in a series. ”

Yarn also noted that Shakespeare himself is unlikely to be bothered by the presence of female editors: "In a way, I don't think he would mind — not that Shakespeare was particularly feminist, but personally when I read plays like Much Ado About Nothing, I think he definitely appreciates a smart woman." In the early modern days, the completion of a play required the concerted efforts of all parties, each link had different collaborators, and I don't believe he would be unhappy because of the gender identity of the editor. ”

"At the same time, I kind of don't care what he thinks. I have a dramatic background, and over the years I've seen people do a lot of things in adaptations that Shakespeare may not like (or understand), but I think those things are brilliant. We are all creating our own version of Shakespeare. Yarn said of the adaptation of Shakespeare's work.

Reference Links:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/dec/09/new-book-celebrates-the-lost-work-of-shakespeares-female-editors