The imagined life of Judith Shakespeare

What if the only difference between Shakespeare and his sibling was that she was a woman? Let’s look at how a fictional character helped shine a light on the systematic oppression of women in the field of literature.

Virginia Woolf asked herself (and her readers) the same question, developing 'Shakespeare’s Sister Theory' in her renowned extended essay, A Room of One’s Own.

The New Woman opposed to Victorian morality

With the start of the 20th century and the turmoil that World War I brought upon Europe, everything that we thought was true about life and society was now up for questioning.

This shift in thinking (which would later be called the Modernist Era) covered society as a whole and radically changed the perspective that people – including but not limited to intellectuals, writers, philosophers – had of the world and society.

It contributed to a gradual disintegration of Victorian values in a world that was quickly progressing in technology, ideology and economics.

The part of society that changed most quickly and most drastically concerned the role of women, from the idealised 'Angel in the House' model referenced in the poem of the same name by English poet Conventry Patmore, to ‘The New Woman’.

The concept of The New Woman was someone who didn’t need a husband to financially take care of her, who had her own money and did not rely on marriage in order to survive and live a decent life.

This archetype opposed the 'Angel of the House' concept that thrived during the 19th century. The Angel praised traditional family values, charity and purity. The feminine figure was like an accessory for a settled and respectable man. Her role was exclusively one of a housekeeper, a mother, or a lady at best, with no money of her own and no autonomy over her own life whatsoever.

The story of Judith Shakespeare

The idea of the New Woman overcoming Victorian morality aroused interest in the literary and philosophic field. One of the most influential figures of the 20th century that was both inspired by and an inspiration for the feminist movement was Virginia Woolf.

English essayist, novelist and activist Virginia Woolf is best known for her influence on the Modernist era of literature. She became a feminist and LGBTQ+ icon worldwide.

Her most influential essay 'A Room Of One’s Own' explores social injustices, comments on women's lack of free expression and addresses the issues that women writers had to face and were still facing in the literary field despite writing becoming more accessible to those who wished to pursue it.

In one section of the book-length essay, Woolf creates a fictional character: Judith Shakespeare. She is as educated as her brother William, equally talented and driven to write. Unlike her brother, she is tied to the duties imposed on her by society, which inextricably bind her to the 'Angel in the House' figure mentioned earlier.

Judith barely 'scribbles some pages', and if she does, she makes sure 'to set them on fire' to not get caught.

They would have spoken sharply but kindly, for they were substantial people who knew the conditions of life for a woman and loved their daughter – indeed, more likely than not she was the apple of her father’s eye.

Judith’s parents are not always portrayed in a bad light, nor are they direct oppressors of their daughter: they act like a product of their time, following the standards by which they were raised themselves.

Woolf’s heroine grows up and escapes from her home to avoid marriage. She tries to get hired in a theatre but every man she encounters ridicules her, crushing her dreams of writing and acting.

Judith meets an actor and manager who deceives her after saying he will help her and that she will be recognised as a genius just like her brother. She becomes pregnant by him and eventually kills herself.

This patriarchal world is not escapable for Judith. First she suffers it through her upbringing with her family and then in her search to find freedom. The only choices Judith has are within a life that will always be controlled by men in some shape or form.

Unknown women and their liberation

Woolf acknowledges that there have always been brilliant women that could have been writers, scientists, athletes and more. The only reason there are no records of them is because the women were (in her time) both socially and physically restrained from reaching their aspirations and goals.

The only solution to these social injustices, according to Woolf, is for modern women to have 'a room of one’s own'. This metaphor condenses the whole concept of the essay: for a woman to be successful, she needs to have her own independence. She must have a room 'with key and lock' only for herself and she must have money, in order to not financially depend on anybody. This was the imagined ideal of The New Woman.