PashernatePoet
A Surprising Thing
This is a somewhat belated question but did Morrissey ever say where he got 'Shakepeare's Sister' from, Virginia Woolf or Tennessee Williams?
Shakespeare's Sister - Williams or Woolf?
- Thread starter PashernatePoet
- Start date
Morrissey the 23rd
Banned
The title of the song comes from a Virginia Woolf essay entitled "A Room of One's Own". In the essay the 20th century English novelist expresses the frustration women writers past and present have felt. In the past, women were not allowed the schooling let alone the recognition of the men of their eras. Woolf creates Shakespeare's sister, a woman who would have the same creativity and ambition as good ol' Will, but would lack the support he was given by the public. She would not have the ability to write his works, for her family would not allow her his schooling. She would run away from home and attempt to find her creative outlet in the real world. In her frustration, she would eventually kill herself.
Virginia Woolf explains why a woman born a genius during Shakespeare's day could not have lived as a genius. "Any woman born with a great gift in the 16th century would certainly have gone crazed, shot herself, or ended her days in some lonely cottage outside the village, half witch, half wizard, feared and mocked by all."
http://www.worldofmorrissey.com/template.asp?id=143
Virginia Woolf explains why a woman born a genius during Shakespeare's day could not have lived as a genius. "Any woman born with a great gift in the 16th century would certainly have gone crazed, shot herself, or ended her days in some lonely cottage outside the village, half witch, half wizard, feared and mocked by all."
http://www.worldofmorrissey.com/template.asp?id=143
PashernatePoet
A Surprising Thing
Thanks the reply, but...
I know it comes originally from that Woolf essay but it's also in a Tennessee Williams play. I just don't know which Morrissey would have taken it from. Does anyone?
I know it comes originally from that Woolf essay but it's also in a Tennessee Williams play. I just don't know which Morrissey would have taken it from. Does anyone?
Worm
Taste the diffidence
I haven't read Williams' play in years, but if I remember it correctly, the song is probably about Laura Wingfield, the younger sister in the play, rather than Woolf's essay. Her older brother, Tom, is nicknamed "Shakespeare", and there is a rather suffocating mother.
Generally speaking, Morrissey would be attracted to Williams more than Woolf. I don't think there's much in Woolf that would appeal to him, aside from her central interest in women's self-realization, or whatever one may call it. Williams, on the other hand, is of a piece with Truman Capote.
Generally speaking, Morrissey would be attracted to Williams more than Woolf. I don't think there's much in Woolf that would appeal to him, aside from her central interest in women's self-realization, or whatever one may call it. Williams, on the other hand, is of a piece with Truman Capote.
