Guest Post by Lea Rachel:
Laughter – But Is It Funny?
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Wait, the man thought as he watched the beautiful woman smile, was that
directed at me? Is she laughing at
me? What did I do? Is there a piece of bread stuck in my
beard? Who is she to laugh at me anyway?
In A Room of One’s
Own, a novella based on a series of lectures Virginia Woolf gave in 1928 on
the topic of Women and Fiction, Woolf describes the myriad struggles women can
face trying to get their talents and achievements recognized. If you read the novella today (and it is a
quick read at only 114 pages), it’s amazing how relevant Woolf’s observations
continue to be. Sure, women are still
burdened (relatively more so than men) with child care and housekeeping duties,
sure women (relatively more so than men) have less money and thus less freedom
and independence of movement, but there are also the subtle things that
continue to hold – like how a laugh can be misinterpreted by an insecure male.
In The Other
Shakespeare, my new fiction novel based on the character of Judith
Shakespeare that Virginia Woolf also describes in A Room of One’s Own, Judith laughs one day at a private joke in the
company of a tableful of men. One of the
men misinterprets the laughter as directed at him, and his resentment at the
insult is fierce. Certain that he has
been belittled and made fun of, he vows to get back at Judith and, in the end,
he certainly tries...
For many reasons Judith Shakespeare has the odds stacked
against her as she tries to develop her writing talent in 16th
century England – she doesn’t have a proper education, she doesn’t have any
money, she doesn’t have much independence nor a room of her own, but she also
faces subtle obstacles like a misinterpreted laugh that she has no way of
understanding, and no way of knowing how to combat, though she too certainly
tries…
The Other
Shakespeare was interesting to write, in part because (thank goodness),
things are better today. Even if subtle
discriminations and misinterpretations continue to happen, I would argue that they
happen less in the 21st century than they did in the 16th. It may be that Judith Shakespeare didn’t have
much of a chance, but Elizabeth Gilbert, Philippa Gregory, and J.K. Rowling
certainly do. Woolf herself ends her
novella on a positive note, hopeful towards the future, writing:
“I told you in the course of this
paper that Shakespeare had a sister; but do not look for her in Sir Sidney
Lee’s life of the poet. She died young –
alas, she never wrote a word. … Now my belief is that this poet who never wrote
a word and was buried at the crossroads still lives. She lives in you and in me, and in many other
women who are not here tonight, for they are washing up the dishes and putting
the children to bed. But she lives; for
great poets do not die; they are continuing presences; they need only the
opportunity to walk among us in the flesh.”
From Judith Shakespeare to J.K.
Rowling, fiction written by women lives, thrives, and continues to be a source
of exceptional talent and entertainment today – indeed, what would we do
without it?
About the Author:
Lea Rachel possesses a strong
literary background firmly planted in her roots, education, and experiences.
Originally from Detroit, Michigan, she hails from a bloodline of writers,
including her grandmother Beki Bahar, an internationally published Turkish
author and poet, and her uncle Anthony Kosnik, coauthor of a well-respected
liturgical book that circulated circa the 1970s.
Rachel attended the
University of Michigan, where she had two short stories published in the
competitive literary publications Prism
and The Write Stuff. She has attended
writing workshops at the University of Michigan, University of California, and
University of Iowa—and placed fifth, out of 18,000 entries, in the personal
essay category of the 72nd Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition.
Rachel makes her home in St.
Louis, Missouri, with her husband and son. The
Other Shakespeare is her first novel, released subsequent to her debut work,
a personal memoir entitled I Promise.
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