US EditionShakespeare was actually a black Jewish woman, new book claims
Feminist historian Irene Coslet claims Emilia Bassano, a multicultural Tudor court poet, authored Shakespeare's plays, challenging centuries of Eurocentric bias and authorship doubts.
- In The Real Shakespeare, Irene Coslet contends Emilia Bassano, a Tudor court poet, was the real author using the pen-name 'Shakespeare' and identifies her as a 'black Jewish woman' with a 'multicultural identity'.
- Doubts about Shakespeare's modest origins have fuelled alternative authorship theories, while Coslet contends Elizabethan preferences for a 'white' male genius erased Bassano's role.
- Material evidence cited includes Bassano's role as mistress of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, linking her to the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and Coslet alleges her Jewish and Moorish background was hidden by lightened portraits.
- Mainstream scholars counter that Shakespeare was born in Stratford to a glove-maker and his authorship was undisputed during his lifetime, while Dr Sarah Dustagheer says the plays show insider theatre knowledge inconsistent with some alternative candidates.
- Cultural treatments have recently revived interest, as Coslet argues the Bassano hypothesis has resurfaced in works like Jodi Picoult’s last year and at The Globe.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Shakespeare Was a Black Jewish Woman Claim Ignites Backlash
A controversial new book by feminist historian Irene Coslet asserts that William Shakespeare was not the author of the famous plays and sonnets attributed to him. Instead, the book argues that the true writer was Emilia Bassano Willoughby, a Black, covertly Jewish woman of Moroccan descent. The claim has drawn intense debate in academic and literary circles. Coslet’s forthcoming book, The Real Shakespeare: Emilia Bassano Willoughby, builds on ea…
A study with the seal of the prestigious London School of Economics claims that the Bardo was a non-white woman. All in 1994 when he published that masterpiece that is the Western Canon, the great literary critic Harold Bloom had perfectly understood what kind of plague would infect European and American culture in the years to come. "I started my teaching career over fifty years ago," explained Bloom. "Today I find myself surrounded by hip-hop …
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