The Bard's Shadow (WUmester)
The presentation by Professor Whitney Sperrazza at Shakespeare's birthday event was fascinating to say the least. Personally I have been intrigued by his treatment of female characters, but I did not stop to think about the women writers he was overshadowing in his time. It would have been near impossible to be noticed at the time of Shakespeare, which is why I have huge respect for those three women Professor Sperrazza spoke about in her presentation.
As an intern at the Kansas State Archives, I found her whole idea of archival absence fascinating. The example of the final woman, I believe Hester (?), her work wasn't found until years and years after her death. The fact that her work has even come to light is amazing all in itself, as it sounded like a huge collection that needed to be gone through. For those who are not familiar with archives, collections often remain untouched for years, and when they finally are, they are not always gone through with attention to details but rather the big sections of the collection as it takes a long time to organize and process, especially if there is no order to the materials. It could have been really easy for her works to get lost or damaged in the whole process, but they survived and are available to view at an archive in England I believe.
Anyway, archival absence. I have seen the absence of women in an archive setting. Governors and state leaders are mostly men, thus most of the collections at the State Archives are from men in power. Additionally, if a woman has her own collection, sometimes it is because of her association with a man. For example, there is a woman who was a photographer and an artist whose brother was a governor of Kansas. She was going to sell her things in an estate sale, but her friend urged her not to, and to instead donate it to the Historical Society. Because a lot of her materials relate to her brother and his campaigns, it is an important new collection at the archives.
Some women in the archives live in the shadows of the men in their lives and who they were associated with, much like those three women lived in the shadow of Shakespeare. In our history and even today, women were expected to live in the shadow of their husbands, brothers, and fathers. Many of Shakespeare's female characters do the same, such as Isabella lives in the shadow of her brother and now her forced husband the Duke, Perdita is overshadowed by her relation to King Leontes, Desdemona is overshadowed by her husband Othello, among many others. So it is no surprise that women writers are relatively not known, even one being called "Mad Madge," for promoting her work. It just proves that the incorporation of women writers in the classroom and even reading for fun is extremely important to keep their work alive.
As an intern at the Kansas State Archives, I found her whole idea of archival absence fascinating. The example of the final woman, I believe Hester (?), her work wasn't found until years and years after her death. The fact that her work has even come to light is amazing all in itself, as it sounded like a huge collection that needed to be gone through. For those who are not familiar with archives, collections often remain untouched for years, and when they finally are, they are not always gone through with attention to details but rather the big sections of the collection as it takes a long time to organize and process, especially if there is no order to the materials. It could have been really easy for her works to get lost or damaged in the whole process, but they survived and are available to view at an archive in England I believe.
Anyway, archival absence. I have seen the absence of women in an archive setting. Governors and state leaders are mostly men, thus most of the collections at the State Archives are from men in power. Additionally, if a woman has her own collection, sometimes it is because of her association with a man. For example, there is a woman who was a photographer and an artist whose brother was a governor of Kansas. She was going to sell her things in an estate sale, but her friend urged her not to, and to instead donate it to the Historical Society. Because a lot of her materials relate to her brother and his campaigns, it is an important new collection at the archives.
Some women in the archives live in the shadows of the men in their lives and who they were associated with, much like those three women lived in the shadow of Shakespeare. In our history and even today, women were expected to live in the shadow of their husbands, brothers, and fathers. Many of Shakespeare's female characters do the same, such as Isabella lives in the shadow of her brother and now her forced husband the Duke, Perdita is overshadowed by her relation to King Leontes, Desdemona is overshadowed by her husband Othello, among many others. So it is no surprise that women writers are relatively not known, even one being called "Mad Madge," for promoting her work. It just proves that the incorporation of women writers in the classroom and even reading for fun is extremely important to keep their work alive.
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