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William Shakespeare (AP)
Last update - 10:14 28/05/2008
Was William Shakespeare a Jewish woman in disguise?
By Rebecca Honig Friedman, The Forward
Tags: William Shakespeare, Jewish

Amateur Shakespearologist John Hudson is not the first to question whether the actor William Shakespeare was actually the author of the body of work we've come to know as his, but Hudson is the first to suggest that the true author was a Jewish woman named Amelia Bassano Lanier.

Of Italian descent, Bassano lived in England as a Marrano and has heretofore been known only as the first woman to publish a book of poetry ("Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum" in 1611) and as a candidate for "the dark lady" referred to in the sonnets.

Hudson is the first to argue that she's the true author of those sonnets.
H
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e is so convinced of Bassano's authorship that he formed a theater company, The Dark Lady Players, to bring out, through performance, the true meanings of the plays as, he argues, Bassano intended them.

The theory rests largely on the circumstances of Bassano's life, which Hudson contends match, much better than William Shakespeare's did, the content of "Shakespeare's" work. But Hudson has also identified technical similarities between the language used in Bassano's known poetry and that used in "Shakespeare's" verse. And he has located clues in the text - recently noted Jewish allegories and the statistically significant appearance of Amelia Bassano Lanier's various names in the plays - that he says point to her as the only convincing candidate for the author of Shakespeare's work. (For more details, visit www.darkladyplayers.com.)

And Hudson's no charlatan. Holding numerous degrees from various prestigious academic institutions, in a range of specialties from Shakespeare and dramaturgical theory to sociology and anthropology, Hudson has spent most of his career as a cognitive scientist, restructuring the communications industry and inventing new industry models - exactly what he is now doing with Shakespeare. So prepare to rethink everything you learned in your high-school English classes.

Rebecca Honig Friedman, who blogs at jewess.canonist.com, recently caught up with Hudson for a chat.

Rebecca Honig Friedman: In your mind, is this the hugest literary hoax ever pulled off or the worst example of a man stealing a woman's glory?

John Hudson: I don't think this is a hoax. It is a stratagem she used to get her work published, as many other women have done, by having their work published under a man's name. In Elizabethan London, women could not write original literature at all, let alone plays, so this was her only option.

RHF: So do you consider it a triumph on Bassano's part?

J.H.: The example I use is that of the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria. In order that his name might be known, the architect Sostratus had his name carved on the stone base, then covered over with a piece of plaster with a dedication to the king. In time the plaster fell away, revealing the architect's name. Amelia's strategy was to leave behind a preposterous case for William Shakespeare, which has now fallen away, revealing the true creator who is now at last visible.

RHF: How much knowledge of Jewish texts was Bassano likely to have as a Marrano and a woman?

J.H.: There was only one Talmud known in England, in the Westminster Cathedral library; however, talmudic teaching was also oral, so individual quotes could have been transmitted that way. There are several quotes from the Pirke Avot, which was available as a standalone volume in Latin, as was the Zohar.

There were women scholars at the time, including one who was a distant relative of the Bassanos: Donna Ana (Reyna) de Nasi continued her mother's vision and support for Torah scholarship, and in her 50s set up a printing press at Belvedere Palace that published a dozen Hebrew books from 1592 to 1599, including an allegorical drama and a talmudic treatise.

RHF.: Why would Bassano have written sonnets about herself as "the dark lady"?

J.F.: The Sonnets have several voices, and the so-called dark lady sonnets are written to herself in the third person, describing a woman whose cheek is gray and whose breasts are dun.

RHF.: We are told that Shakespeare's works are timeless. But your staging of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and the upcoming "As You Like It" puts a specific, time-bound spin on the plays. Are you not damaging their appeal - even their genius - in some way?

JH: Some directors anachronistically set the plays at the North Pole or in outer space or in a Mafia village. They therefore destroy and suppress the allusions that the plays contain and make them impossible to discern. I understand why directors who do not understand the plays might resort to such misleading devices. But they should do so no longer, and should use their staging to reveal what the author really meant.

RHF: Many actors seem to enjoy the fact that Shakespeare was an actor, too. Does the idea that Bassano has written the plays change that aspect of their appeal?

J.H.: All the world is a stage, and this was especially true at the Elizabethan court, where courtiers were constantly creating and performing meta-theatrical dramas to persuade the queen about various issues. This is where the author learned his or her highly developed sense of theater, and as a Marrano passing in a Christian society, she had to act every moment of her life.

RHF: Your theory adds a new layer to the manipulation of gender roles in Shakespeare's plays, doesn't it?

J.H.: Yes, the Shakespearean plays have more examples of women characters dressing up as men than in the whole of the English theater up to that point. Now we know why
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  1.   of course 01:33  |  chewgum 28/05/08
  2.   The dark lady of the sonnets has been considered to be a black 02:20  |  lakshmi 28/05/08
  3.   Shakespeare 02:29  |  Harold F 28/05/08
  4.   Harold F 02:48  |  Brad 28/05/08
  5.   More likely he had the hots for her... 02:56  |  Jordan 28/05/08
  6.   Shakespeare 04:01  |  Harold F 28/05/08
  7.   Uh-oh, jordan, you`ve done it now! 04:01  |  hollingsworth 28/05/08
  8.   Shakespeare was an Arab by the name Sheikh Zobeer. 04:09  |  Ghaddaafi 28/05/08
  9.   Ghaddaafi 07:20  |  MrZee 28/05/08
  10.   Shakespeare was not a writer, he/she/it was a dramatists 07:27  |  L A 28/05/08
  11.   Didn`t you run this story a few months ago? 07:31  |  Ben 28/05/08
  12.   Dark Lady 07:32  |  Prasad 28/05/08
  13.   read bill brisons book on shakesheare 09:11  |  cheeze-butt 28/05/08
  14.   Professor Beckenbauer differs 09:14  |  Peter Snodgrass 28/05/08
  15.   Yea. And I suppose it was this Jewish lady who wrote... 09:15  |  Jew 28/05/08
  16.   Good heavens Lakshmi 09:22  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 28/05/08
  17.   Holling`s unworthy - unable to think Jews are people 09:23  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 28/05/08
  18.   #14 Fagin is in Dickens` Oliver Twist 09:23  |  hala 28/05/08
  19.   And who wrote Christopher Marlowe`s plays? 09:27  |  hala 28/05/08
  20.   INDEED, HE WAS JEWISH!! 09:33  |  Peter Schlemihl 28/05/08
  21.   Jacques Pierre 09:38  |  hala 28/05/08
  22.   Shakespear (Ltd). was a group of happyt gay men 09:49  |  17 28/05/08
  23.   #8 you got the name wrong 09:58  |  Gadaffi 28/05/08
  24.   Shakespeare 10:05  |  Michael 28/05/08
  25.   Frances Bacon/Yentl 10:54  |  The Northern Wind 28/05/08
  26.   a very stupid question 11:26  |  Jo 28/05/08
  27.   Ridiculous! 11:39  |  Manolo peaceful man 28/05/08
  28.   Journalism tip: first get real evidence, then write an article 11:51  |  Adam 28/05/08
  29.   re #17 `Holling`s unworthy - unable to think Jews are people` 11:52  |  Colin Wright 28/05/08
  30.   he was ugly enough 12:12  |  mike 28/05/08
  31.   `Players edition` was first fully printed 12:39  |  Manolo peaceful man 28/05/08
  32.   The sound and the fury 13:51  |  Manolo peaceful man 28/05/08
  33.   a jew who insuls the jews? I don`t think so 13:54  |  Joey 28/05/08
  34.   Hitler was a jew.. 13:55  |  northern neighbor 28/05/08
  35.   No Hamlet Please 13:56  |  Ronnie Wolman 28/05/08
  36.   Sheikh Spier 14:29  |  Pierre 28/05/08
  37.   Northern Neighbor 14:32  |  Maral 28/05/08
  38.   To Pierre and the Gaddaffi`s 14:42  |  Maral 28/05/08
  39.   Knowing the dread I used to face 14:43  |  Chris Linthwaite 28/05/08
  40.   pitifully white pride 14:45  |  Ben 28/05/08
  41.   The secret `shakesperian` code revealed 15:01  |  Manolo peaceful man 28/05/08
  42.   as I recall 15:09  |  curious george 28/05/08
  43.   TRUE POEMS NEVER HAVE SELFISH LOVES 15:10  |  ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU 28/05/08
  44.   Thanks Maral I don`t think any of us would have understood 15:14  |  x-ray 28/05/08
  45.   Afraid of women, lightweight? I`m not surprised 15:15  |  x-ray 28/05/08
  46.   #45 x-ray 15:37  |  Chris Linthwaite 28/05/08
  47.   BECAUSE I TRULY CANT HATE ANYONE BECAUSE OF MY CREATION. 15:44  |  ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU 28/05/08
  48.   to jew 15:44  |  hollingsworth 28/05/08
  49.   Margie: unable to think Jews are people 15:46  |  hollingsworth 28/05/08
  50.   afraid of women? 15:50  |  hollingsworth 28/05/08
  51.   Shakespeare was an Arab 16:43  |  conspirate 28/05/08
  52.   Marranos (Secret Jews) 16:56  |  Cyasher 28/05/08
  53.   Einstein was an Arab by name Eben Zuber 17:07  |  d 28/05/08
  54.   Jacques Pierre - LOL 17:44  |  JR 28/05/08
  55.   SO WHAT 17:47  |  JOJO 28/05/08
  56.   outsider 18:03  |  Di, the doubter 28/05/08
  57.   Oh? 18:08  |  Jim 28/05/08
  58.   Hollings 18:22  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 28/05/08
  59.   he was a zulu warrior 18:38  |  frenz 28/05/08
  60.   sense of humour 18:49  |  aline 28/05/08
  61.   strangley Shakesperian 18:55  |  Ben 28/05/08
  62.   Repy to #2 Lakshmi`s Query 19:33  |  Avi & Ravi 28/05/08
  63.   No he was Arab Moore Shake Zpeare 19:55  |  Hakeem 28/05/08
  64.   Lakshmi 19:58  |  H 28/05/08
  65.   cut to the chase 20:05  |  curious george 28/05/08
  66.   curious George 20:17  |  Connie 28/05/08
  67.   Chris Linthwaite 20:22  |  Connie 28/05/08
  68.   to connie 20:36  |  curious george 28/05/08
  69.   Curious George 20:55  |  Connie 28/05/08
  70.   Margie, you`re such a killjoy 21:41  |  hollingsworth