Ms Bachrach believes that Shakespeare does not dwell on scenes where sexual or marital consent would usually be given or refused, unlike contemporaries such as Thomas Middleton and John Ford, who used rape and coercion as key plot points in works including Hengist, King of Kent and The Broken Heart. Because female parts are often smaller in Shakespeare, they are often played by younger actors, so these performers are doubly disempowered.” She added: “This is very much a labour issue. “It’s about not being coerced by the script, and finding an interpretation you’re comfortable with.” “It’s important to bring attention to these moments, rather than just gloss over them. “No matter what Shakespare intended, it is experienced by modern actors and modern audiences.
Ms Bachrach told The Sunday Telegraph: “If Shakespeare is being more regressive and less careful about consent than other writers, that is very interesting to know. She has launched the Shakespeare and Consent project, backed by the Leverhulme Trust, to identify these troubling moments in the Bard's plays, with a view to working with performers on how best to highlight the issue of consent on stage. Re-staging these non-consensual acts in Shakespeare could have a “triggering” effect on audiences and the actresses playing coerced female characters, University of Roehampton researcher Hailey Bachrach has claimed.
Henry V woos Princess Katherine and Richard III marries Lady Anne, but it has been argued that neither king receives a “yes” from the female characters, and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is simply too drugged to consent to sex with Bottom.
The words of Henry V and Richard III as imagined by William Shakespeare have beguiled audiences for centuries.īut their failure to ask for consent is problematic, an academic has warned, and stars playing these roles should be schooled in sexual ethics.