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We’re always flattered when people describe Boden as a British institution – irreverent, bold, and undeniably bright. But we recently had the privilege of celebrating International Women’s Day with someone who really is a national treasure. We think Dame Harriet Walter DBE is one of the coolest women alive. She's known for her roles as Lady Shackleton in Downton and the memorable Lady Caroline Collingwood in Succession. She's also a true Shakespearean authority, having played Ophelia, Lady Macbeth, Cleopatra, Brutus, Henry IV, and Prospero, to name a few.



With her new literary venture, Walter now offers fresh female perspectives on some of Britain’s most-loved tales. Nestled amongst the bookshelves of Liberia in East London, we chatted with Walter to discuss her book She Speaks! What Shakespeare’s Women Might Have Said, which gives voice to the likes of Gertrude (Hamlet), Ariel (The Tempest) and Ophelia (Hamlet). The book offers a brilliantly bold take on what these women might have thought, felt, and said – had they been given a different voice.


 We were lucky enough to hear Harriet speak her mind about language, literature and life while wearing some of our favourite pieces from our Spring and Summer edit. We hope you enjoy her prolific words of wisdom (and undeniable style) as much as we do. 

ON THE INSPIRATION BEHIND HER BOOK

“It came from 40 years of standing on stage playing Shakespeare’s women, boiling up and brimming full of feelings and thoughts that weren't in the text for me to say. I think lots of female actors have gone through that. My character can’t say some of the stuff I really want to say as a woman because the play’s focus is not on the woman. If only Shakespeare had turned the camera around onto them; sometimes, it’s just me speaking in character.”

HARRIET’S EDIT

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  • SHOP THE JACKET

ON PLAYING MEN

“It feels no different from any other acting task. I’m no more the King of England than I am the Empress of Egypt. So, if I could play Cleopatra, why not play Henry IV? In fact, it's less of a big step to be King of England than Empress of Egypt. I don’t know Egypt very well. I know England quite well. The difference is that men are freer, physically, so it's very liberating to play men.” 

ON WHO INSPIRES HER


“I'm reading Normal Women by Phillipa Gregory. It’s a big fat book. And in that big fat book, she names many people we've never heard of because they're women. They’re not famous, but we should have heard of them. I can’t name an individual because that’s the point – it's not about these heroines that stick out from the crowd; it's that the crowd has been pretty amazing, and we’ve been ignoring them.”

ON SHAKESPEARE

“He doesn't observe them with any less detail or complication than any other human. He just doesn't put women in the centre of the story. We haven't changed that much. Yes, we’ve invented all sorts of brilliant things – medically and technically, but our souls, hearts and thoughts haven’t changed and don’t change. And he’s pinned that down better than anybody did.”

ON BECOMING AN AUTHOR

“It's a great feeling the first time you hold a solid book between hardcovers in your hand. It is a bit of a miracle, isn’t it writing? It's lots of little black signs on a white page that can be transmitted from one human being to another, making them think and feel — that's a pretty miraculous thing. Then you walk past a bookshop like this one and think, this time next year, that might be my book in that shop. Look at all these books – all of these authors thinking, I wonder if I could do this.”



She can, and she did. If we took one thing away from our talk with Harriet Walter, she’s a leading lady in so many more ways than one. You can buy her new book here.

SHOP HARRIET’S EDIT