ÆMILIA
Inspiration sources.
The name, with the variant form Aemilia, is a Latinized form of the Germanic Amalia (containing the word amal ‘work’) and is found in Plutarch where Shakespeare could have read it.
Four characters in Shakespeare are named Æmilia:
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The wife of Egeon, separated from him in a shipwreck, who becomes an Abbess at Ephesus in Comedy of Errors;
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The wife of Iago and female companion of Desdemona in Othello;
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One of Hermione’s ladies in waiting in The Winter’s Tale;
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The younger sister of Hippolyta, former Queen of the Amazons, and beloved of both Palamon and Arcite in Two Noble Kinsmen.
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The name, with the variant form Aemilia, is a Latinized form of the Germanic Amalia (containing the word amal ‘work’) and is found in Plutarch where Shakespeare could have read it.
In addition to these fictional characters, Aemilia Lanyer is the name of the Venetian Jew who has been suggested by critics as a candidate for the Dark Lady of the Sonnets.
Shakespeare appears to associate the name with female bonding, female community and strength.
Æmilia
Lanyer
Bassano
Daughter of the Court musician Battista Bassano (from Venice), Æmilia was born in 1569. Introduced to the Elizabethan Court circles at a young age, she married a court musician, Alphonso Lanyer.
Æmilia Bassano is best known for being the first English woman that established herself as a professional writer and poet.
Salve Deus Rex Judæorum is her most famous production that was published in 1611, the same year as the publication of King James version of the Bible.
Æmilia’s religious poem claims biblical and historical authority, but especially grants the viewpoint of women as much or greater authenticity as that of men.
During the sixteenth century English women found voices through the contradictory injunctions of Protestantism, which reasserted the traditional expectation of womanly silence and subservience but also affirmed the supremacy of individual conscience, even in women, to which God could speak directly and, in theory, allow exceptions to the general rule of silence.
Emilia at
The Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
Emilia
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Written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and performed at The Globe Theatre on 10th August 2018.
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Notes from the author Morgan Lloyd Malcolm
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“This play was written to be performed by an all female cast of diverse women. [...]
It takes place in several time zones at one time.
It isn’t an accurate representation of Renaissance England, it isn’t a historical representation. It is a memory, a dream, a feeling of her.”
“For every Emilia there are hundreds of other talents and voices lost to history. We must seek them out and amplify them.”
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From the prologue of the play
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“We are only as powerful as the stories we tell. We have not always been able to tell them.
We are Emilia. Time to listen.”
For Divers Women with Enquiring Minds.
The Virtuous Lady.
Pamphlet distributed by the actresses during the performance of Emilia at The Globe
