Shakespeare's Sister (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Shakespeare's Sister


Artist = The Smiths
Released = March 18 1985
Format =
Recorded = Early 1985
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 2:09
Label = Rough Trade
Writer = Johnny Marr Morrissey
Producer = The Smiths
Video director =
Certification =
Reviews =
Last single = "How Soon Is Now?"
(1985)
This single = "Shakespeare's Sister"
(1985)
Next single = "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (1985)

"Shakespeare's Sister" is a non-album single by British band The Smiths, released in March 1985. It first appeared on albums in 1987 via the "Louder Than Bombs" and "The World Won't Listen" compilations.

Its title refers to a section of Virginia Woolf's feminist essay "A Room of One's Own" in which Woolf argues that if William Shakespeare had had a sister of equal genius, as a woman she would not have had the opportunity to make use of it.

Another interpretation of the title is that it is refers to the Tennessee Williams play "The Glass Menagerie" - the Gentleman Caller, who is courting Tom Wingfield's sister, refers to Tom as "Shakespeare" in the play - and there are other allusions to the play in the song's lyric.

The original single's sleeve featured Pat Phoenix, best-known for her long-running role in the UK TV series "Coronation Street".

The band Shakespears Sister (Shakespears originally being spelt with an apostrophe) were named after the song, with the misspelling of their name attributed to an original typesetting error which was intentionally kept in. Disappearance of the apostrophe from the band's name was put down to carelessness and apathy.

Track listing

7": Rough Trade / RT181 (UK)

# "Shakespeare's Sister"
# "What She Said"

12": Rough Trade / RTT181 (UK)

# "Shakespeare's Sister"
# "What She Said"
# "Stretch Out and Wait"

Etchings on vinyl

*UK 7" and 12": HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS / none
*Holland: HOLLAND CUTTING / none