“Look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under’t.”
In Shakespeare’s time, a boy would have spoken those words.
Because women were not allowed to act on stage.

No Lady Macbeth.
No Juliet.
No Hermia.

Just boys in wigs, pretending.

And yet — 400 years later — here I am.

And more importantly — here they are. Still alive. Still argued about. Still studied in English classrooms, in university lectures, and on stages all over the world.

As you know, today is World Book Day.
And this weekend we also mark International Women’s Day, with this year’s theme:

“Give to Gain.” So, I thought I would discuss both today.

The idea is simple: when we give support, opportunity, respect, truth – everyone gains.

Give a voice.
Give visibility.
Give credit.

And I want to suggest something quite simple this morning:

One of the things great books give us is people who feel real.

And when characters in stories feel real, reading allows us to  practise seeing real people properly.

Earlier, we heard words from the Book of Proverbs.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity…
She speaks with wisdom…”And then:

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…
Defend the rights of the poor and needy.”These verses from the Old Testament paint a picture of strength that isn’t loud or boastful – but dignified.
Of wisdom that isn’t silent — but spoken.
Of character that doesn’t just exist — but acts.

Of Strength, Voice and Justice.

And that’s exactly what we see in Shakespeare’s women.

Lady Macbeth is a well-known character from literature and some of you have met her through studying Macbeth. She is often portrayed as pure evil one — the woman who urges her husband to kill King Duncan for personal gain, who mocks him for being “too full o’ the milk of human kindness,” – and whose guilt later surfaces in visions of blood-stained hands.

Look again.

She is perceptive. She understands her husband’s fears before he does.
She is brave, where he hesitates.
She pushes him forward.

And then…

She breaks.

“Out, damned spot…”

If she were a mere stereotype – “ambitious woman equals villain” – she wouldn’t unravel. She wouldn’t feel guilt. She wouldn’t haunt audiences.

Still today, more than 400 years since the play was written, different directors play her differently:
Cold, Terrified, fiercely loyal or perhaps Desperate.

She’s not a conundrum to be solved like a maths problem or mere examination fodder!

She feels human.

Next, let’s look at Juliet. From ‘the greatest love story of all time’, she is young girl of ‘not yet 14’ who meets a boy at a party, falls in love and gets married – it is fate – if a little impulsive!

Of course, Shakespeare creates a much more multi-dimensional character than the tongue-in-cheek summary I’ve just given – or quite simply the play would not hold the enduring appeal it does with those of us whose feet are place firmly in the real world!

She challenges her parents.
She chooses love.
She makes the final decision.

Why is it that we often call Romeo romantic, but Juliet is reckless?

She is brave – and intelligent – and decisive.

Not just romantic – she’s human.

Finally Year 7 will know the chaos between the characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Hermia defies her father – in a society where that could mean death or lifelong isolation.

Helena feels invisible. Overlooked. Less than.

And when everything goes wrong, what happens?

They insult each other spectacularly:

“Fie, fie! You counterfeit, you puppet!”
“You bead! You acorn!”
“She was a vixen when she went to school!”This is not quiet, delicate femininity, but jealousy and pride while their friendship is cracking under pressure. It’s funny — because it’s recognisable.In Shakespeare’s England:

Women couldn’t vote.
They couldn’t attend university.
They couldn’t act on stage.

And yet he wrote women who argue, choose, desire, question, manipulate, forgive, and think.

He gave them lives – He gave them language.

Which brings us back to the idea of “Give to Gain.”

Not as a slogan, but as a way of seeing the world.

Give someone the dignity of being complicated.

Give them space to grow.

Give them the chance not to be reduced to one label.

As Head of English, I see something powerful every year.

When students read — really read — something shifts.

You practise empathy.

You practise holding more than one idea at once.

You practise seeing that someone can be: Strong and fragile, Wrong and understandable, Brave and afraid.

Books slow us down.

They stop us from reducing people to one label.

And that matters.

Because the easiest thing in the world is to reduce people to slogans.

“Boys will be boys.”, “Run like a girl.”, “Man up.”

We say them as if they explain something.

But let us now reclaim these throw away comments.

‘Woman up’

‘Boys will be… wonderful human beings’

‘Girls just wanna have… FUNdamental rights’.

The problem is never strength.

And as we move towards becoming a co-educational school in September, that matters.

It will be easy to make assumptions, to sort people into categories before you know them.

But the women in Shakespeare’s plays remind us: people are never just one thing.

Not Lady Macbeth.
Not Juliet.
Nor Hermia.
And not you.Four hundred years ago, a boy in a wig stood on a wooden stage and pretended to be Lady Macbeth.

The audience knew it wasn’t real.

And yet — they believed her.

Because she felt real.

In September, our school will look different.

New voices, New perspectives, New friendships.

The question is not whether boys and girls are different.

The question is whether we will give each other the generosity of being complex.

Not flattened into stereotype.

Not reduced to a headline.

But seen — properly.

That is something worth giving.

And if we give that —

we all gain.