By Any Other Name

Published in 2024, Jodi Picoult’s novel By Any Other Name tells the entwined stories of Melina Green and Emilia Bassano, two female playwrights who struggle for recognition. In Elizabethan England, Emilia fights against her social class and her destiny to write plays anonymously, publishing them under the name William Shakespeare. In contemporary New York, Melina struggles to have her work taken seriously in the theater industry and eventually presents her work under a male pseudonym. A New York Times bestselling author, Picoult has written 28 novels, several of which have been adapted for the screen. Her work is known for tackling difficult subjects, including many contemporary social issues, and for its rich and empathetic characterization. In her author’s note, Picoult mentions that she was drawn to Bassano’s story because it illuminated issues still facing female artists in current society. By Any Other Name includes the themes of The Struggle for Female Autonomy, The Invisibility of Women's Work, and The Power of Authorship and Voice.

This guide refers to the e-book version of the 2024 Random House edition.

Content Warning: This guide discusses child loss, domestic violence, sexual assault, abortion, racism, antisemitism, and anti-gay bias.

Plot Summary

The novel follows two characters in different timelines: Melina Green, a struggling playwright in contemporary New York City, and the gifted Emilia Bassano, a woman living in Elizabethan England who is Melina’s ancestor. Picoult intertwines the two stories as the novel progresses.

Initially, Melina is a young playwright in college who is afraid of being seen for who she is and of writing personal work. At the encouragement of her thesis advisor, she enters a playwriting competition, but her professor and Jasper Tolle, a famous critic invited to watch the competition, dislike her play. Jasper dislikes it because it is about a young woman's life and is “juvenile,” but her professor dislikes it because she makes a veiled reference to his harassment of her. Discouraged by this incident, Melina moves to New York City with her best friend Andre and tries to move on with her life. Looking for inspiration, she discovers her ancestor, Emilia Bassano, a published poet in Elizabethan England. She also discovers that there is ample evidence that Emilia (or someone like her) wrote many of Shakespeare's plays, but never received credit for them. She begins to write a play called By Any Other Name about Emilia’s life.

The novel also follows the young Emilia as she attempts to navigate the Elizabethan court. She is the daughter of Italian musicians and is a Jew, although she keeps it a secret due to religious persecution. Orphaned at a young age, she is raised by the Countess of Kent and has no permanent place in the world. At 13, she is bartered by her family to be the mistress of a much older man, the powerful Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon. Though she is initially angry at being treated like property, she comes to understand that she must try to survive as best she can in this world. Hunsdon proves to be a kind man, and their relationship is warm, even though she does not love him. Hunsdon also encourages her interest in writing, especially poetry. However, she cannot write plays or poetry for public consumption because such a thing is considered unsuitable for women.

Eventually, Emilia becomes friends with playwright Christopher Marlowe and secretly writes a play called Arden of Faversham. Marlowe helps her broker a deal with William Shakespeare to have the play produced under Shakespeare's name with the two of them splitting the profit. During this time, Emilia also falls in love with the young and handsome Earl of Southampton. Though the lovers meet secretly, they can never be together because of their different social statuses. Eventually, Emilia becomes pregnant and Hunsdon cannot keep her as a mistress. He arranges for her to marry a man from her community named Alphonso. Alphonso proves to be cruel and abusive toward Emilia, often beating her.

In the present day, Andre convinces Melina to submit her play to a contest. However, at the last minute, she realizes that the director is notorious for only producing plays by men. She decides not to submit, fearing rejection, but a tipsy Andre submits on her behalf, using the name Mel and implying that she is a man. When the play gets accepted, he tells Melina to go and confess to the director in person, banking on the fact that public pressure will require him to still produce the play. However, when Andre and Melina wind up at the theater, they discover that Jasper, her nemesis, is also involved in the contest. Melina makes Andre take credit for the play and tells him that once Jasper admits the play is excellent, they will reveal the ruse and the fact that a woman wrote it.

As a married woman, Emilia must now contend with the fact that she is legally property and married to a man who is cruel to her. Her only consolations are her servant and friend Bess and her son Henry. Alphonso is frequently gone and spends all their money when he is home. When he is gone, she sometimes meets with Southampton, but eventually ends the relationship when Alphonso threatens to kill Henry. During this time, she continues to write plays for money. She is helped by Marlowe until his untimely death and is begrudgingly helped by Shakespeare, who does not like her but desires to be famous.

Melina’s situation quickly deteriorates into a comedy of errors. First, she grows to like Jasper and realizes that he is not the person she thought he was—in fact, much of his bluntness stems from being neurodivergent and misreading social cues, rather than from being unkind. The two of them connect over their intellectual interests and exchange witty banter. Jasper also decides to help produce By Any Other Name professionally and Melina, not wanting to lose the chance, coaxes Andre into continuing the ruse.

Finally, Andre becomes angry with Melina, and the two fight about the situation. The play’s rehearsal is interrupted when Melina’s father has a heart attack and is hospitalized. Afterward, she confesses everything to Jasper who promises to help her. He writes a column for the New York Times about gender inequity in theater and Melina's ploy as an example of how to get around it. However, his editor changes the article to be critical of Melina and to focus on race rather than gender. It makes her out to be the bad guy, and she is unable to forgive Jasper. She ends their relationship, but she does apologize to Andre and mend their friendship.

Southampton eventually marries a woman of his own class, and Emilia conceives and loses a young daughter. She decides that she must live for her son Henry and look for happiness where she can find it. After Shakespeare's death, she embarks on several careers, including tutoring, running a school for girls, and brewing ale. When her son and his wife die young, she raises their children and sees them married. At the end of her life, she dies knowing that her plays will live on, but not under her name.

Several years after the play fiasco, Andre is a successful up-and-coming playwright, and Melina is living with her father and his new wife. She works as a technical writer but is not very happy. She receives a letter from the Athena Playhouse asking to meet about producing her play. When she arrives, she is surprised to see Jasper, who is the playhouse’s artistic director. He tells her that he took her criticism to heart and that the Playhouse only produces plays by women and nonbinary people. The two lovers reconcile and Melina’s play, giving credit to Emilia, is produced to a full house and an adoring audience.