Shakespeare Week – Page 3 – The View From Sari's World

As some of you might know, I am working on notes for my own book about Shakespeare, an introduction to our beloved Bard and how to enjoy the plays. It’s a groundling’s guide to Shakespeare if you will. I do rather like that for a title.

As part of my research (and continuing education) I’m listening to various podcasts as well as reading books and academic papers. Of all of my research, I am finding the podcasts to be most informative. Sometimes I hear things mentioned, usually as an aside, that gets my imagination going. Unfortunately for me, this usually happens at work. I scribble myself a note for later use.

Some of the things I hear starts me down the path of speculation. Oh, if that is true, could this also be true? Of course, we know so little about the man we are left with a lot of holes to fill. Holes we should reserve for our own pleasure, our own entertainment value. Since we cannot prove anything, the path should be narrow and short so that we don’t venture into the wild weeds of conjecture.

I have to admit, musing on Shakespeare’s life is an entertaining intellectual exercise. When I start down the path, I find myself using my knowledge of history and Elizabethan social norms. Of course no intellectual exercise is complete without a little research. As I mentioned, the path is short, and I end up putting my thoughts aside for more useful endeavors. But I thought it would be fun to share some of my ideas as part of Shakespeare Week

I give you three What ifs about Shakespeare

I’ve taken many classes on Shakespeare and in each the subject of his relationship with his wife always comes up. Students, who hear about his gift of the second best bed in his will for the first time, assume this is a dig. They couple this with his move to London as proof that he did not love Anne. It is also assumed that Anne, being older and pregnant when they married, must have tricked him into it. This idea seems to be popular with male scholars too. In Shakespeare’s Wife, Germaine Greer argues that too many scholars paint Anne as a scheming woman who set a trap for poor young will as she is getting on in years (26 is old for women of her day). But what if it was the other way around? What if he talked her a relationship? What if it was Will, not Anne who pursued the relationship? What if he wrote this sonnet for her, as some scholars suggest?

Those lips that Love’s own hand did make,
Breathed forth the sound that said ‘I hate’,
To me that languished for her sake:
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come,
Chiding that tongue that ever sweet
Was used in giving gentle doom;
And taught it thus anew to greet;
‘I hate’ she altered with an end,
That followed it as gentle day,
Doth follow night, who like a fiend
From heaven to hell is flown away.
‘I hate’, from hate away she threw,
And saved my life, saying ‘not you’.

Scholars believe line’s 13 and 14 seem to be puns on Anne’s name. “hate away’ sounds very close to Hathaway, and “and saved my life” could be a play on “Anne saved my life”. If this were true, then we could say she did not like him at first, yet in the end, she “saved his life” by marrying him. This would offer us a new way of looking at their marriage.

Other scholars have pointed out that Sonnet writing would not come into fashion for another 9 years. This type of poetry was started by Phillip Sydney. But that doesn’t mean we should throw out the idea that Shakespeare wrote this for his wife. Who knows, maybe he wrote as an anniversary present?

Speaking of marriage, did you know young Elizabethan married men couldn’t be apprentices? I learned this from one of the many Shakespeare related podcasts I listen to. Sadly, I failed to note which one. It was an off-handed remark about Shakespeare’s early employment or lack of. I thought, wait a minute. This may tell us something; Shakespeare, having gotten married at 18 would have had difficulty in securing employment. What if this was the reason he left for London? Not because he wanted to get away, having just been through a shotgun wedding, but because his options were limited?

The Tudor “Poor Laws, enacted in 1536, says “male apprentice must be cared for until they reach the age of 21 or marry”. Okay, new path to follow, what if, at 18 Will either hated being an apprentice (he would have started at 14) or was finally being pushed to find employment with a master by his father, chose to get married instead? What would make a man leave his wife and children in the country for the big city? Fame, money? Possibly, or maybe he had no real prospects in the country. Or maybe he did want to get way from Anne….

He’s starting to sound like a jerk. Perhaps we should leave this path all together.

Speaking of sounding like a jerk…

One of the most talked about holes in Shakespeare’s life is the explanation for why he only left Anne the “second best bed” in his will. This has been debated ever since the will was found in 1747. Scholars, historians, and critics of Shakespeare have argued over the reason for this gift. Bonner Miller Cutting sifts through them all in his essay, Alas, Poor Anne: Shakespeare’s Second-Best Bed” in Historical Perspective. He argues that given what we know about Elizabethan wills and marriage laws, this was a deliberate dig by Shakespeare. He left his estates to his daughter Susanne and her husband John. Cuttings asks, “if Shakespeare wanted to ensure his wife was well cared for but not given the best of things, why not the second best house”? It is a fair question.

The question surrounding the “second best bed” has intrigued me for a long time. It is not something I think about a lot but once in while the question pops into my head. It wasn’t until I heard an episode of the History Extra podcast did I give it any serious thought.

The episode talked about the changes in childbirth; from medieval times to the present day. It was noted that during the Elizabethan era births were moved from the marriage bed to a birthing/sick bed. As houses became bigger, rooms were given over to the infirm. Women were advised to stay in bed for three day after giving birth in order to regain their health. What, if this second best bed was the birthing bed? What if, instead of being a dig at his wife, Shakespeare gave her the bed as a token of his appreciation for her as a wife and mother?

This is all speculation of course, but it does make our favorite playwright less of a jerk and more to our liking. And isn’t that the point? We speculate about Shakespeare’s life and fill in the holes as we see fit. We want him to be perfect, just as we view his work to be. But, in reality, he was human, and as such was complicated. What we really need to do is appreciate the work, and forgive his flaws.

Bonner Miller Cutting, “Alas poor Anne”

William Shakespeare, Sonnet 145

Joseph Tanner, “Tudor Constitutional Laws”

There’s been a growing trend of Shakespeare related books of late. Leading up his 450^th birthday, authors scrambled to publish books in order to catch the wave of Bardolatry. We saw books about the man, his life, and his work. Some books were more successful than others. There was more interest in The Science of Shakespeare than there was for Shakespeare Star Wars, yet both tested critic’s views on what they were willing to accept.

The trend continues. It appears ever few months a new book is published that promises to shed new light on Shakespeare’s life or work. The authors of these books are convinced they know something others do not. While it is true, research in any field can offer new clues about a given subject, we have to be careful in assuming the connections we make between our chosen subject and what we have found are true. As I have said in past posts, it is a grave mistake to assume the connection(s) we find are evidence of some truth about Shakespeare. There is no shame in asking, “could it be?” but to say we KNOW is narcissistic speculation at best.

Tina Packer’s “Women of Will”, based a play of the same name, could have and should have been a delightful read. Packer is a director and actor who has dedicated the last 30 years to Shakespeare. Her knowledge of the theater alone would be reason enough to write a book. Yet she too falls into the “I know” trap as she talks about Shakespeare’s thoughts on women and why we wrote them as he did. Worse yet, she makes some rather bold claims about his life, as if her gut feeling is as good as factual knowledge. She claims to know who the Dark Lady is and her ‘relationship” to Shakespeare. Her claim that Shakespeare wrote Henry VI while still in school is laughable. Packer may be a brilliant director but it is fair to say that she has allowed herself to get too close to her subject. Make no mistake, Packer offers her readers insight into the world of acting, but an academic she is not.

This is why Shakespeare’s London is such a breath of fresh air. Hannah Crawforth, Sarah Dustagheer and Jennifer Young, three UK college lecturers, take us on a tour of Shakespeare’s world without a hint of “I know”. The authors point out events and social situations that might have been the inspiration for some of the plays. They make connections but never assumptions. Ironically, had they done so, I would’ve had to reassess my critical view on this sort of research. What they offer is compelling.

Each chapter is a specific view on London’s society. The first chapter is on violence, the last on economics. Every chapter opens our eyes to a new part of London society. They show us what Shakespeare would have seen and experienced. They offer tantalizing clues about Shakespeare’s world and how he may have mirrored it in his plays.

Chapter one talks about Tyburn, the city’s site for public execution. Travelers to London in Shakespeare’s day would have been greeted with the horrific sight of bodies left hanging. London’s citizens viewed public executions as part of everyday life. Hundreds stood and stared as criminals were hanged, drawn, and quartered.

These same people would think nothing of watching bear baiting and dog fighting. We don’t know if this type of spectacle was shocking to young Shakespeare but it is interesting to find out that in May of 1593 two Puritans were taken to Tyburn to be hanged. At the last minute they were reprieved, only to be taken back to prison, and hanged a week later. Shakespeare would write Titus Andronicus not long after this event. There is a scene in which it is noted that the hangman had taken someone down, “for the man must not be hanged till the next week”.

This is a very bloody play that suggests that nothing good comes from senseless violence. While we will never know why Shakespeare wrote this play, it is interesting to see how violence in the justice system and public sport could affect a writer. Learning about Tyburn and the city’s propensity to violence as a social norm was one of city’s many layers I uncovered while reading this book. To be sure this is a book about Shakespeare’s London, but it is the city, not that playwright that takes center stage.

One of the most compelling connections between Shakespeare’s work and his adopted city is the timing of The Merchant of Venice. The play was published in 1600. We don’t know how long Shakespeare took to write his plays, but even if we back it up to say, 1599, it comes close to a time in the Lord Chamberlain lives when they were struggling to find a permanent home. For a short while the players were forced to enter into an agreement with the owner of the Swan Theater, Francis Langley. He demanded the players stage no plays at any other venue; if they did they would be fined 100 pounds. Talk about demanding a pound of flesh! 100 pounds was a huge amount of money back then.

Now all of this is speculation of course, and the authors are quick to point out that while we don’t know exactly what inspired Shakespeare’s writings, we do know that we are all products of our environment. This tour of London offers readers the chance to see what kind of environment Shakespeare lived in. Take from it what you will.

Tag: Shakespeare Week

What ifs about Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s London A review

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