Shakespeare fanwankery
Apr. 28th, 2006 11:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capri0mni(Note: most of the information in this post is taken from the book Shakespeare by Michael Wood, the text that accompanied the show In Search of Shakespeare, which aired on PBS a couple of years back.)
Last Sunday, April 23rd, was Shakespeare's deathday. Popular custom says it's his birthday, too, because it's St. George's Day, and Good Ol' Will is taken as a sort of second Patron Saint of England. But I file that under "Isn't it pretty to think so?" What we know for certain is that he was baptised on the 26th; personally, I think a baptism at three days old in the 16th century is cutting it a bit close. Wasn't it customary to wait a week or so? Anyway, I think of late April as "Celebrate Will" season, so this bit of Bardophile fanwank and retconning is in honor of that.
---
One of my pet peeves with the "common knowledge" we claim about Shakespeare is how terribly unhappy his marriage was. It was a shotgun wedding, 'cause she was preggers; he was 18 and she was 25. And none of the married couples in his plays were particularly happy with each other, plus there are all those sonnets to his mysterious, dark-haired mistress. Back when I was 16-going-on-17, it was because I had a serious crush on "Ol' Will," and would brook no thought of his romantic flaws. Now, I'm more annoyed at how that "flaw" is framed: Younger, starry-eyed poet goes to London, finds fame and fortune, and leaves a lonely wife at home caring for the kiddies alone. It feeds into the whole stereotype of the artistic-type personality, and how unreliable and untrustworthy they are. I'm an artistic-type person, after all.
Well, you know those sonnets where he proclaimed his love for a young boy, and later, that dark mistress? In most collections, you'll find 154 of them. But in the original 1609 edition, there were 155. This one was slipped in at the end:
Those lips that gentle Love did make
Breath'd forth a sound that said: "I hate --"
To me that languish'd for her sake
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come
Checking that tongue, that ever sweet
Was used in giving gentle doom;
And taught it thus anew to greet;
"I hate" she alter'd with an end
That follow'd 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."
Shakespeare scholars threw it out, because it's really, really bad -- couldn't possibly by him. But Michael Wood speculates that this could have been Will's first poem, written in honor of his wife, Ann Hathoway, particularly considering the puns on her name in the final couplet.* He speculates furthur that it might have been written in honor of their wedding. If this speculation is true, his including it, as bad as it is, at the end of his tale in sonnets**, is kinda sad and touching -- as if he's trying to remind himself of his wedding vows, and asking Ann to forgive him, once again, for his affair.
But really, isn't that an odd way to celebrate a wedding? "I'm eternally grateful because you're kind enough to refrain from spontaneous verbal abuse." Makes me wonder if he stayed in London so much because Ann wanted him there, rather than crowding her life in Statford.
And if we're judging how little he loved Ann by how little he left her in his will (the second best bed), he must have loved his daughter Susanna most, since she got the bulk of the estate.
*In Shakespeare's time and place, "Hathoway" was pronounced like "hate away," and read aloud, "And saved my life..." sounds like "Ann saved my life..."
**Sonnets 152, 153 and 154 are all about how he tries, and fails, to stop loving his mistress.
When I was 16-going-on-17, one of my recurrent daydreams was to for there be a kind of hiccup in the fabric of space-time that would deposit Shakespeare in the modern world, so he could continue to write. Now, in my fantasies of that hiccup, he still pops into the present day, but only as a bellwether, because his is a face almost anyone would recognise. The people I'd really want to meet, and daydream about coming through in his wake, are the women in his life: Ann, and his daughters Susanna and Judith, his mother, and Mary Herbert, a poet in her own right, and a patron of Shakespeare and several of his contemporaries. If Shakespeare came through to today, in my fantasies, he'd only be there to vouch for the idententy of these women. Then I'd be perfectly happy to let him drift back into drunken retirement (which, he, himself, was perfectly happy with, back in 1611).
But these women? They were very likely sharp as tacks and strong as stones, judging by the later, more developed women characters in his plays. And I would love to see what they could do, given the chance.
:::Nods:::
(I want a Shakespeare Icon, now...)
Last Sunday, April 23rd, was Shakespeare's deathday. Popular custom says it's his birthday, too, because it's St. George's Day, and Good Ol' Will is taken as a sort of second Patron Saint of England. But I file that under "Isn't it pretty to think so?" What we know for certain is that he was baptised on the 26th; personally, I think a baptism at three days old in the 16th century is cutting it a bit close. Wasn't it customary to wait a week or so? Anyway, I think of late April as "Celebrate Will" season, so this bit of Bardophile fanwank and retconning is in honor of that.
---
One of my pet peeves with the "common knowledge" we claim about Shakespeare is how terribly unhappy his marriage was. It was a shotgun wedding, 'cause she was preggers; he was 18 and she was 25. And none of the married couples in his plays were particularly happy with each other, plus there are all those sonnets to his mysterious, dark-haired mistress. Back when I was 16-going-on-17, it was because I had a serious crush on "Ol' Will," and would brook no thought of his romantic flaws. Now, I'm more annoyed at how that "flaw" is framed: Younger, starry-eyed poet goes to London, finds fame and fortune, and leaves a lonely wife at home caring for the kiddies alone. It feeds into the whole stereotype of the artistic-type personality, and how unreliable and untrustworthy they are. I'm an artistic-type person, after all.
Well, you know those sonnets where he proclaimed his love for a young boy, and later, that dark mistress? In most collections, you'll find 154 of them. But in the original 1609 edition, there were 155. This one was slipped in at the end:
Those lips that gentle Love did make
Breath'd forth a sound that said: "I hate --"
To me that languish'd for her sake
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come
Checking that tongue, that ever sweet
Was used in giving gentle doom;
And taught it thus anew to greet;
"I hate" she alter'd with an end
That follow'd 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."
Shakespeare scholars threw it out, because it's really, really bad -- couldn't possibly by him. But Michael Wood speculates that this could have been Will's first poem, written in honor of his wife, Ann Hathoway, particularly considering the puns on her name in the final couplet.* He speculates furthur that it might have been written in honor of their wedding. If this speculation is true, his including it, as bad as it is, at the end of his tale in sonnets**, is kinda sad and touching -- as if he's trying to remind himself of his wedding vows, and asking Ann to forgive him, once again, for his affair.
But really, isn't that an odd way to celebrate a wedding? "I'm eternally grateful because you're kind enough to refrain from spontaneous verbal abuse." Makes me wonder if he stayed in London so much because Ann wanted him there, rather than crowding her life in Statford.
And if we're judging how little he loved Ann by how little he left her in his will (the second best bed), he must have loved his daughter Susanna most, since she got the bulk of the estate.
*In Shakespeare's time and place, "Hathoway" was pronounced like "hate away," and read aloud, "And saved my life..." sounds like "Ann saved my life..."
**Sonnets 152, 153 and 154 are all about how he tries, and fails, to stop loving his mistress.
When I was 16-going-on-17, one of my recurrent daydreams was to for there be a kind of hiccup in the fabric of space-time that would deposit Shakespeare in the modern world, so he could continue to write. Now, in my fantasies of that hiccup, he still pops into the present day, but only as a bellwether, because his is a face almost anyone would recognise. The people I'd really want to meet, and daydream about coming through in his wake, are the women in his life: Ann, and his daughters Susanna and Judith, his mother, and Mary Herbert, a poet in her own right, and a patron of Shakespeare and several of his contemporaries. If Shakespeare came through to today, in my fantasies, he'd only be there to vouch for the idententy of these women. Then I'd be perfectly happy to let him drift back into drunken retirement (which, he, himself, was perfectly happy with, back in 1611).
But these women? They were very likely sharp as tacks and strong as stones, judging by the later, more developed women characters in his plays. And I would love to see what they could do, given the chance.
:::Nods:::
(I want a Shakespeare Icon, now...)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-04-29 05:21 pm (UTC)And if you want a particular sort of Shakespeare icon (preferred portrait of the Bard/one of his works/a quote), just let me know:)...
no subject
Date: 2006-04-29 07:26 pm (UTC)But when I read these lines (from A Winter's Tale), spoken by a father about his young son, I hear the voice of someone who knew the frustrations and joys of parenthood quite well:
As for an icon, I think I'd go for a quote. The two I can think of that would work for lj icon commentaries both happen to come from As You Like It (and both would probably work best as animated, unless the font is of blind-making size). For Paganish Nature Squee, I give you:
no subject
Date: 2006-04-29 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-29 10:41 pm (UTC)And Who always takes priority... After all, the Doctor was a good friend of Will's, if his name-dropping is at all reliable... ;-)
no subject
Date: 2006-05-03 11:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 05:36 am (UTC)Now, I wonder if I can save them to disk without photoshop...
Hmmm...
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 06:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 02:42 pm (UTC)Sometimes, regardless of the format of the original, it only lets me save in either .art or .bmp (!)
This morning, it worked on the first one. It wasn't working last night...
(hmmm... I just noticed that my Norton security program isn't running. I wonder if that's been throwing a wrench in the works.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 02:45 pm (UTC)If I sent the files to you as .gifs, would you be able to upload them to the LJ site?
What browser are you using?
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 03:02 pm (UTC)The older version worked fine against viruses only, but the new program blocks everything, and is too much of a memory hog for this old computer...
I've nicknamed it "Norton (Homeland)Security" because it reminds me of Bush's paranoia and incompetance... The contract is up soon. I think I'll switch to a different virus blocker.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 03:08 pm (UTC)Wonderful:).
And yes, Bush should be deposed. Oh, and a nitpick--it's spelled "incompetence". I get tence and tance mixed up all the bloody time... my insulin resistance is "resistenssi" in medical Finnish, and my Mum scolded me for using "resistanssi" (the English spelling of the word) saying "it's not some *dance*!" because tanssi=(a)dance in Finnish:D. Hm. I do wonder if the condition is resistence after all... argh... Brit or Yank spelling differences are always weirder for me.
Here, have a Sarah Jane hug:).
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 07:42 pm (UTC)That is a most beautiful Icon, and I lurve it.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-01 07:11 am (UTC)I'm not sure I believe that, actually. People recognise the outfit with the big collar, and the hairstyle - but how many actually pay any attention to the face?
no subject
Date: 2006-05-01 03:31 pm (UTC)He, and those who believe his story, could later use the fact that people don't actually recognise his face to help him blend in -- a well trimmed haircut, and modern attire (and forged papers, probably with his mother's maiden name, or his wife's surname), and he would be invisible.
It would also help that his 16th century Warwickshire accent is nothing at all like the polished Queen's English spoken today by the actors in the RSC (it was actually quite close to what's spoken on Tangier Island, off the coast of Virginia, at least until recent years).
no subject
Date: 2006-05-03 08:10 pm (UTC)My dad always used to say that American accents in Shakespeare were at least as authentic as RSC ones and, in the case of Julius Caesar, Italian-Americans were probably more authentic than the original cast would have been...
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 05:42 am (UTC)Well, 20 years, or so, ago on Tangier Island (before TV homogenized accects everywhere), "High Tide" was pronouced "Hoy Toy'd"...
I don't know "Red Dwarf"... Does that fit the "Brummy Twonk"?
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 03:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 07:39 pm (UTC)If Shakespeare talked like Ozzy Osbourne, he could go in cognito in America, no problem.