254 In Celebration of Shakespeare's Birth/Death Day

In just over a week it will be the proper day (April 23rd) to celebrate the Birth/Death day of the man who is probably my favorite playwright — William Shakespeare of Stratford-Upon-Avon in Warwickshire.  Yes, for the sake of anyone who is even more pedantic than I, I will admit that we don’t actually know for certain what day he was born, although we do have actual records of when he died.  And, we do know when he was baptized, as that is in a church record which has survived.  Yes, I have been to Holy Trinity Church in Stratford where this event happened and seen their copy of this record.  I have not seen the actual record, as it is preserved by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and not open to the general public.  Given the standard practice of the time, what with infant mortality what it was and the perceived need to have any child in good standing with the Church, April 23 seems quite plausible as the birthday and is accepted by most scholars as not unlikely, in any case.  So why do I care?  I don’t really, but I’m not aware of too many other people who died on their birthday, although I know that Will isn’t the only one.  (There’s an easy project for Internet research, if anyone wants it.)  In any event, I’m rather fond of a lot of Will’s work and I choose to celebrate his life in my own way and this seems to me to be a better day for that celebration than most others would be.  

I have noticed that quite a few people seem to take some sort pf inspiration from bits and pieces of Will’s work, so it is quite easy to find examples of things he (his works) have influenced.  Since he was a real person, there are statues of him in many places around the world; here’s a picture of a reproduction of the one in Central Park in New York City.  It was financed by the sons of Junius Brutus Booth (Junius Brutus Booth, Jr., Edwin Booth, and John Wilkes Booth) and others, including several from the NY theatre.  J.B., Jr. was never a major star in the theatre of his day, although Edwin was, and, of course, J.W. (also something of a star) became best-known for a non-theatrical activity.  Still, Shakespeare was the “bread and butter” of the Booth family and was, if you look into it, wildly popular across the U.S. throughout most of the Nineteenth Century, although mostly in the “family approved” editions which were (unfortunately) the standard fare at the time.

In fact, it was the Nineteenth Century (especially the “Romantics”) who turned Shakespeare from just a pretty well accepted, if slightly old-fashioned, poet and playwright into the literary deity which many people still consider him today.  After all, his work provided the inspiration for works like this:

One doesn’t have to be a major Shakespearian scholar to figure out that this 1838 painting’s subject is the death of Ophelia in Hamlet.  But Will’s inspiration has lasted a lot longer than Delacroix might have expected, even if he did paint several versions of this scene over a number
of years.  Here’s a fairly recent, but obviously influenced piece by Mya Lixian Gosling the creator
​ of “goodticklebrain.com.”

Will’s creations have served to inspire other people’s work of all sorts, of course, not just pictures.  One of the oddest, to my way of thinking, was the several of his plays which were published as if the play was being “… told through its characters texting with emojis, checking in at certain locations, and updating their relationship statuses.”  Here’s an image of the cover of the one I got sucked into buying.

Although Amazon suggests that it is, “The perfect gift for hip theater lovers and teens.”, I confess I just found it to be weird.  Amusing, yes, but definitely weird! 

Of course, Shakespearian influences show up constantly in places one might not necessarily expect.  Some are more clever than others, of course, but they are often fun, as I found this Shoe comic strip.

Lest a reader suspect that Will’s exclusive influence is on pictures of various sorts, I will close with this from the Saturday Review in 1964 composed, I would guess, in honor of Will’s 400th birthday.  Having taught some of Will’s plays in my Dramatic lit classes, I confess that this strikes me as VERY funny/sad in the socio-political days of the present.  It IS a bit dated, but I still find it funny.

Given some of my own experiences with academic administrators, I confess that I laughed a lot when I encountered this, long after 1964.  I hope that it’s still amusing.  I think it is.

As I am scheduled to get my RIGHT knee “done” before my next post would be “due,”  it may well be longer than usual before I get the next one up.  Rest assured that I have every intention of continuing to write these bits and pieces, but I expect it is likely to be a while before I can get down the stairs to my computer where I have my collection of materials and the peace and quiet to write them.  I do plan to return to “publishing” them, however.

I’ll be back!  In the meantime,🖖🏼 LLAP,

Dr. B

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”  
                                                                                                 — Nelson Mandela
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”                                                                        ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows