Shakespeare

Indranil Sarkar

E-mail indranil49hotmailcom

Contact03667286200

My revered teacher DrSPSengupta had shown more than 80

spelling variations of Shakespeare in his invaluable book

lsquoShakespearersquo It is because Shakespeare couldnrsquot pronounce his

name distinctly and as such each time the name changed

Some of these are--Shappere Shakespeare Shakespere

ShakeSpeare Shakespear shakSpeare Shakspeare Shakespore

Shakesper Shagspere Shaksper Shaxpur Shaxpere Shayksper

Shexpere Shaxper Shaxber Shaxberd Shakspur Shackspere

Shackspear Sheakspear Shakspear Shaksperr Shaksporre

Shaykspeyr Shakspeyr amp Shaxbardetc

William Shakespearersquos birth and death dates are same He was born on

23rd April 1564 and died on 23rd April 1616

His parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden (Shakespeare)

They were illiterate John Shakespeare was a Glover and ultimately

became the Mayor of Stratford on Avon

Shakespeare married at the age of 18His wife Anne Hathaway was 8

years senior to him and was 3 months pregnant at the time of their

marriage

Shakespeare was born not at Stratford-on-Avon as told but Stratford

one mile away from the Shottery village the residence of his beloved wife

Anne

Stratford was on the Upper-Avon and not on the Avon

Shakespeare amp Anne Hathaway

THE NEW

PALACE

Shakespearersquos family home in Stratford was called New Palace

The house stood on the corner of Chapel Street and Chapel

Lane and was apparently the second largest house in the

town

Funny Criticism-

In 1759 James Townley wrote a farce named ldquoHigh Life Below stairsrdquoThere a character asked ldquoWho wrote the plays of Shakespearerdquo

Another character answered ldquoOh itrsquos Ben Jonsonrdquo

The third character said ldquoNo no itrsquos Finis

Referring this a number of critics started telling that the plays ofShakespeare were actually written by Finis

Now the funny thing is at the end of every Shakespearean play theiconoclastic Bard wrote lsquoFinisrsquo probably to mean lsquofinishedrsquo orlsquocompletedrsquo

But how can a sensible reader help shivering in anguish when somerevered critics pass their sage verdict that the plays of Shakespearewere actually written by Finis

How funny

Shakespeare possessed one tenth share

of The Globe Theatre

The motto of the Globe Theatre was

[ totus mundus agit histri onem ]

which means-

The Globe burned to ashes on June 29 1613

It caught fire by a cannon shot during the

performance of Shakespeares Henry VIII

Some people believe that Shakespeare did not write his plays The plays were

written by somebody else The followers of Francis Bacon claim Bacon to be

the actual writer of Shakespearean plays But the embracing and enchanting

quality of Shakespearean language which possess the unique quality of

enhancing 4 percent milk production to the cows is quite unthinkable of coming

from the pen of the strongly masculine the wisest philosopher and the greatest

ever English essayist Sir Francis Bacon

In order to prove Shakespearersquos magical superiority the Changeling Theatre

Company performed a scene from Shakespearersquo lsquoThe Merry Wives of Windsor

lsquobefore the cows at the Pleasant Farm near Maidstone Kent in 2010 It

resulted 4 increase of milk production

The reverse effect would happen if Cows are compelled to listen Baconrsquos

lsquodispersed meditationsrsquo in aphoristic style

NewsUKco on the 1st July 2010 By Andrew Hough

Shakespeares works contain first-ever recordings of 2035 English

words including critical frugal excellent barefaced assassination

and countless

Countless excellent phrases now commonly used occurred first in

Shakespeare including lsquoone fell swooprsquo lsquovanish into thin airrsquo lsquoplay fast

and loosersquo lsquobe in a picklersquo lsquofoul playrsquo lsquotower of strengthrsquo lsquoflesh and

bloodrsquo lsquobe cruel to be kindrsquo and lsquowith bated breathrsquo

According to the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Shakespeare wrote

about one-tenth of the most quotable quotations ever written or spoken

in English

Shakespeare is the most frequently quoted writer

Shakespeare used dog or dogs over two hundred times in his

works

He also was the first writer to use the compound noun watchdog in

The Tempest (12390)

Suicide occurs an unlucky thirteen times in Shakespearelsquos plays

It occurs in Romeo and Juliet where both Romeo and Juliet commit

suicide in Julius Caesar where both Cassius and Brutus die by

consensual stabbing as well as Brutusrsquo wife Portia in Othello where

Othello stabs himself in Hamlet where Ophelia is said to have

drowned in suspicious circumstances in Macbeth when Lady

Macbeth dies and finally in Antony and Cleopatra where suicide occurs

an astounding five times (Mark Antony Cleopatra Charmian Iras and

Eros)

Shakespeare wrote altogether 154 sonnets Shakespeare changed

the Petrarchan model of Sonnet ie octave + sestet pattern and

created the English pattern by modifying Surreyrsquos model ie Three

quatrains + a couplet pattern

But the most unique cases are his sonnet no99 amp no126 These are

not of traditional 14 line sonnets but of 15(5+4+4+2=15)

amp12(4+4+4=12) lined respectively

The extra line in sonnet no99 transforms the first quatrain to a

Cinquain altering the rime scheme from ABAB to ABABA

While in no126 the final couplet is missing

The two final sonnets 153 and 154 are nearly identical 154 is

essentially a paraphrase of 153

It is said that Shakespeare was initially engaged as the attendant of

the lsquoHorsesrsquo in the Rose Theatre This is simply a travesty of truth

The truth is in Elizabethan time the main actors were called lsquoGroomsrsquo

and the minor actors were called lsquoHorsesrsquo

And initially Shakespeare was in charge of training those minor

actors not just looking after the lsquoHorsesrsquo in the stablesrsquo

What a dangerously disgraceful linguistic misinterpretation

There is no evidence for what Shakespeare did between 1585 and

1592 the period when he moved to London and began his writing

career

These are called the Lost years of the poetrsquos life

Thus there is no record of how his career began or how

quickly he rose to fame This has however raised several

legendary stories

According to one such legend Shakespeare had come to India

and stayed first in a Keralian Brahmin family adopting the

name ViVian Sheshappa Ayer and then in a Muslim family

adopting the name Sheikh Pir

Surprisingly both the legends are still alive in Kerala

William Shakespeare created altogether 1222 immortal characters

including 76 unique female characters which is the highest number of

characters created by any author so far

The estimated size of Shakespearersquos vocabulary runs to as big as

25000 words Even Alfred Harts recent conservative count of 17677

gives Shakespeare a vocabulary twice the size of Miltons

No one before or since has so enriched the English language with

new words or with so many words of Latin and Greek root

The number of words he used once and never used again comes to

fifty-percent more than are used in the entire Old Testament in the

King James translation

It is said that Shakespeare had to leave his native village because of a scandal of lsquoDeer

poachingrsquo in which Thomas Lucy abused and even flogged him But history says that Thomas

Lucy did not have any lsquoReserve Forestrsquo as mentioned in the story However his grandson built

a small garden later on in which there was no deer not even a hare

It was actually a land-dispute Shakespearersquos father John Shakespeare was sanctioned a plot

of land cutting a part from the estate of Thomas Lucy by the King Lucy did not like it and

wanted to recover it by any means By exploiting his position as the landlord Lucy and his men

publicized the scandalous story Shakespeare was at that time only 12He felt humiliated and

wrote at least two poems---one ballad entitled ldquoLowsie Lucyrdquo abusing Thomas Lucy which was

found stuck in the front door of Lucyrsquos garden at Charlecote Park The first paragraph of it

was recalled by one Thomas Jones a nonagenarian living in Worcestershire as such

wwwpbsorgshakespeare

AN

PO

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RA

ITF

RO

M1588 B

EL

IEV

ED

TO

BE

OF

AY

OU

NG

WIL

LIA

MS

HA

KE

SP

EA

RE IT

CA

NB

EF

OU

ND

INP

ET

ER

AC

KR

OY

DrsquoS

ldquoSH

AK

ES

PE

AR

E T

HE

BIO

GR

AP

HYrdquo

This story appearsin Adam Foxrsquosexcellent chapteron ballads and libelin his book Oraland LiterateCulture in England1500-1700 (Oxford2000) pps 299-334

Nicolas Rowersquosaccount ofShakespearersquosearly life can befound in TheWorks of MrWilliamShakespear (6vols London1709) and a moredetailed discussionof the ldquolowsie Lucyrdquolegend may befound in SSchoenbaumrsquosShakespearersquosLives (Oxford1991)

ldquoLOWSIE LUCY

ldquoA parliamente member a justice of the peace

At home a poore scarecrow at London an asse

If lowsie is Lucy as some volke miscalle it

Then Lucy is lowsie whatever befalle it

He thinkes himselfe greate

Yet an asse in his state

We allowe by his eares but with asses to mate

If Lucy is lowsie as some volke miscalle it

Sing lowsie Lucy whatever befalle itrdquo

httpsballadedwordpresscom20130227the-tale-of-will-shakespeare-and-

lowsie-lucy

The second one named ldquoLoss of Good Namerdquo which was discovered on April2010 reveals the

pangs and pains that young Willy felt at the incident

[The noted Indian scholar and historian narrated the actual incident in a very lucid and clear

manner in his book lsquoHistory of English Literaturersquo with a fine Bengali translation of lsquoLowsie Lucyrsquo]is

ldquoLoss of Good Namerdquo

Framrsquod in the front of forlorn hope past all recovery

I stayless stand to abide the shock of shame and infamy

My life through lingrsquoring long is lodgrsquod in lair of loathsome ways

My death delayrsquod to keep from life the harm of hapless days

My sprites my heart my wit and force in deep distress are drownrsquod

The only loss of my good name is of these griefs the ground

And since my mind my wit my head my voice and tongue are weak

To utter move devise conceive sound forth declare and speak

Such piercing plaints as answer might or would my woeful case

Help crave I must and crave I will with tears upon my face

Of all that may in heaven or hell in earth or air be found

To wail with me this loss of mine as of these griefs the ground

Help Gods help saints help sprites and powers that in the heaven do dwell

Help ye that are aye wont to wail ye howling hounds of hell

Help man help beasts help birds and worms that on the earth do toil

Help fish help fowl that flock and feed upon the salt sea soil

Help echo that in air doth flee shrill voices to resound

To wail this loss of my good name as of these griefs the ground

EO

LOSS OF GOOD NAME

lsquoIn my puddling parvipension (in other words humble opinion) the poem reveals the

Juvenility of Young Willy He wrote it at the age of 12 EO stands for William

Shakespeare Itrsquos a word puzzle created by the Bardrsquosaid Michael Schoenfeldt

May check the OED if you have any questionmdashis

ldquoMisattributed to the Earl of Oxford for centuries may the world take note that this

poemrsquos author was correctly identified as William Shakespeare on the first day of April

2011 Itrsquos a bad poem certainly But for a twelve-year-old Shakespeare itrsquos not that

bad Fortunately Shakespearersquos juvenilia (of which this is the earliest example) served

as exercises that enabled him to develop his true genius laterrdquo added Michael

Schoenfeldt

Links

iThe Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeares poems ed Michael Schoenfeldt[CambridgeUniversity Press 07-Oct-2010-Literary Criticism]

Although Shakespeare is usually considered an Elizabethan playwright much

of his greatest work was produced after James I took the throne Thus

Shakespeare could be more accurately considered Jacobean And

historically his literary career covered the reign of three kings of England

He is the worthiest son England a true Briton with all the characteristics of a

Briton So at last we may conclude uttering the words of John Sterling--

lsquoThough Shakespearersquos dust beneath our footstep lies

His spirit breathes amid his native skiesrdquo

And finally let us conclude once more repeating the words of Robert

Graves(1895-1985)lsquoThe remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is

really very good - in spite of all the people who say he is very goodrsquo

Nothing

Shakespeare in 21st century