How well do you know Shakespeare?
Something different for Nat.
Having just reread Bill Bryson’s excellent Shakespeare I wanted to share some of the rather wonderful things this book brought to light about what we know and what we perceive about the Great Bard – William Shakespeare.
We all know who he is , we all know he is regarded as the greatest ever English language playwright, we would even be able to recognize him by his portrait almost instantly.
These are things we take for granted but as Mister Bryson points out when describing why his book is so thin:
“…to see how much of Shakespeare we can really know, from the record. Which is one reason, why (the book) is so slender”
There hangs a portrait of a man in The National Portrait Gallery of London, no one knows who painted it and its providence can only be traced back to 1747. It has been retouched over time and so ill treated that much of the detail is gone.
Scholars have presumed it is William Shakespeare because of the style it is painted in and the fashion of the clothes. It could be said it looks like a portrait of William Shakespeare, and so it should it one of the three likeness of him that all are taken from.
In fact of the other two one is a statue that was white washed thus removing all its painted on detail. This is at the place of his burial at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon and was commissioned seven years after his death; this is also the year the third portrait was made – engraved in brass – for the cover of the famous First Folio, the first collection of Shakespeare’s works. This brass etching wasn’t done from a sitting (as the statue) because Shakespeare was dead seven years before it’s commission, and is considered even by the methods of the day to be a very mediocre piece of work.
Shakespeare left the world nearly a million words of text with his collective works but only fourteen words in his own hand- his name signed six times on various legal documents and the words “by me” on his will.
No original manuscripts survive of his plays, sonnets or poems. The First Folio was constructed by two of his former colleagues and good friends who interviewed actors and friends who had played the roles.
Of the six signatures not one is spelt the same way and the only one not recorded is the one spelling that everyone knows and is now the acceptable spelling used to this day.
The fact is we know little or nothing about this man who left the world so much.
So over the years as more and more written pieces are released on the great man, some are nothing more than critical works on critical works by people who have used conjecture rather than fact to state theories, it is probably best not to judge the personality that wrote the works on just the words because that would be inaccurate and just plain wrong. The facts are we know nothing at all about the man , let alone what he may have looked like.
There are close to 5000 books published just on the subject that Shakespeare didn’t actually write his plays at all.
It is paradoxical that nearly any one above year eight at school could recognize a likeness of Shakespeare the instant they saw one but of the three surviving likeness two are pretty dodgy works by artists working years after his death and the third a rather more compelling picture of a man that may or may not be someone else all together.
He is at once the best known and least known figures in history.
Feel free to discuss as much as you want here….
kathleen
i know he was born the day after my birthday and a sensational example of a Taurean creative :
Danny
replied
actually they only know when he died, his birthdate hasn’t been proven only his baptism date.
kathleen
really… then every ‘famous horoscope’ I have every read is wrong… as I have seen the birthdate of the 22 April attributed to him millions of times…
how do you reckon they came up with that date then? hmmm
Danny
replied
So it is with Shakespeare almost everything we know is based on conjecture.
I highly recommend the Bill Bryson book, it’s an eye opener and very entertaining.
kathleen
on that note… this is wikipedia… (please forgive the extra comment)...
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – died 23 April 1616)
it is interesting to note… he also died in the sign of Taurus… ha…
interesting … for me… probably not… anyone… else…
sjem ©
Fucking top read Danny, I had no idea that no physical manuscripts in his hand exist – that’s really astounding. Do you think shakespseare was more than one person ?
Danny
replied
No.
Reading some of the conspiracy theories is similar to the JFK assination in scope and quantity.
Pip Gerard
same can be said for Jesus Christ.
Pip Gerard
about what he looks like… that is.
fleece
good book review :)
Pip Gerard
isn’t this a new style for Bryson? Isn’t he known for his funny travel writing?
Danny
replied
And BRILLIANT repeat BRILLIANT books on the Englsih language, including the American influence.
Natalie Tyler
Great read Danny. It’s 9.55am here and I’ve been educated. On RB. And I’m supposed to be on holidays. I feel slightly confused.
nofrillsart
Well there you go, you learn something new every day. Actually i knew very little about him, athough i did go to Canberra years back to see an awesome exhibition called treasures from the worlds great libraries and they had a first edition of the Merchant of Venice.
Danny
replied
That would be one of famous portfolios, not a firt edition
rubyred
Now that was worth a read. I’m surprised at how little I knew, I guess you just assume knowledge because he was such a great figure. I may have to give this book a go.
Pip Gerard
This book sounds like something that makes sense. I can imagine that he didn’t actually ‘write’ the plays… especially when back then everything had to be hand written. It could have been a collective team… and he was the ‘Manager’ so to speak huh?. Would’nt surprise me.
Same as the way the Da Vinci code enticed such a massive part of the population… I think because it didnt surprise them. History shouldn’t be trusted should it. Too much room for other’s hands in things. Even the written stuff could have been corrupted or made up by others for their own gain… or even for their own amusement. And chinese whispers is always rife everywhere. Nothing ‘really’ can be said as fact can it? That’s why, when it really comes down to it, I trust my gut. We only know what’s true in ourselves. My answers are… there are no ‘real’ answers. I trust in love, kindness & forgiveness … many would think that’s all flowers and group hugs… but that’s just the way I am.
woah… went a little deep there for a journal comment. LOL
Danny
replied
Actually because of the length a play ran for and the cost of printing many scripts were handed around and used by the whole cast. This of course led to a bit of wear and tear.
There are heaps of very good reasons why works in his own hand never survived but they are too many and lengthy to write here.
I suggest a read of the book.
kathleen
maybe he was just like jesus and made up by a bunch of liars
Danny
replied
Because Astrology is such an exact science :)
kathleen
as is religion…
and I live my every waking second according to both…
bless you my constellation of Leo
Danny
replied
i’m a virgo
najeroux
I’m going to send my non-poxxy Ma out to get this in the morning. My 1978 reprint of the 1858 edition of the Complete Illustrated Shakespeare has only a one page foreword, mainly speculating the achievements in studying Shakespeare of the writer of the foreword and therefore I think I should staple Bryson’s book to the front cover.
Big ups to Bryson for writing a book about not knowing anything about the greatest playwright of all time and wording the lack of information so well that I am compelled to purchase it. And an “Ahoy me’Arties” to Danny for this delicious delivery of a review. Please Danny, write more book reviews for us, you do it so well.
I heart custard
najeroux
Cathie Tranent
That’ll be my next book. Thanks.
Nick Ford
Thanks for that Danny …. a real mystery man eh? Interesting stuff my Virgo bro.
butchart
and how do we know that danny really wrote this.. all we have are words on a screen … authorities have postulated that in fact there are many danny’s… evidenced by the facts of an ever changing avatar , tempermant, and personality shifts. To this day, no hand written drafts have been found and some theorists have put forth the postulation that Danny is actually a labaratory of sleep deprived albino spider monkeys made to sit in front of Apple keyboards for two week intervals.The data is then collected and funneled through underground tunnels that converge at the backdoor of RB headquarters.
IWML
BOOYAH. butchart wins.
so NONE of us exist nowadays… because none of us write it down on paper.
IWML
...btw, i have read his books on language, and they are some of the greatest books ever written. IF it was really bill bryson who wrote them…
Gregory John O...
I love Billy Wobblestick !!! The Sonnets are the most wonderful things ever writen !!
mister khan
my mate’s got a statue of shakespeare. looks just like lenin. and lenin was born centuries after him. work that one out eh.
Lawford
Do you remember the Mills & Boon factory I showed you on our ‘visit’ to China?
Willy’s stuff was done the same way only many years before.
Danny
replied
i think that’s still posted here somewhere.