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Show .- Untverslt)' JoUmal • MDntlilY, June 24, 1996 • 5 ... COMMEMORATING THE JUNE 24 , 1996 UNVEILING AT SOUTHERN UTA H UNI VERSITY OF T H E STATUE O F WM. SHAKESPEARE 1564-1616 - - ~ - h e world has many respected writers , but none is held in such high esteem and affection as is William Shakespeare-one of the few writers who has been embraced by the entire world. He has been compared to the apostle Paul in his internationalism; but while Paul set out to spread Christ's message to a skeptical world and had great influence on the Mediterranean world in his lifetime, Shakespeare's interests were confined to his beloved England, and his influence did not extend beyond a theatre·loving London in his lifetime. And, while it may be true that Shakespeare fulfills the poet's task the way Wordsworth defined it of "binding together by passion and knowledge the empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole earth and over all time," there is little evidence to suggest that Shakespeare realized that this is what he was doing. It is almost impossible to refer to William Shakespeare in anything but superlatives. He is undoubtedly the most popular author the world has known. His greatness is a result of his remarkably unique creative talents in drama and in poetry. A brief examination of some facets of Shakespeare's greatness might profitably be reviewed, along with the cultural environment that inspired it. The reputation that Shakespeare enjoys today as a writer of unparalled ability was not the one he enjoyed in his own lifetime. He was attacked from time to time by his contemporaries, but he was an extremely popular playwright, as demonstrated by the number of times his plays were performed, by the frequency with which his name was used to market writing he had little or no part in, and by the large amount of wealth he amassed·by his profession. It was largely because of his talent as a dramatist that Shakespeare was able to make a living writing for the stage. Few other writers of his time were able to do so. By the late 1590s he was an established dramatist, and yet he had not written any of the tragedies that are · considered his crowning work-Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. While many scholars believe that King Lear is Shakespeare's greatest work, the most popular of the four, Hamlet, has given us more proverbial expressions than any other work by a single author. It was he who gave us such idioms as "fair play," "foregone conclusion." "catch cold," "disgraceful conduct," "in one fell swoop," and "that's the rub. " And he is thought to have invented such words as "assassination," "bump," "eventful," and "lonely." Shakespeare and his contemporaries treated English as a dynamic, versatile language rather than as one confined by rules. Of course, English has always been a dynamic language. While the 'father of English poetry,' Geoffrey Chaucer, had 8,000 JtattW& f7art c7e/rfl h1tlc1U'O/I & 6l&e/lC Gj/!Jef' words in his vocabulary, Shakespeare, 200 years later, had 24,000 words in his. But, of all the writers of his time, Shakespeare was the most successful in creating vivid images through the use of language by applying varied stylistic techniques. He employed 'image clusters' frequently in his plays, allowing one image to call forth several others, not necessarily related. Like all Elizabethan writers his training in rhetoric led him to use elaborate, structured language full of conceits, puns, and double meanings. It is no mystery that Shakespeare is so often quoted. He had a great deal to say on an unlimited supply of subjects, and he said it in an incomparably memorable way. It is not only the melodic lilt of his verses that charms us, but the natural gaiety that finds its way into so much of what he has written. So pervasive is his influence that his writings have helped shape the culture as well as the literature of many countries, including that of Russia and Germany. But as much as his language, his skill as a storyteller profoundly moves us. To carry the action of his masterly constructed plots, he fills the stage with comic, tragic, and historical characters who capture our interest and engage our passions. Many of them have been scrutinized and anaJyzed as though they had a reality apart from the stage. So skillfully did Shakespeare employ his dramatic technique that his popularity came early and was wide spread--and it has endured. His popularity supports a publishing industry, an acting industry, a large community of scholars, and several commercial enterprises. His plays have inspired such motion pictures as West Side Story, Kiss Me Kate and The Boys from Syracuse; such musical compositions as the Otello and Falstaff of Verdi; and a host of graphic art works. Precious little is known of Shakespeare's life before the splenetic attack on him by a fellow actor in 1592; and, if it were not for some entries in the records of the parish church in Stratford-upon-Avon , nothing would be known. Church records show his baptism on April 26, 1564. Since baptisms were generally held three days after birth, it is assumed he was born on April 23. That date is significant because his monument records the date of his death in 1616 also as April 23. What also is recorded of him in the church records is his marriage when he was 18 to Anne Hathaway, nine years his senior; the birth of a daughter six months later: and the birth of twins, a boy and a girl a couple of years after that. And that is it. Everything else pertaining to his first 28 years is conjecture, some almost certain, some merely speculative. For example, it is almost certain that he attended the local school which he could have done with no cost since his father was bailiff, or mayor. There is a period of time from 1584 to 1592 referred to as 'the missing years' because there is no knowledge of where he was located. Was he a school teacher? Was he a soldier in the low cou·ntries? Was he a servant in a wealthy household? No one knows. What is known is that there were three theatrical troupes playing in Stratford from 1583 to 1585, the latter being the year the twins were born, and he must have begun his work in the theatre shortly after that. It is not likely that he ran off with a troupe as one might run off with a circus. He had a family, and what records exist show that he was a loving and a caring husband and father. But the theatrical performances in his home town may well have enticed him to seek a career in the theatre in London. London in Shakespeare's time was remarkably diverse in its thought and character, with a population of about 200,000 people. Queen Elizabeth was regarded as God's earthly representative, but religious belief was divided almost to the point of civil war. Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII , in 1534 broke from the Roman Catholic Church of England. Queen Mary established Catholicism as the state religion in 1553, but Elizabeth reestablished the Church of England in 1588. The wounds created by Henry Vlll's act of defiance were deep and long-lasting. A Catholic uprising had occurred shortly before Shakespeare's arrival in London, and the new church was preaching against rebellion. Shakespeare's mother's family was Catholic, but his father was a member of the Church of England. - - ~ - he lands once owned by the Catholic Church were being redistributed, education was being encouraged, money was flowing into London from the discovery of new lands. Puritanism had become firmly establisheq by Luther and Calvin; Copernicus had challenged the heliocentric theory of the universe; Montaigne the theory that animals exist for man's pleasure and survival. And , only a couple of years after Shakespeare's arrival in London, in 1588, the English navy defeated the mighty Spanish Armada. It was an exciting time to be in London. When Shakespeare arrived in London, the theatre was (continued on page 6J |