Preface to the Illustrated Edition by Bill Bryson

Preface To The Illustrated Edition by Bill Bryson

Chapter One: In Search of William Shakespeare

We only have a few solid facts about William Shakespeare. There is perhaps no other historical figure so well known, yet so shrouded in mystery. While there have been various documents found over the years, we don’t have one single manuscript, and scholars are unsure of how many plays he wrote and their order. In the signatures we have, his name is never spelled the same way twice. Other unknowns include if he ever left England, the company he kept, and his sexuality.

After Shakespeare died, his colleague actors Henry Condell and John Heminges compiled the revered First Folio, a collection of play that very well could have been lost forever.

With a dearth of information, scholars have obsessively gathered all the facts they can from what exists. For example, the fact that his characters refer to love 2,259 times but to hate only 183 times.

Bryson concludes that Shakespeare has become an obsession of academia. He posits that the reason for his own book is not that the world needs another book on Shakespeare, but rather a more concise look at him to find what we can really know about him.

Chapter Two: The Early Years, 1564–1585

Three hundred years prior to Shakespeare’s birth, England had been much more populous. The plague’s continuous toll had not been quite overcome, among multitudinous other diseases to battle. Even Queen Elizabeth came close to death from smallpox in 1562. With the plague’s resurgence the year he was born, Bryson kids that rather than writing Hamlet, Shakespeare’s greatest achievement may have been surviving past childhood.

While we’re unsure on his actual date of birth, we do know that he was baptized on the 26th of April.

Another transition of the time was the religious turmoil, from Protestantism to Catholicism and back again. However, the move to Protestantism went rather smoothly compared to France, where thousands of deaths occurred in 1572.

Elizabeth was despised by Catholics and openly attacked by several popes. Her life was closely guarded, and she became so paranoid as to sleep with a sword at her bedside. Her succession was of public interest throughout much of Shakespeare’s life, inspiring his plays.

During her reign, Catholicism in and of itself wasn’t so much an issue, but rather, being public about it. Those that wished not to attend Anglican services paid fines, providing quite an amount of revenue for the Crown. Torture was commonly practiced—so much so that getting a hand cut off was a comparatively light sentence. Elizabeth liberally practiced her powers of cruel punishment, even imprisoning those courtiers who pleased her not. Depending on one’s status in society, there were strict rules regarding how one might dress or dine. Another source of revenue came from selling exemptions to the dietary Lenten rules.

William’s father, John Shakespeare, is often considered to have been illiterate, a standard condition in sixteenth century England. Either way, this would have no bearings on his children, and did not prevent him from being a respected man, eventually rising to the highest elective office in town, bailiff. Throughout the 1570s, he was prosecuted for quite illegal activities, such as wool trading and money lending. 1576 marked the withdrawal of his involvement in public affairs.

Mary Arden, Shakespeare’s mother, came from a fairly prominent family and had eight children, including William. He is said to have received a proper grammar school education at King’s New School, with all three masters being distinctive Oxford men. The days were grueling and discipline most likely strict.

Young William probably concluded his formal education around the age of 15. While a popular legend holds that he was then made to leave town for being caught poaching deer, it is not certain. It is known, however, that he applied for a license to marry Anne Hathaway in late November of 1582.

Humorously, William’s name is spelled ‘Shagspere’ on his marriage bond to Anne Hathaway. Like much else, little is known about Hathaway. She was pregnant on the wedding day, somewhat common for the time. There was an urgency for the ceremony despite William’s age: only eighteen. Most men of the time married in their late twenties.

While we know little of the relationship, they had three children—Susanna in May of 1583, and twins Judith and Hamnet in February of 1585. Despite their seeming detached relationship, we are certain he remained married to her till death, and as soon as he was able, sent much of his wealth to his wife and family from London to Stratford.

Having begun a family at such a young age prior to his career creates even more mystery as to how Shakespeare was able to reach such success in a competitive field. Ultimately, all that is certain about his early life is a small handful of events: his baptism, wedding, and the births of his children... and we haven’t even entered the period known as his lost years!

Chapter Three: The Lost Years, 1585–1592

As stated in Chapter One, England was constantly under siege of the plague and other maladies in the sixteenth century. However, for many, desire outweighed the risk of living in the more highly populated London. Those wealthy enough would escape at each outbreak, explaining the many palaces just outside London. The death toll often reached forty percent, which led to banning of public gatherings (besides churchgoing). For 250 years, London deaths mostly outnumbered births.

Life expectancy was low (twenty-five to thirty-five, depending on class), so Shakespeare’s London was predominantly youthful. The bustle was a huge change for William—a theater had the potential to contain more people than his hometown. Despite the proportionately low birth rate, population continued to grow from the influx of ambitious.

Westminster, a separate city and government headquarters, was a twenty-three acre complex, the largest and busiest European palace at the time. City life was far ‘cozier’ than now, with narrow streets and the rich and poor living side by side. It’s held that the city gates were closed at dusk, allowing no one in until dawn. Darkness also indicated curfew.

The Thames was much wider then, up to a thousand feet wide in some places. The London Bridge, built in 1209, impeded much of the transportation of goods and people. The Thames teemed with life, and once a whale almost became caught between the bridge’s arches. The bridge served as both the noisiest and cleanest place in the city, lined with merchants and buildings as tall as six stories high.

Saint Paul’s Cathedral stood in a large open square, serving as both cemetery and market. Books, having been around for a century, were now available to the commoners. With all the raw materials for a playwright at his fingertips, Shakespeare must have been quite aware of the possibilities.

The Royal Exchange, built by Sir Thomas Gresham, stood as the most impressive commercial building of the time, and could be considered the world’s first shopping mall. As we might imagine considering English weather, the merchants appreciated the benefit of setting up shop under shelter.

The diets of the day leaned toward the sweet; many people’s teeth turned black, while some went so far as to artificially blacken their teeth in attempt to feign high sugar consumption. Beer was consumed all day (even at breakfast) and the more wealthy drank wine. Tobacco was introduced around the time of Shakespeare’s birth, and quickly became very commonly used.

Crime was so widespread there were highly specialized categories. Brawls and duels were amazingly common, and many bore arms.

Uncertain of Shakespeare’s whereabouts from 1585 to 1592, we presume it was this period that he left his family in Stratford and became an actor and playwright in London. Some accounts hold that he was a country schoolmaster, others that he traveled in Italy, with even more romantic stories of him traveling on the Golden Hinde with Drake (perhaps to explain all of his ocean metaphors).

There are also many possible Catholic connections from this period, and theories surrounding them have strengthened in recent years. However, It’s hard to be certain of his religiosity. While there are many biblical references in his work, it can be argued that there are few given the context of the era.

As with many other aspects of William’s life, any scholar can find dubious evidence to support his own personal perspectives—as Shakespeare himself said, “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”

With the brutal defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1587, England was primed to build its global empire, giving rise to patriotism and security to Protestantism—just as Shakespeare was ready to transform theater.

Chapter Four: In London

Most of our conception of what it must have been like to visit the theater in those days is informed by letters or journal entries written by tourists. Through the diary of Philip Henslow, theater proprietor, we gain a better understanding of the business and structure (as well as how to cast spells or pasture a horse!). Prior to theaters, plays had been performed in yards or halls of great homes.

Resurrected outside the city walls where law did not apply, the theaters co-mingled with brothels, prisons, asylums, and graveyards. Puritans detested the theater, and went so far as to blame them for causing a rare earthquake in 1580. Despite all this, Elizabeth tolerated (and enjoyed) the plays, however, they were strictly regulated. All dramatic works were licensed, and had to be performed in such a way that was deemed respectful. To avoid punishments, actors sought aristocratic patronage.

Handbills, distributed in the streets, would announce the afternoon performances, marked by trumpets heard across the city. Since there wasn’t much scenery or props, Shakespeare became quite economical with setting the scene through dialogue. However, costumes could get elaborate, and animal organs and blood were known to be used for dramatic effect. The theater evolved rapidly, allowing for more complexity and range as well as more natural acting styles. That men played female roles provided a challenge, and interestingly, this disregard of female actors was unique to Northern Europe. To create more confusion, Shakespeare wrote female characters that would disguise as boys.

In order to prosper, theaters had to keep patrons coming back—so changing the plays continually was essential. This constant demand for material made for quite prolific playwrights, despite the low pay. A play belonged to the company, not the writer.

The actors had to remember a tremendous amount of lines, as doubling up on roles was common. As such, reliability was of the utmost necessity, and there were penalties for those who did not oblige. Shakespeare seemed to have continued acting throughout his career, but mostly in undemanding roles.

1592 and 1593, years of great plague, saw the closing of the theaters. Rumor has it that Shakespeare spent this time in Italy, which could explain his Italian plays: The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet.

What we do know is that he produced the narrative poem Venus and Adonis in April of 1593, in which he gushes over Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton. This slender and effeminate youth had long flowing hair, unusual for the time. The poem was racy for its time and met with much success—the greatest of Shakespeare’s publishing career.

While uncertain on the nature of the relationship between Shakespeare and Wriothesley, the dedication to him contains quite an amount of affection. While some say it was merely to attain patronage, others argue Wriothesley was in no financial position to give.

After success as a poet, Shakespeare returned completely to the theater in 1594, despite its lack of esteem. He never sought patronage again, and no more of his work was ever published with his consent. After the plague disbanded several companies, Shakespeare would spend the rest of his life working with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, where he developed strong working relationships with John Heminges and the comic Will Kemp.

Chapter Five: The Plays

While his career as a playwright started around 1590, there’s much debate over which play counted as first. In terms of dating a majority of his plays, there is not much more than a terminus ad quem; a date which they could not have been written after. Regardless of exact dates, Shakespeare had proven himself an adaptable playwright.

He borrowed ideas, and, as Bryson paraphrases George Bernard Shaw, “Shakespeare was a wonderful teller of stories so long as someone else had told them first.” He had a way of re- working other pieces with charm and greatness. In a particularly obvious case, he heavily borrowed from Raphael Hoinshed’s Chronicles for Henry V.

The theater evolved greatly in Elizabethan London. Traditionally, plays were either comedies or tragedies and there could only be three actors to a scene. Rules like these faded, allowing Shakespeare to become Shakespeare. The variety in his plays, their structure, and length was vast.

While he wrote a good amount, he wasn’t nearly as prolific as other writers of the time. Despite being known for his linguistic agility, there is a sort of rushed exuberance in some of his writing, causing ambiguity and confusion in some cases. With well rounded knowledge, his facts weren’t always straight, and was often guilty of anatopism.

As compared with Ben Johnson’s plays, filled with intellectualism, Shakespeare leaned toward ambition, intrigue, love, and suffering—that which can’t be taught. The feeling in his plays make up for anachronisms and other ‘mistakes.’ It’s not so much about how extensive his vocabulary was, but rather what he did with the words he knew.

While much of his language was modern and progressive for the time, he maintained a lifelong penchant for thou as opposed to you, even though it had become outdated. He also unflinchingly used provincialisms, which began to pepper the English language. He coined over two thousand words, and neologisms increased with his success. In many cases, it was as simple as adding the prefix un-, such as the case in unmask, unhand, unlock, untie, and unveil. Roughly eight hundred of the words he created are commonly used today.

Also lending his hand to the creation of phrases, it is held that he’s responsible for as much as ten percent of our most commonly used quotations. His contributions to the language helped it grow and evolve, eventually rising above Latin.

Chapter Six: Years of Fame, 1596–1603

In hindsight, many view the Elizabethan age to be glorified and romanticized—that the majority of citizens were overwhelmed with poverty and plague. Poor harvests led to food riots and starvation, and wages lowered as food prices rose. This makes it all the more curiouser that the theater was so popular—not only was it a luxury, but they were performed in the middle of the workday. The tragedy of this period affected Shakespeare personally, as his son Hamnet passed away in the August of 1596, which in turn informed the melancholy in King John. In years following, however, Shakespeare wrote his ‘happiest’ pieces... which coincided with increasing fame and fortune.

In May of 1597, Shakespeare purchased the second largest home in Stratford. While he made a profit on the actual plays, most of his income probably came from his share of the company. He was certainly prosperous, and became an investor in Stratford.

In December of 1598, when the company was unable to renew the lease on the Theatre, they secretly dismantled the structure, erecting it across the frozen Thames overnight. The Globe, “a theatre built by actors for actors,” was designed exclusively for acting—there was no cockfighting or other popular forms of amusements. Unfortunately, sparks from a stage canon caused the Globe to burn down in 1613. The run of this incarnation of the theater encapsulated Shakespeare’s greatest works: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra.

Bryson, in a rare, romanticized and sentimental moment of the book, marvels at the thought of being present for one of these plays’ first performances. “Imagine what it must have been like to watch Macbeth without knowing the outcome, to be part of a hushed audience hearing Hamlet’s soliloquy for the first time, to witness Shakespeare speaking his own lines. There cannot have been, anywhere in history, many more favored places than this.”

Shakespeare also penned a poem at this time acclaimed for its rich language and symbolism— The Phoenix and The Turtle. Despite all of his successes at this time, it seems as if he was yearning for Stratford, buying property and farmland.

During this time, Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex, was placed under house arrest by Elizabeth for breaking orders. Once released, he began concerting an uprising to dethrone the Queen, one member being the Earl of Southampton. In convincing the Lord Chamberlain’s Men to stage Richard II, with its scenes depicting murder of the monarch, it was looked upon as an incendiary act.

The Earl’s following effort to storm the tower and arrest the Queen was not met with much involvement from the townspeople, and him and his men rode through rather empty streets. Essex was shortly beheaded, but the Lord Chamberlain’s Men were excused. Interestingly, the Queen was dead and replaced by James VI of Scotland, precisely whom the Earl sought to crown.

Chapter Seven The Reign of King James, 1603–1616

In February of 1603, the Chamberlain’s Men performed for Queen Elizabeth for the last time, as she slipped into a “melancholic illness which she never emerged.” Succeeding the throne, King James, a devout Protestant, was married to a Catholic Dane. At thirty-six, he had already reigned in Scotland for twenty years—and would reign in England for an additional twenty-two.

It is said that James was not the most graceful or visually appealing of Kings (that didn’t stop him from fathering eight children with his wife, Queen Anne). Interestingly, one of his first acts was awarding Shakespeare and his troupe a royal patent. Now the King’s Men, they were generously supported by the court for the next thirteen years until Shakespeare’s death.

Catholicism became more and more rare. Known as the Powder Treason, a group of Catholic conspirators put barrels of gunpowder in the cellar of the Palace of Westminster before the state opening of Parliament, which would have annihilated most of Westminster as well as the royal family and other aristocrats. A Catholic member of parliament—Lord Monteagle—was forewarned, and went straight to the authorities. There was a swift and harsh response against Catholicism, and it would never threaten England again.

While Shakespeare was at the height of his career and quite well off at this point, frugality remained part of his character. He stayed in lodgings and remained averse to paying his taxes. Stanley Wells, renowned Shakespeare authority, holds that he may have even returned to Stratford from time to time to write. In 1607, William’s brother Edmund died at only twenty- seven, and his mother passed away a year later, both of causes unknown.

The King’s Men opened the Blackfriars Theatre in 1608, which held six hundred people and charged high admission. The smaller size resulted in more intimacy, and some seats were even available on the stage. The Globe closed that winter.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Never Before Imprinted, went on sale for 5 pence on May 20, 1609. To no surprise, we know not when they were written or to whom they were addressed. While many have tried to date the sonnets through identifying historical content, the attempts seem futile. It’s hard to say whether they were all addressed to the same person or what that person’s gender could have been. Of the 154 sonnets, 1 to 126 are addressed to the fair youth, while 127 to 154 are to a “dark lady.”

Chapter Eight: Death

We can assume that Shakespeare was unwell when he made changes to his will in 1616. His signature was shaky, and he apparently couldn’t even remember the names of family members. With no endearing mentions of his wife, he merely left her his “second best bed.” It is thought that he was perhaps too sick to write a proper will, and some say the signatures may have even be forgeries.

When Shakespeare died of causes unknown in April of 1616, theatres began to thrive even more until 1642, when Puritans shut most of them down. His work may have also been lost if it were not for John Heminges and Henry Condell, who compiled in print eighteen of his plays: Macbeth, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Measure for Measure, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, King John, All’s Well That Ends Well, Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Corialanus, Cymbeline, Timon of Athens, and Antony and Cleopatra.

Shakespeare, like many great artists, was not revered in his time nearly as much as he is today. Some of his plays were not revived until the eighteenth century, and many of his sonnets were overlooked until Samuel Taylor Coleridge and other Romantics rediscovered them. A century had passed between Shakespeare’s death and attempts at biography, explaining why we know so little of his life.

Buried at Holy Trinity, a large church in Stratford, Shakespeare’s gravestone has no name but a mysterious memorial:

Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbeare,To digg the dust enclosed heare. Bleste be the man that spares thes stones And curst be he that moves my bones.