Year: 2015

Stop repeating the Shakespeare starlings story. It’s not true.

~ duane ~ Leave a comment

Surely you’ve heard the story of how the starling was introduced to America? Legend has it that a certain Mr. Eugene Schieffelin of New York was both an avid ornithologist and lover of Shakespeare. So much so, in fact, that he got it into his head to introduce into America all the birds mentioned in the works of Shakespeare. In 1890 he started with the starling, which is now considered an invasive species and quite a problem.  (He’d actually been introducing a number of other birds since 1860, but most of them did not survive the new environment and are rarely mentioned when telling the story).
The Bard's Bird

The problem is that the story is completely false. Never happened. I have been looking for proof for years, and failed in my mission.  I can readily put my hands on the man’s obituary, for Heaven’s sake, and it does not mention Shakespeare. Starlings yes, Shakespeare no. He did release the starlings. There’s just no reason to believe Shakespeare had anything to do with his decision.

I’m well aware, however, that my failure to find proof doesn’t prove anything. I’m not a professional academic, or a researcher. So I turned to those who are.

Reddit has a group called “Ask Historians” which holds for itself a very high degree of proof. Not only do you need to cite sources for everything you state, sometimes people will call into question the validity of your sources. It’s great. I’ve always considered it a “read only” group, because I never thought I could offer anything that would stand up to the rigors of their cross examination.

So I asked them about Shakespeare and the starlings. In that thread you’ll find plenty of reading material on the subject of Mr. Schieffelin, starlings, and Shakespeare. If you think to question their research, feel free to jump in. They’ll defend it. It’s what they do. Nobody there is offering unsubstantiated opinions.

Guess what? They couldn’t find any proof either. The one commenter who offered the most research even said, “I never thought to question the story” but quickly discovered that the story must surely be a post-mortem fabrication because the only time Shakespeare’s name is ever mentioned with Schieffelin is long after his death, even when starlings play a prominent role in the story.

I’m convinced. The burden of proof has shifted. I have numerous documents from the man’s lifetime that never mention him having any obsession with Shakespeare, or that this was his purpose in releasing the starlings. Is it still possible? Technically yes. You’ll notice in the comments of that thread (at the time of this writing), that there was a tenuous connection between an 1889 essay on the “Extinction of Shakespeare” that in theory could have been read by Mr. Schieffelin and given him the idea. But why then did no one, including Mr. Schieffelin, ever write it down?

Until someone finds a document from Mr. Schieffelin’s lifetime, preferably with some direct connection to him, it is our belief that the starling story is false and people should stop telling it.

EDIT : We all know that “authority” to Google means people link to you. If you’ve got a permanent Shakespeare site of any sort (i.e. not just Twitter) and would like to see this story debunked once and for all, please consider linking this post. This will help drive it up in Google’s rankings so people googling for “Shakespeare starlings” will find the truth. Thanks!

Foreshadowing in Twelfth Night

~ duane ~ 4 Comments

Twelfth Night opens with Duke Orsino’s now famous line, “If music be the food of love, play on…”

In Act 1 Scene 2, when Viola decides to dress as a boy to enter into Orsino’s service, she tells the Captain that she will be of value to the Duke because, “I can sing and speak to him in many sorts of music.”

Have I just always missed the glaring significance of that line? Am I the one in the audience that’s not immediately saying, “Oooooo!  I bet they end up together!!!!”

Why does Viola dress as a man?

~ duane ~ Leave a comment

Twelfth Night opens with a shipwreck, but if you blink you’ll miss it. There’s no actual stage direction that says “And now a shipwreck happens,” unlike The Tempest which starts in exactly this way.

Instead, the first cue about what’s happened comes as Viola, the Captain and sailors enter (Act 1 Scene 2) and Viola asks, “What country is this?” and fears that her brother has drowned:

[Enter VIOLA, a Captain, and Sailors]

Viola. What country, friends, is this?

Captain. This is Illyria, lady.

Viola. And what should I do in Illyria?
My brother he is in Elysium.
Perchance he is not drown’d: what think you, sailors?

The Captain goes on to describe what he saw during the wreck, and gives Viola hope that her brother might indeed have survived (spoiler alert – he did!) But, still, that leaves Viola alone in a country unknown to her. The Captain tells her the story of the Lady Olivia and Duke Orsino. Viola wonders if she might become a servant for Olivia, but she is not seeing any visitors. So instead Viola decides that go into the service of Orsino, with the help of the Captain:

Conceal me what I am, and be my aid
For such disguise as haply shall become
The form of my intent. I’ll serve this duke:
Thou shall present me as an eunuch to him:
It may be worth thy pains; for I can sing
And speak to him in many sorts of music
That will allow me very worth his service.

She never says “help me dress like a boy”, of course, but it can be inferred from the clues (“conceal me what I am”, “present me as an eunuch to him”).

Viola as Cesario
Image via Wikimedia Commons

But why is this her plan? Surely there must be easier ways to survive in Illyria. There are a few theories:

  • It’s a matter of safety. She’s an unaccompanied woman in an unknown country (even though she is with the Captain, he’s still just a hired hand, not exactly a family member). She’ll meet with less trouble if people think she’s a man. This is the logic that one of Shakespeare’s other cross-dressing heroines, Rosalind, uses in As You Like It:

Rosalind. Alas, what danger will it be to us,
Maids as we are, to travel forth so far!
Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold.

Celia. I’ll put myself in poor and mean attire,
And with a kind of umber smirch my face;
The like do you; so shall we pass along,
And never stir assailants.

Rosalind. Were it not better,
Because that I am more than common tall,
That I did suit me all points like a man?
A gallant curtle-axe upon my thigh,
A boar spear in my hand; and- in my heart
Lie there what hidden woman’s fear there will-
We’ll have a swashing and a martial outside,
As many other mannish cowards have
That do outface it with their semblances.

  • She needs money. Viola’s first thought is to go into the service of Olivia until she can get her own situation together:

Viola. O that I served that lady
And might not be delivered to the world,
Till I had made mine own occasion mellow,
What my estate is!

  • The Captain’s description of the story between Orsino and Olivia has captivated Viola’s attention, and she wants to insert herself into the story. She believes that she will be of value to the Duke because she “can sing, and speak to him in many different sorts of music” and also “what else may hap to time,” so it’s quite possible that she’s already thinking about trying to play matchmaker.

 

 

How did Lady Macbeth die?

~ duane ~ 1 Comment
Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth
John Singer Sargent [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

How does Lady Macbeth die? It’s easy to miss when and how Lady Macbeth dies because, like so many other major characters, she dies off stage, and a lesser character reports her death.

Lady Macbeth, a pivotal character in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, is a fascinating blend of ambition, manipulation, and eventual descent into madness. From the moment she learns of the prophecy foretelling Macbeth’s rise to the throne, she becomes the driving force behind his bloody path to power. Her unwavering determination and skillful manipulation push her husband towards regicide, yet her conscience unravels as guilt consumes her. Lady Macbeth’s haunting soliloquies and sleepwalking scenes vividly depict her mental and emotional breakdown. Through her character, Shakespeare explores the corrupting nature of unchecked ambition, revealing the devastating consequences it can inflict upon both the individual and those around them.

When does Lady Macbeth die?

In this case, the news comes in Act 5 Scene 5, when Macbeth hears a scream and sends Seyton to investigate. Seyton returns and famously says, “The queen, my lord, is dead.”

Macbeth does not ask how she died. Before the play ends, however, Malcolm gives more information about the circumstances in Act 5 Scene 8:

…Producing forth the cruel ministers
Of this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen,
Who, as ’tis thought, by self and violent hands
Took off her life;

Malcolm here appears to be confirming a rumor that Lady Macbeth killed herself. It is well established in other scenes that she has been slowly losing her mind. Shakespeare’s audience would have accepted that demons possessed her at this point, and no additional detail would have been necessary.

Lady Macbeth’s unrelenting guilt, stemming from her involvement in Duncan’s murder and the subsequent bloodshed, becomes an overwhelming burden. Haunted by her conscience, she descends into madness as the weight of her actions takes a toll on her mental well-being, ultimately leading to her tragic decision to end her own life.

Conclusion

Although her demise occurs off-stage and is reported by a lesser character, the circumstances surrounding Lady Macbeth’s death leave a lasting impact.

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How did Cordelia die?

~ duane ~ 1 Comment

It’s not uncommon for Shakespeare’s characters to die offstage, no matter how significant the character is. Unfortunately, this can make it difficult to understand how that character died. There’s a world of difference between seeing someone drink poison and someone running on stage to announce, “She’s dead, she drank poison!”

So it is with King Lear‘s Cordelia. Her death, and the way Shakespeare chooses to present it, is easily one of the most tragic scenes ever put on stage.

King Lear with Cordelia's dead body
Image via Wikimedia Commons

Edmund has captured Lear and Cordelia, but Lear doesn’t even seem to mind because he’s so happy to be with the daughter that he thought had left him forever. As they are taken away to prison, he says:

Lear. No, no, no, no! Come, let’s away to prison.
We two alone will sing like birds i’ th’ cage.
When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down
And ask of thee forgiveness. So we’ll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues
Talk of court news; and we’ll talk with them too-
Who loses and who wins; who’s in, who’s out-
And take upon ‘s the mystery of things,
As if we were God’s spies; and we’ll wear out,
In a wall’d prison, packs and sects of great ones
That ebb and flow by th’ moon.

Edmund is challenged to a duel by a mysterious opponent who turns out to be his brother Edgar. Edmund is defeated and tries to make amends for the wrongs he has committed before he dies. He tells his guards:

Edmund. I pant for life. Some good I mean to do,
Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send
(Be brief in’t) to the castle; for my writ
Is on the life of Lear and on Cordelia.
Nay, send in time.

“My writ is on [their] lives” means that he has ordered their execution.  Quickly, messengers are dispatched to the prison to stop the order.

What happens next? Does the messenger arrive in time? No, this is a tragedy; we know that’s not the case. Does a messenger return and say, “Too late!”  No. That would be too easy. (This is exactly how the end of Romeo and Juliet plays out, with that glimmer of hope that Romeo will reach Juliet in time…)

King Lear enters, carrying the lifeless body of his daughter, and the audience sees for themselves that it is too late.

Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stone.
Had I your tongues and eyes, I’ld use them so
That heaven’s vault should crack. She’s gone for ever!
I know when one is dead, and when one lives.
She’s dead as earth. Lend me a looking glass.
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives.

If the question is how exactly did Cordelia die, her father answers it while weeping over her body, conversing with her as if she is still with him:

Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all!
I might have sav’d her; now she’s gone for ever!
Cordelia, Cordelia! stay a little. Ha!
What is’t thou say’st, Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle, and low- an excellent thing in woman.
I kill’d the slave that was a-hanging thee.

That last line provides the detail – they were in the process of hanging Cordelia when he attempted to rescue her.