探花直播 of Cambridge - English literature

John Milton's notes identified in an influential book he once owned

ta385 — Wed, 15 May 2024 15:00:00 +0000

John Milton鈥檚 handwritten annotations have been identified in a copy of Holinshed's Chronicles, a vital source of inspiration for the Paradise Lost poet. 探花直播discovery, made by a team including Cambridge's Prof. Jason Scott-Warren, includes a rare example of prudish censorship.

Murder by the Book: a celebration of 20th century British crime fiction

sjr81 — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 16:34:21 +0000

Priceless first editions and Agatha Christie artefacts on display at Cambridge 探花直播 Library.

探花直播poetry scholar, the Black Atlantic and the Trembling Hand

cg605 — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 17:37:57 +0000

Mathelinda Nabugodi investigates the impact of colonialism and the slave trade on Romantic poets. Her research has taken her into the archives with unexpected results.

Memes-field Park? 鈥楧igital natives鈥� are flirting with Jane Austen鈥檚 vision of the ideal man all over again

tdk25 — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 09:35:35 +0000

In a newly-published analysis, literature specialists examined the phenomenon of internet memes about Jane Austen and her fictional creations, in particular those from Pride and Prejudice and, above all, Mr Darcy.

Austen鈥檚 work is 鈥榤emed鈥� 鈥� turned into bite-sized, ironic snippets of online content 鈥� more than almost any other author of classic fiction. Darcy alone features in hundreds of memes on social platforms like Pinterest and Tumblr, most of which draw on two famous portrayals: by Colin Firth in the 1995 BBC series of Pride and Prejudice and Matthew MacFadyen in the 2005 film.

Moments from both are relentlessly recycled by online content creators, the study observes. One example, clipped from Firth鈥檚 famous 鈥�lake scene鈥�, claims: 鈥淎 truth universally acknowledged: you either love Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, or you鈥檙e wrong鈥�. Another repurposes a well-known meme template of Wolverine, from the Marvel X-Men comics, to show the muscular superhero pining over MacFadyen鈥檚 famous 鈥榟and-flex鈥� 鈥� which is sometimes regarded as the steamiest scene in cinema.

探花直播study suggests Austen has become a social media phenomenon for two main reasons. One is that her books effectively contained memes-in-waiting before the concept existed. 探花直播other is that younger generations are reappraising traditional ideas about masculinity in the wake of high-profile sexual abuse cases, such as those highlighted by the #MeToo movement. Darcy, the authors of the analysis argue, has become emblematic of an alternative 鈥榠deal man鈥�: a strong, yet sensitive, reformed hero who learns to control his emotions to positive ends.

探花直播idea for the study came from two Greek scholars 鈥� Katerina Kitsi-Mitakou (Aristotle 探花直播 of Thessaloniki) and Maria Vara (Athens School of Fine Arts) who had previously contributed to a book, 探花直播Reception of Jane Austen in Europe and continued to follow trends in how her novels are consumed by modern audiences. Georgios Chatziavgerinos, a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Education, 探花直播 of Cambridge, who is researching representations of masculinity in media, joined the study after inundating his two co-authors with the latest Austen memes on social platforms.

聽鈥淟ots of authors are memed, but Austen memes have become a cult of their own,鈥� Chatziavgerinos said. 鈥淎 whole generation of young adults have grown up in a digital world where they use this sort of content to bond over shared values. Among classic authors, Austen is probably second only to Shakespeare in terms of how much this happens with her work. We wanted to understand why.鈥�

As other researchers have explained, memes often enable fans of a particular artist or genre to discuss and satirise contemporary life through the prism of fandom. 探花直播study argues that the big themes in Austen novels 鈥� such as love, marriage, codes of behaviour, and private desire 鈥� provide ideal material through which younger audiences can discuss ideas about masculinity and femininity, sexual consent and non-conformity.

At one level, this is nothing new. Darcy鈥檚 brooding 鈥榓lternative masculinity鈥�, and the way he is motivated by his love for Elizabeth Bennett to become a better version of himself, has long provoked the sort of fan-worship that, for example, prompted 鈥�Darcymania鈥� around Firth in the 1990s.

探花直播quantity of memes alluding to Darcy鈥檚 complexity, inner struggles and vulnerabilities has spiked in recent years, however. MacFadyen鈥檚 celebrated, electrified hand-flex after meeting Keira Knightley鈥檚 Elizabeth Bennett for the first time in the 2005 movie, for example, now has its own dedicated blog on Tumblr. Fans often contest which of Firth and MacFadyen was better: one post by the Jane Austen Centre, accompanied by the caption, 鈥淗e may be Darcy鈥� but I was Darcy Firth鈥�, provoked thousands of responses on Facebook.

探花直播study鈥檚 authors suggest that Darcy鈥檚 hidden depths have acquired new meaning since #MeToo exposed the extent to which women experience harassment and sexual assault, especially from men in positions of power. 鈥淚t鈥檚 no coincidence these memes skyrocketed after #MeToo,鈥� Chatziavgerinos said. 鈥淒arcy, who balances conventional male qualities with sensitivity and respect for women, is in many ways the perfect antidote to the male behaviour that legitimately prompted such outcry.鈥�

More generally, the study suggests that Jane Austen is highly memeable because she was doing something very similar in her books to what memes do today. 鈥淢emes are cultural replicators that give audiences mini-bursts of irony,鈥� Kitsi-Mitakou said. 鈥淎usten鈥檚 writing foreshadows this because she often recontextualised other work to tell new truths about society.鈥�

A good example is Northanger Abbey鈥檚 parody of Gothic novels, which were wildly popular in Austen鈥檚 lifetime. Austen sent up these books鈥� penchant for dark and stormy nights and damsels in distress, and in particular the social stereotypes they encouraged.

Some scenes in the book were absorbed by Regency audiences much as memes might be now, the study argues. One moment in which the heroine, Catherine Tilney, opens a suspicious chest she expects to be full of secrets, only to find an old laundry list, has itself become the basis of a popular meme about frustrated expectations.

鈥淣orthanger Abbey hovers between authenticity and fakeness much as Austen memes do,鈥� Vara said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 the same playful fakery, the same slightly ironic nostalgia.鈥�

探花直播study鈥檚 authors suggest that, like the TV and film adaptations before them, Austen memes are 鈥渟educing鈥� a new generation of 鈥渘on-Janeites鈥� into her world through a new medium.

鈥淥bviously I鈥檇 urge everyone to read the books, but what鈥檚 interesting is that often you need to have done so in order to really understand these memes,鈥� Chatziavgerinos said. 鈥淢emes are now becoming one of the main ways in which younger audiences discover Jane Austen. They are breathing new life into her work and further cementing her immortality as a writer.鈥�

探花直播study is published in the journal Humanities.

Know about the Darcy hand-flex? Remember that lake scene with Colin Firth? For 200 years, audiences have been swooning over different portrayals of Mr Darcy, Jane Austen鈥檚 iconic male hero. Now, he and Austen鈥檚 work in general are experiencing yet another rebirth: this time as the 鈥榤eme idols鈥� of 鈥榙igitally native鈥� millennials and Generation Z.

Lots of authors are memed, but Austen memes have become a cult of their own

Georgios Chatziavgerinos

Mr. Darcy Holds Elizabeth's Hand - Pride & Prejudice | RomComs

Pickering & Greatbatch

Engraving of scene from Pride and Prejudice

探花直播text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright 漏探花直播 of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified.聽 All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways 鈥� as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Submissions open for BBC National Short Story Award and BBC Young Writers鈥� Award with Cambridge 探花直播

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 12:14:44 +0000

探花直播BBC National Short Story Award is one of the most prestigious for a single short story, with the winning author receiving 拢15,000, and four further shortlisted authors 拢600 each. 探花直播stories will be broadcast on Radio 4 and published in an anthology by Comma Press.

探花直播2020 winner of the BBC National Short Story Award was Sarah Hall for 鈥� 探花直播Grotesques鈥�, a timeless and unsettling story set against a backdrop of privilege and inequality in a university town. This was the second win for Hall who also won the prize in 2013. Previous alumni of the award include Lionel Shriver, Zadie Smith, Hilary Mantel, Jon McGregor, Ingrid Persaud, Cynan Jones and Jo Lloyd.

探花直播writers shortlisted for the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award have their stories narrated by an actor, recorded for a BBC podcast, and published in an anthology. 探花直播winner of the 2020 BBC Young Writers鈥� Award was Lottie Mills for her story inspired by her experience of disability, 鈥� 探花直播Changeling.鈥� Both winning stories are available to listen to on BBC Sounds.

This is the first year of a new three-year partnership with the 探花直播 of Cambridge, including Cambridge 探花直播 Library, the Faculty of English, Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education and for the first time, the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Dr Lisa Mullen from the 探花直播鈥檚 Faculty of English and Director of Studies at Downing College said: 鈥� 探花直播探花直播 of Cambridge is delighted to be collaborating with the BBC again on these awards, and to support and nurture both new and established short-story writers.

鈥淪tories are at the heart of our shared human experience, and Cambridge's Faculty of English, Institute of Continuing Education, the 探花直播 Library and Fitzwilliam Museum all have a special interest in how this dynamic form of fiction responds to a changing world.鈥�

探花直播BBC National Short Story Award and BBC Young Writers鈥� Award are now open for submissions. Novelist and former Radio 4 Commissioning Editor for Arts James Runcie will chair the judging panel for the BBC National Short Story Award, an award that has enriched both the careers of writers and the wider literary landscape since its launch sixteen years ago.

Runcie said: 鈥淚 am so delighted to chair the 2021 BBC National Short Story Awards. We need imaginative alternatives in these dark times: stories that question and surprise and open up new worlds.

鈥淭hey can be short or long. They can take place in the past, present, future, or even all three at once. They can be set in a nutshell or in infinite space. But what I think we鈥檒l be looking for is uniqueness of vision, a distinctive tone, curiosity, intrigue, surprise: an invitation to the reader鈥檚 imagination. I can鈥檛 wait to get started.鈥�

Chair of the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award with Cambridge 探花直播 is BBC Radio 1 Presenter Katie Thistleton. She chairs the judging panel for the teenage award for the fourth time as it opens for submissions for the seventh year. Thistleton is a writer and the co-host of Radio 1鈥檚 Life Hacks and 探花直播Official Chart: First Look on Radio 1. 探花直播BBC Young Writers鈥� Award is open to writers between the ages of 14-18 years.

Thistleton said: 鈥淚鈥檓 really looking forward to chairing the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award with Cambridge 探花直播 again for 2021. As a keen writer myself, and someone who loved entering writing competitions when I was younger, I know how important and exciting this opportunity is.鈥�

Runcie and Thistleton will be joined by a group of acclaimed writers and critics on their respective panels.

For the BBC National Short Story Award: Booker Prize shortlisted novelist Fiona Mozley; award winning writer, poet and winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize, Derek Owusu; multi-award winning Irish novelist and short story writer, Donal Ryan; and returning judge, Di Speirs, Books Editor at BBC Radio.

For the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award, Thistleton will be joined by bestselling, highly acclaimed Irish YA author, Louise O鈥橬eill; twenty-year old singer-songwriter Arlo Parks; Sunday Times bestselling author and actor Robert Webb; and Guardian Children鈥檚 Fiction Award winner Alex Wheatle.

Full Terms and Conditions for the NSSA and YWA are available with submissions accepted online at www.bbc.co.uk/nssa and www.bbc.co.uk/ywa. The聽deadline for receipt of entries for the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge 探花直播 is聽9am (GMT) Monday 15th March 2021. The聽deadline for receipt of entries for the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award with Cambridge 探花直播 is聽9am (GMT) Monday 22nd March 2021.聽

探花直播shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge 探花直播 will be announced on BBC Radio 4鈥檚 Front Row聽at聽7.15pm on Friday 10th September 2021. 探花直播shortlist for the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award with Cambridge 探花直播 will be announced on Radio 1鈥檚 Life Hacks from聽4pm on Sunday 19th September 2021.

探花直播stories shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge 探花直播 will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from Monday 13th to Friday 17th September 2021 from 3.30pm to 4pm.

探花直播announcement of the聽winners of the two awards will be broadcast live from the award ceremony at BBC Broadcasting House on BBC Radio 4鈥檚聽Front Row聽from 7.15pm on聽Tuesday 5th October 2021.

Novelist James聽Runcie聽and broadcaster Katie聽Thistleton聽will chair the judging panels for聽the 2021 BBC National Short Story Award and BBC Young Writers鈥� Award with Cambridge 探花直播, and submissions are now open.

Stories are at the heart of our shared human experience, and Cambridge's Faculty of English, Institute of Continuing Education, the 探花直播 Library and Fitzwilliam Museum all have a special interest in how this dynamic form of fiction responds to a changing world

Dr Lucy Mullen

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Shakespeare鈥檚 mystery annotator identified as John Milton

ta385 — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 13:33:51 +0000

It is well known that Shakespeare was a huge influence on Milton. From learning how to write nature poetry to creating charismatic villains, Milton鈥檚 debt to his forebear continues to fascinate experts. 探花直播younger poet once praised the 'wonder and astonishment'聽that this 'great heir of fame'聽conjured up in his readers.聽

But now, Jason Scott-Warren from Cambridge鈥檚 English Faculty believes he has identified even more tangible evidence of this connection. 探花直播realisation began when Scott-Warren read an article by Professor Claire Bourne about an anonymous annotator of a Shakespeare First Folio housed in the Free Library of Philadelphia鈥檚 Rare Book Department.

Bourne dated the annotator to the mid-17th century and shared images of the handwritten notes. These include suggested corrections, cross-references to other works and the addition of material such as the prologue to Romeo and Juliet. Studying these, Scott-Warren was struck by how closely they resembled known examples of Milton鈥檚 handwriting and after identifying numerous compelling similarities, he decided to share his theory in a blog post for Cambridge鈥檚 Centre for Material Texts, of which he is Director.聽

Milton is known to have made similarly intelligent and assiduous annotations in other books that survive from his library, but the evidence that Scott-Warren presents is strictly palaeographical. It includes the observation that in both the First Folio and in Milton鈥檚 handwriting, the right foot of an 鈥榟鈥� misses the ground before it heads up into an 鈥榚鈥�.

Even more convincingly, Scott-Warren points out that 鈥淢ilton has an enlarged italic hand, sometimes rather scratchy, sometimes quite elegant, that he uses for headings and suchlike.鈥� 探花直播researcher compares, for example, the 鈥楻鈥� in the speech-heading for 鈥楻omeo鈥� in the Folio to a remarkably similar and distinctive 鈥楻鈥� from Milton鈥檚鈥榗ommonplace book鈥�, a handwritten compilation of quotes and notes from the books that he was reading between the 1630s and 1660s.

Scott-Warren offered up his theory tentatively, admitting that further work would be needed to prove it beyond doubt. But several Milton experts from around the world have already expressed their enthusiastic support and offered further evidence.

Dr William Poole from New College Oxford says: 鈥淣ot only does this hand look like Milton鈥檚, but it behaves like Milton鈥檚 writing elsewhere does, doing exactly the things Milton does when he annotates books, and using exactly the same marks.鈥澛犅�

"I was gathering evidence with my heart in my mouth,鈥� Scott-Warren says. 鈥淣ow, every day someone is suggesting a new similarity. I feel 100% sure, but there are still people out there who remain to be convinced.鈥�

As well as displaying many textual annotations, the folio contains line markings which record the annotator鈥檚 lively engagement with plays including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, 探花直播Tempest and King Lear. Scott-Warren says: 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know why he鈥檚 singled out a passage for attention, but it forces you to think your way into Milton鈥檚 head and it chimes with a lot of what goes on in his poetry. You can really see him constructing himself through Shakespeare.鈥�

In 探花直播Tempest, the annotator highlighted the song: 'Come unto these yellow sands, / And then take hands: / Courtsied when you have and kiss鈥檇 / 探花直播wild waves whist.'聽探花直播unusual rhyme, of 'kiss鈥檇'聽and 'whist', is echoed in Milton鈥檚 On the Morning of Christ鈥檚 Nativity: ' 探花直播winds with wonder whist, / Smoothly the waters kist.'

Scott-Warren says: 鈥淭o see him marking it in the text and responding to it gives you a sense of his sensitivity and alertness to Shakespeare.鈥澛�

探花直播First Folio, the first collected edition of Shakespeare鈥檚 plays, was published in 1623, seven years after his death, when Milton himself was fifteen. Around 750 were printed but only 233 are known to survive. Scott-Warren is now intending to collaborate with Professor Bourne on a series of articles about the findings.

John Milton was admitted to Christ's College Cambridge in 1624, gaining his BA in 1628 and his MA in 1632.

A Cambridge literary scholar suggests that the handwriting on a Shakespeare First Folio in Philadelphia matches that of the Paradise Lost poet, John Milton.

It shows you the first-hand encounter between two great writers, which you don鈥檛 often get to see

Jason Scott-Warren

Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadephia

探花直播prologue to Romeo and Juliet, transcribed on the last page of Titus Andronicus because it was omitted from the First Folio. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadephia

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Submissions open for BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge 探花直播

sjr81 — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 15:31:35 +0000

探花直播BBC National Short Story Award is one of the most prestigious prizes for a single short story, with the winning author receiving 拢15,000, and four further shortlisted authors 拢600 each. 探花直播stories are broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in an anthology.

探花直播2018 winner of the BBC National Short Story Award was Trinidadian writer Ingrid Persaud, who won for 探花直播Sweet Sop, her 鈥榯ender and ebullient鈥� story about a father-son relationship. Persaud鈥檚 2018 victory was announced during a live broadcast of BBC Radio 4鈥檚 Front Row from Cambridge 探花直播鈥檚 West Road Concert Hall, with the winner of the 2018 BBC Young Writers鈥� Award with First Story and Cambridge 探花直播 also revealed, before a reception at Cambridge 探花直播 Library.

Previous alumni include Lionel Shriver, Zadie Smith, Hilary Mantel, Jon McGregor and William Trevor.

This year marks the 14th year of the award with broadcaster Nikki Bedi chairing the judging panel for 2019. Nikki is a television and radio broadcaster who writes and presents 探花直播Arts Hour on BBC World Service and BBC Radio London. Her counterpart on the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award with First Story and Cambridge 探花直播 (YWA) is BBC Radio 1 and CBBC鈥檚 Book Club presenter Katie Thistleton, who will chair the judging panel for the teenage award for the second time as it opens for submissions for the fifth year.

Bedi and Thistleton will be joined by an esteemed group of award-winning writers and artists on their respective panels. For the BBC National Short Story Award: novelist and writer of narrative non-fiction, Richard Beard; short story writer, novelist and youngest author to be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Daisy Johnson; screenwriter, novelist and 2017 BBC National Short Story Award winner, Cynan Jones; and returning judge, Di Speirs, Books Editor at BBC Radio.

For the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award, Thistleton will lead former teacher and Betty Trask Award winner, Anthony Cartwright; Waterstones Prize and YA Bookseller Prize-winning writer, Patrice Lawrence; winner of the Waterstones Children鈥檚 Book Prize and British Book Awards Children鈥檚 Book of the Year children鈥檚 author, Kiran Millwood Hargrave; and writer, rapper and world-record breaking human beatboxer, Testament.

James Gazzard, Director of Cambridge鈥檚 Institute of Continuing Education, home to the Centre for Creative Writing, said: 鈥淐ambridge has produced great writers for many hundreds of years, and we look forward聽to discovering the new and diverse writers these awards give a voice to.

鈥淭his collaboration with the BBC and First Story contributes to the 探花直播鈥檚 and our Vice-Chancellor鈥檚 commitment of opening up Cambridge to all, to nurturing talent in new ways, while drawing on the unique teaching and academic environment that the 探花直播 famously provides. We were delighted with the numbers of writers who decided to take part last year. 探花直播success of First Story鈥檚 Young Writer鈥檚 Festival on our Sidgwick Site 鈥� as well as our own Short Story Festival at Madingley Hall 鈥� proved that the form is not only alive and well, but thriving.鈥�

Nikki Bedi, Chair of the 2019 BBC National Short Story Award Judging Panel, said 鈥� 探花直播short story is my favourite form of literature and there is nothing more delicious and perfect for me than devouring, digesting and loving a surprising and perfectly formed short story. From sneakily reading my parents鈥� copies of Roald Dahl鈥檚 dark works when I was far too young, I developed a taste for the form that has never left me.

"There are so many undiscovered voices and stories waiting to be told out there and we鈥檒l be in the privileged position of receiving and reading them. I鈥檓 looking forward to works that transport me to new places, physically and culturally.鈥�

探花直播writers shortlisted for the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award have their stories broadcast on a special Radio 1鈥檚 Life Hacks Podcast, and published in an anthology. Entrants can access a virtual treasure trove for writing inspiration courtesy of Cambridge 探花直播 Library鈥檚 specially curated digital archive. 探花直播winner of the 2018 Young Writers鈥� Award was 17-year-old Davina Bacon for her 鈥榗ompassionate鈥� and 鈥榠ntelligent鈥� story Under a Deep Blue Sky. 探花直播previous winners are Brennig Davies for Skinning, Lizzie Freestone for Ode to a Boy Musician and 2017 winner, Elizabeth Ryder for 探花直播Roses.

In addition, the BBC Student Critics鈥� Award with First Story and Cambridge 探花直播 (SCA) launches today and calls for applications. 2018 saw 600 16鈥�18-year-old students from 40 schools flex their critical muscles as they read, discussed and critiqued the five shortlisted NSSA stories. For 2019, this activity is being extended to encourage wider community link-ups between schools, colleges, libraries and bookshops around the UK.

Full Terms and Conditions for the NSSA and YWA are available with submissions accepted online at www.bbc.co.uk/nssa and www.bbc.co.uk/ywa from 9am (GMT), 13th December 2018. 探花直播Terms and Conditions for the BBC Student Critics鈥� Award can be found here. The聽deadline for receipt of entries for the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge 探花直播 is聽9am (GMT) Monday, 11th March, 2019. The聽deadline for receipt of entries for the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award with First Story and Cambridge 探花直播 is聽9am (GMT), Monday, 25th March, 2019. 探花直播deadline for receipt of applications for the BBC Student Critics鈥� Award with First Story and Cambridge 探花直播 is 9am (GMT), Monday, 1st April, 2019.

探花直播shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge 探花直播 will be announced on BBC Radio 4鈥檚 Front Row聽at聽7.15pm on Friday, 6th September, 2019. Readings of the shortlisted stories will broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from Monday 9th to Friday 13th September and interviews with the shortlisted writers will air from Friday, 6th September, 2019 on Front Row. 探花直播shortlist for the BBC Young Writers鈥� Award with First Story and Cambridge 探花直播 will be announced on Radio 1鈥檚 Life Hacks from 4pm on Sunday, 22nd September, 2019.

探花直播announcement of the聽winners of the BBC National Short Story Award and BBC Young Writers鈥� Award will be broadcast live from the Award ceremony in BBC Broadcasting House on BBC Radio 4鈥檚 Front Row聽from 7.15pm on聽Tuesday, 1st October, 2019.

聽

Booker Prize shortlistee Daisy Johnson and beatboxer Testament have today been announced as judges of the BBC鈥檚 National Short Story Award聽and Young Writers鈥� Award with Cambridge 探花直播 and First Story 鈥� as submissions for the 2019 competitions open.

Cambridge has produced great writers for many hundreds of years, and we look forward to discovering the new and diverse writers these awards give a voice to.

James Gazzard

2018 winner Ingrid Persaud accepts her award at the West Road ceremony earlier this year.

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Into the woods with Shakespeare

amb206 — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 23:00:00 +0000

Fear and forests, writes Shakespeare scholar Professor Anne Barton, go hand in hand. Forests are where we get lost and meet wild men, where chaos rules and anything can happen. Shakespeare uses forest settings, sometimes magical, sometimes menacing, in many of his plays. In As You Like It, the Forest of Arden is a place of freedom, transformation and love 鈥� but also hardship for the shepherds who work there. When in Macbeth Birnam Wood does come to Dunsinane, Macbeth knows he is doomed.

Barton, who died in 2013, was Professor of English and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Her many published works included Essays, Mainly Shakespearean (1994) and Ben Jonson, Dramatist (1984), and she was also an influential editor of Shakespeare鈥檚 plays. She was vitally interested in performance and staging, and her work has substantially altered and enriched the ways in which Shakespeare and other early modern dramatists have been understood and performed.

Now Cambridge 探花直播 Press has published 探花直播Shakespearean Forest, Anne Barton鈥檚 final book, based in part on her Clark Lectures in 2003. It has been prepared for publication by Dr Hester Lees-Jeffries, a former research assistant to Barton and now a Shakespeare scholar herself, and a 探花直播 Lecturer in the Faculty of English. In an editor鈥檚 note, Lees-Jeffries describes Barton鈥檚 seminars, held in her beautiful rooms at Trinity College, as often intimidating but always with a sense of occasion.

Woods and forests聽in the English language

探花直播six chapters of 探花直播Shakespearean Forest set the playwright鈥檚 work within a historical, social and literary world of forests, as well as exploring the surviving evidence for the ways in which forests might have been staged in the early modern theatre. 探花直播opening chapter reminds us how big a part woodland plays in the story of the British Isles. 探花直播English language is rich with references to wood and woods. We talk about 鈥榥ot being able to see the wood for the trees鈥� and 鈥榥ot being out of the woods yet鈥�. We 鈥榯ouch wood鈥� to forestall ill fortune.

If Britain is wooded today, it was much more so in Shakespeare鈥檚 lifetime. 探花直播names of these forests and woods entered the lexicon. 探花直播maiden name of Shakespeare鈥檚 mother Anne was Arden. His birthplace, the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, was once surrounded by the ancient woodland of the Forest of Arden. It was even said that a squirrel could jump from tree to tree right across the county of Warwickshire.

But this forest was already in decline in Shakespeare鈥檚 time. Trees provided timber for house and ship building, fuel for cooking and heating. In his Description of England in 1587, William Harrison commented that both England and Wales 鈥渉ave sometimes been very well replenished with great woods and groves, although at this time the said commodity be not a little decayed in both鈥�. 聽

Shakespeare wrote for the 鈥榳ooden O鈥�, as the open-air, timber-framed Globe Theatre is described in the Prologue to Henry V. 探花直播origin of many of our current environmental anxieties can be found in the early modern period, and in the writings of Shakespeare and his contemporaries; they too were concerned by deforestation and pollution. Like the theatre itself, the forest is a place of transformation, growth and change.

Hunters, poachers聽and wild men of the woods

Forests were all about hunting 鈥� a pastime seen as preparation for warfare. Complex laws gave royalty rights and privileges to hunt deer and boar. Elizabeth I was a keen hunter, as well as being readily associated by poets in her courtly cult with Diana, virgin goddess of the hunt. Her successor James鈥� passion for the chase, writes Barton, 鈥渧erged on the pathological鈥�. He even insisted on being lowered into the gaping bellies of dead stags in the belief that the blood would strengthen his ankles.

Poaching was widespread and, though illegal, was not regarded as socially disreputable. 探花直播gentry, and even nobility, engaged in poaching 鈥� either for fun or to pursue family vendettas. Popular tradition holds that Shakespeare, too, may have been a poacher in his youth. Barton paints a vivid portrait of a group of poachers as a motley crew of unruly thrill-seekers united by blood-thirsty machismo.

鈥淗eavily armed [鈥 accompanied by a remarkably democratic mixture of friends, eager household servants, and people from the local village (sometimes including the vicar), men who had deer parks of their own, regularly broke into those of their neighbours, viciously assaulting keepers and killing more game than they could carry away.鈥�

More benignly, green men and woodwoses (wild men of the woods) are key characters in the dramatis personae encountered in fields, woods and forests. In medieval churches and cathedrals, leaf masks are carved into stonework as decorative motifs, stubborn leftovers from a pagan past. They are, observes Barton, 鈥渞eminders that forests are places of transformation, where the boundary between human life and that of animals, plants or trees are likely to become confused, or even obliterated鈥�.

While for other dramatists, wild men were 鈥渁 vogue that peaked and faded鈥�, writes Barton, 鈥淪hakespeare鈥檚 interest in wild men seems to have extended throughout his writing career, taking in Oliver [As You Like It], Timon [Timon of Athens], the dancers in Bohemia [ 探花直播Winter鈥檚 Tale], Caliban [ 探花直播Tempest], Cardenio [ 探花直播History of Cardenio] and (in a sense) Herne the Hunter in 探花直播Merry Wives of Windsor.鈥� Elsewhere in the book she explores the various traditions of Robin Hood and Merlin the enchanter, both of whom make appearances in plays by Shakespeare鈥檚 contemporaries, including Ben Jonson.

How did Shakespeare bring the forest to his audiences?

A central question of Barton鈥檚 work is how Shakespeare might have brought the physicality of forest and woodland to the stage. There is no documentary evidence to show how early performances of Shakespeare鈥檚 plays led audiences deep into the woods. 探花直播only clue comes from the Netherlands in form of an engraving, dated 1635, which shows an elaborate indoor stage at a fair. In the background two tall trees are visible, perhaps waiting their moment in the next scene.

To exemplify the effort and expense invested in creating spectacular entertainment, Barton describes in detail the extraordinary artificial forest commissioned by Henry VIII for a pageant performed to celebrate the birth of a son on New Year鈥檚 Day 1511. 鈥楲a Forrest Salvigne鈥� took the form of a rolling stage (requiring 40 men to propel it) complete with a magnificent forest from which the king and three companions appeared, mounted on horseback and fully armed.

According to meticulous accounts kept by an official, this forest comprised 12 hawthorns, 12 oaks, 12 hazels, 10 maples. 10 birches, 16 dozen fern roots and branches, 60 broom stalks and 16 furze bushes. Also present were 6 fir trees, holly, ivy, fennel stalks and 2,400 acorns and hazelnuts. Most of these items (including the nuts and acorns) were not gathered from the countryside but man-made. As Barton writes: 鈥� 探花直播individual shapes and sizes of its myriad leaves, for instance, were delicately cut from fine sarsnet, a fine silk material, and then backed with stiffened paper.鈥�

Barton鈥檚 interest in the staging of Shakespeare鈥檚 plays reflects the way her own life brought together the worlds of theatre and academia, not least in her marriage to the director John Barton. In an afterword to 探花直播Shakespearean Forest, Shakespeare scholar Professor Peter Holland writes that many of Barton鈥檚 students became actors and directors and that many of her research students (including Holland himself) wrote dissertations centrally concerned with the questions of performance in early modern drama.

Holland writes: 鈥淧erformance inflected her approach to plays and nothing in her writing [鈥 allowed plays to be analysed as if their narratives could be divorced from the rhythms of performance.鈥�

探花直播Shakespearean Forest by Anne Barton is published by Cambridge 探花直播 Press.

Inset image: map of Warwickshire from ' 探花直播theatre of the empire of Great Britaine' (1611) (Atlas 2.61.1, Cambridge 探花直播 Library)

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探花直播Shakespearean Forest reimagines the real forests that our greatest playwright evoked in his works.聽探花直播final book of renowned scholar, Anne Barton,聽it explores the changeable and sometimes sinister presence of the forest in literature and culture.

Forests are places of transformation, where the boundary between human life and that of animals, plants or trees are likely to become confused, or even obliterated.

Anne Barton

Glasgow 探花直播 Archive

Henry Peacham, 'Silvius', from Minerva Britanna (1612)

探花直播text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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