Today marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. More importantly is the opportunity to celebrate his legacy. What an afterlife! 400 years later and his writing lives on. I know I’m not alone in wishing that, as a writer, my own work could ever hope to live on for even half as long, “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come” (Hamlet).
Celebrating Shakespeare at work with costume fun
Of course, here in England, there’ll be events happening all around London and in Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon this weekend. Yesterday at work my colleagues and I in the English department dressed up to celebrate ‘Shakefest’. Any guesses which character I dressed up as? A couple of clues: the gold headband is to show the character’s wealth and the blue-green colouring is to suggest her Mediterranean heritage. Got it? Not to worry, for “the game is up”. (Act III, Scene III, Cymbeline). Read on to find the answer…
… Portia from ‘The Merchant of Venice’! Intelligent, beautiful, in love with the handsome Bassanio and is courageous in court, disguised as a lawyer, Balthazar, with her intelligent arguments. Speaking of lawyers (and after my recent litigation) I find another Shakespeare quote very apt: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”. – (Act IV, Scene II, King Henry the Sixth, Part II). If only!
Leilanie Stewart 