I’ve got a thing going on…with
William Shakespeare.
Yes, I’ve been spending quite a bit
of time with the Bard recently. I’ve always had a special affinity for Will,
but over the past six months it has become a more intimate relationship.
As in, I’ve been borrowing his
words, his lines, even the superstitions surrounding at least one of his plays.
And, like people all over the
world, I’m celebrating William Shakespeare this month. This Saturday it will be
400 years since he died—April 23, 1616.
My love for Shakespeare’s work led
me to set my new cozy mystery series in a fictional American small town
renowned for its Shakespeare Festival. I’m borrowing the Bard’s words for my
titles, and am having a wonderful time weaving Shakespeare’s words and quite a
bit of Bard trivia throughout the books.
But when I set out to write this
series I had missed the fact that this month, the month the first two books in
the Stratford Upon Avondale Mysteries were
released, was also the month the world would be celebrating the 400th
anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. So, I can’t help but celebrate along with
the world. I mean, I’m taking my titles straight from him, I’m quoting his
sonnets and plays in my books, I owe him a little celebration!
However, if I’m celebrating the
great writer’s life because I’ve been quoting him left and right, then you,
dear reader, should too. You quote him daily. Have you been feeling a little generous
lately? Gone on a rant about something? Taken the kids
out to watch for shooting stars? Are you fashionable, or maybe instead, frugal?
Ever given into the green-eyed monster? Tempted to elbow your way to the
front of the line at Starbucks? Have any misgivings about a decision you
made? Written a love letter? There are hundreds of words and phrases
Shakespeare added to our language. We don’t go a day without borrowing some of
his words.
As a mystery writer, I’m also borrowing
from some of the curses associated with Will. In the second book in my series, COME, BITTER POISON, the famous Macbeth curse plays a role. In
researching it and its ‘remedies’, I knew my sleuth, Maggie O’Flynn, would have
to have a little run-in with this curse and its ramifications. Ever since Macbeth’s
opening night on August 7, 1606 when the young actor playing Lady Macbeth died
backstage before the show, the play has been haunted by superstitions and
rumors of curses. To this day, no one is to say the word Macbeth in a theater
except during the performance or rehearsal, otherwise tragedy is supposed to
befall someone associated with the speaker. The play may only be referred to as
‘the Scottish play,’ or ‘the Bard’s play.’ If someone does say Macbeth there
are remedies that must be performed to ward off evil, as Maggie unfortunately
discovers. The fact that the play contains scenes with witches performing
curses and spells most likely led to the superstitions that plague the play to
this day. Double, double toil and
trouble…
There have certainly been no curses
on William Shakespeare’s legacy. What is remarkable is that 400 years after
Shakespeare’s death we are still enamored with the glorious words and turns of
phrase he wrote. His plays are still produced the world over. Students still
study his work. We still speak the words he coined. And a little-known mystery
writer is using the words he wrote to title her books, and to flavor those
books.
So as we celebrate William
Shakespeare this month, let us raise a toast. “Heaven give you many, many merry days!” (The Merry Wives of
Windsor)
“All the world’s a stage, and all
the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances;
and one man in his time plays many parts…”
As You Like It
