E. Conclusion:The Lonely Watchmen

The Final Years

Shakespeare had experienced the lowest of lows and the highest of highs in His lifetime. He had accomplished everything He had wanted and dreamed, however it had come at a cost. We know from the section “subject” in this blog that Shakespeare was an entertainer at heart. The movie “The Prestige” shows an interesting fact about the complexity's of an entertainer. The movie is about the life of two competing magicians. The two main characters are obsessed with becoming the greatest Magicians and will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. One of the main characters named Bordon figures out a Chinese magician's trick that relies entirely on the man living his entire life as though he's a cripple. He's actually incredible strong, but the only way his trick works is if he's appears to his audience that he is physically unable to do it both in the performance and everyday life. Bordon understands this, because he's been doing the same thing for as long as we know him in this film to create the act that out does his rival, Alfred (the other main character). The moral of the movie is that great entertainment requires sacrificing yourself to your act and that it comes at a great cost. In the movie both the main characters (There is only main characters in the movie, no protagonists) lose those they love because their drive to be the greatest entertainer and it ends with Alfred losing his own life. We see evidence to the truth of the moral of that movie in American society. Movie stars can’t go anywhere or do anything (including gaining or losing weight) they want after they become famous. Anything they do or say becomes part of the news and entertainment. They are forced to surrender their lives to entertainment. This is also true for all forms of entertainers. Sports stars, movie stars, singers, and Collage Professors surrender themselves to their audience and are no longer free to do as they like. The rapper Eminem has made many songs about that fact including the song called "When I’m Gone." From what we know of Shakespeare he was no different.                     

          Greenblatt says that Shakespeare was seen as “Skin flint” who had little use for other people and mostly made choices for his own benefit.  Greenblat also says, "It’s not a fatal flaw, as an actor you know not to give away your secrets.” A skinflint is someone who doesn’t really involve themselves in others or the world. From Shakespeare’s sonnets, plays, and reviews of His acting at that time, we know that He was a deeply passionate person. His reputation of a “skinflint” could only be an act just as all great entertainers must perform. Shakespeare's "acting" didn't stop when He got to His home either. There is a lot of speculation as to the relationship between Shakespeare and His wife. We do know that He was obligated to marry her at a young age, He cheated on her, left no good indication He did love her after He was dead, and wrote poems in regards to being lonely towards the end of his life, consider the sonnet below.  

 Tired with all these, for restful death I cry:
As, to behold desert a beggar born,
And needy nothing trimmed in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forsworn,
And gilded honour shamefully misplaced,
And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,
And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,
And strength by limping sway disabled,
And art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill,
And simple truth miscalled simplicity,
And captive good attending captain ill.
Tired with all these, from these would I be gone,
Save that to die I leave my love alone.  

 

The sonnet is strait forward. The author is “tired” of all the obstacles. He then says that He is tired and “from these I would be gone” or in other words He wishes not to have them and “leave his "love" alone.” Thus it is speculated that Shakespeare never felt a closeness with even his family. Another good indication of Shakespeare's loneliness was that "Shakespeare never really shook his middle class roots" (Greenblatt). Just as Greenblatt proves in his famous biography, Shakespeare was always middle class personality regardless of the money and fame He acquired, just like Shaquille O'neal. Just as a new kid in school normally doesn't feel comfortable going to a new school, so did Shakespeare never really feel comfortable in an upper class society being a middle class personality. Shakespeare must have always felt alone from always having to put on an act, never able to let go and be himself unless He was actually acting. In His later years He looked back to a time in His younger life when He could be comfortable being Himself, back home in Stratford around His family who loved Him for who He was and it shows. Just as was mentioned in the section "Subject", Shakespeare spent a lot of time in Stratford His last few years and that's where His mind was, as can be seen from His plays. 

The Lonely Watchmen

            In the play The Tempest, the character Prospero is seen as Shakespeare writing Himself in the play as depicted earlier in this blog.  The final act of Prospero was to give up his magical powers and return to the place from which he had come and claim his throne. It can be speculated that Shakespeare looked to do the same. Shakespeare desired to give up His powers of entertaining and return home to claim His thrown. So In 1611, tired of life’s challenges and His inability to achieve the popularity He once had, Shakespeare retired to the place He was born, yet He could never truly leave His true love of entertaining. From another sonnet written later in His life we can see that He was uneasy with retirement and didn’t find the fulfillment He thought He would. 

Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head,
To work my mind, when body's work's expired:
For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,
Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Looking on darkness which the blind do see
Save that my soul's imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,
Makes black night beauteous and her old face new.
 Lo! thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
 For thee and for myself no quiet find.

From the sonnet we can see the restlessness of a powerful mind such Shakespeare. His mind continued to be active and think deeply as it had for 50+ years. Just as Michael Jordan, Shakespeare again went back to London to take up what He loved and was good at. He did not write the plays by himself, He simply helped write three other plays and a year later He died and was buried in the place of His choice and that He loved the most, His home town of Stratford. The poem “The Lonely Watchman” I believe describes Shakespeare’s turmoil.

In the rugged brooding sturdy man,
a stirring softness somewhere lies.
And he who is the softest inside,
hardest to appear hard he tries.

Stands tall and shines as beacon,
But lonely tears of the lighthouse who does know?
Does it wish to remain the tallest,
or wishes before someone it could bow?

Laden with the grief of years brought,
By the ocean and its illusionary silence.
It knows how at the spur of the moment,
it turns to ruthless violence.

Many a ships it started to love,
were sent to doom by the heartless sea,
it could just watch, do nothing about it,
Maybe that's the way it has to be.

 In the poem (not written by Shakespeare) we see how the lighthouse gives light to the sailors when they are in darkness or turmoil. Because of the light the watchman gives to everyone in need he is well known by everyone and remembered. But as a result of his tireless need to keep up the light house he cannot spend time with others to create friendships. The Watchmen is everyone’s acquaintance and famous but nobody’s true friend, and so it was with Shakespeare. He spent His life entertaining audiences and giving them the light of poetic art and entertainment. However because He was a dedicated entertainer, that life engulfed Him as before shown and Shakespeare became the lonely Watchmen. Greenblatt does refer to Shakespeare’s “family and a very small circle of friends” in his book, so Shakespeare’s situation was not as bad as it could have been. But Greenblatt also says that “To the poor of Stratford, this very wealthy man left the modest sum of ten pounds. Nothing to the church; nothing for the local school; no scholarship for a deserving child; no bequest to a worthy servant. Shakespeare left no appearance of an extended world of concern.” Of course this is speculation based on psychoanalysis of Shakespeare in regards to the facts that we do know. But in the introduction speculation is what this blog is trying to combat?

Some things Can't be Controlled: The Point of "Thine own Adventure"

            In the introduction I stated that this blog was in part to combat the misinformation that surrounds Shakespeare. Speculation has created a web of misinformation, as stated earlier in the blog as well. Using what we do know to establish what we don’t is impossible to verify any facts in regards to people’s personal life for the most part. However it is evident that many times in the blog I have speculated myself as to the nature of Shakespeare’s life. As mentioned before in this blog, I began this semester knowing very little about Shakespeare and His work. With all the speculation that is out there I realized to really understand the Bard I had to do my own research using established sources. What I learned and tried to depict in this blog is that Shakespeare was a “skinflint” and therefore mysterious. A biography is a “written account of another person’s life." (OED) What is written about Shakespeare’s life reflects the way He was and wanted to be seen, hence the reason He acted his whole life to everyone. By Shakespeare removing his personal self to most everyone He becomes mysterious and it’s His work that receives the focus not him. Shakespeare was also psychoanalysis and so His plays and biographies reflect that. If we want to come to know Shakespeare we must use the symbols in His work that connect to His life if we want to come to know him. The majority of the most respected biographies of Shakespeare use the idea of “lets imagine” to partially speculate an idea of what Shakespeare must have been like based on facts. An example of the “lets imagine” biographies that are respected are “Will and the World” by Steven Greenblatt, “Shakespeare’s Imagery and What it Tells us” by Caroline Spurgeon, “1599: A Year in the Life” by James Shapiro, “Shakespeare: The Biography” by Ackroyd Peter, and The Encyclopedia Britannica, just to name a few. This blog is trying to establish facts as to destroy wrong speculation. The blog used as closes of science as it could to understand Shakespeare which proved to tell a lot about him. But the goal of this blog was to “show the reader how to learn how to see the mind of Shakespeare.” Great effort was put into stating as many facts as to give an accurate position. But just as the majority of good Biographies do, I included my own speculations. The speculations in this blog helped to establish the fact that you can know for sure that “just as a diamond displayed on black velvet appears more brilliant, so does the personality and character of Shakespeare shine when His early life and rhetorical devices from His early plays are compared to His later life and rhetorical devices.”  The main fact is that to come to know and understand Shakespeare you must study Him out for yourself and come to know Him for yourself from his work. You cannot go to Wikipedia your first day (as I did) to come to know Him, it is no easy task. There are many scholarly studies that are regarded by many as misinformation, which in reality could or could not be because we have no proof either way. We only have speculation to discount the speculation in many cases and so it is left to the researcher to decide for themselves. The lack of information makes it so we can mainly only see Shakespeare in a speculative way but that is what He wanted it so as to maintain His character for as long as His plays survive. If maintaining character is a sign of a great entertainer, as is mentioned before in this section, than Shakespeare must have been the greatest in all the world because He has maintained His act throughout history, however could Shakespeare's personality be an actor and acting is who He is? That question is just another of the many questions to be answered when we meet Him someday in another world and then establish who Shakespeare really is with no assumptions. But until then we will have to read what scholars say about Him, with a grain of salt, and His works and compare them to the facts to understand how He must have been and blog it for others speculation and not publish it so as to confuses the masses, more.