Stratford-upon-Avon

Today was our excursion to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. For many lovers of literature, visiting Stratford is a pilgrimage to see the origins of one of the most-beloved, most-quoted, most-esteemed authors of all time (some would argue the greatest writer ever!) Did you know that every minute of the day, someone, somewhere in the world is watching, acting, or reading a performance of Hamlet? That’s pretty impressive, considering he wrote the play nearly 400 years ago.
Stratford is located about an hour away from Oxford in South Warwickshire, England. It is a small village nestled just beside the Avon River. Although lovely, I would consider the town to be somewhat of a tourist trap. (Similar to the way L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables has taken over Cavendish, PEI) The streets are peppered with corny shop names such as the “As You Like It Café,” “Shakespeare Pub,” “Anne’s Cottage Pie,” and “Sweet Smelling Rose.”
We began our tour at Shakespeare’s birthplace in which I was able to see the very room in which William was born. He probably stayed in this room for 3 or 4 years with his parents and younger brothers and sisters. The house was not very big, so all of the family had to share accommodations.
Perhaps the most amazing part of the house was an old glass window carefully preserved in a wooden frame. This window held the signatures of many famous people who had previously visited the cottage, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Keats, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Thomas Hardy, and Sir Walter Scott. It was amazing to see all these names in one place. It was like walking the streets of Hollywood. I was especially excited because many of the visitors were famous authors. Now that I have joined the ranks of the Shakespeare pilgrims, perhaps some of their creative penmanship can rub off on me. There should now be nothing holding me back from being a famous writer… haha. :)
My other favorite part was seeing the original folio of all of Shakespeare’s plays. This book was held up in a glass case and illuminated by special effects lights to make it appear as if it had descended from literary heaven. The display probably took the concept a little too far, but it was neat to see the book.
A fun story that occurred during our tour of the cottage began when I first entered the basement of the house. The tour guide was dressed in typical 17th century English garb with a round English beer-belly and a thick British accent. Myself, on the other hand, was simply wearing a WVU t-shirt, with nothing of a beer belly and a distinct American accent. Anyway, when he saw me, he immediately smiled and said, “Oh, West Virginia! Are you a student?”
I was somewhat startled but managed to say, “umm, yes, I am.”
“Wonderful,” he replied, “Are you based in Charleston?” For some reason, I didn’t catch on and stared at him blankly. I finally replied, “No, I’m from Morgantown.” A British woman behind me calmly attempted to correct the situation. She loudly announced to the entire group, “Charleston is in another state, not in West Virginia.”
Thus, we began our Shakespeare tour discussing (somewhat awkwardly and incorrectly) the geography of America, instead of the inside of Shakespeare’s childhood home.
After the birthplace, we took a quick break to grab some delicious tea and scones. If you have never tried clotted cream, you must put it on your “to do” list. It’s lovely on scones—something of a mixture between cream cheese and whipped cream. Once you add a dollop of black currant preserves, you’ll be hooked for life.
The next phase of our excursion took us by Shakespeare’s old Grammar School. This aged stone building is where Shakespeare most likely (no one knows for sure) attended classes as a boy. It is actually still a school today, although boys no longer have to attend classes for 12-hours straight! In Shakespeare’s time they had class from 6am to 6pm. I can hardly imagine how difficult that would be.
The last part of our excursion took us to Anne Hathaway’s cottage. No, I am not referring to the actress in Ella Enchanted and The Princess Diaries. The Anne that I am referring to was Shakespeare’s sweetheart and wife. The cottage is where he courted her…and supposedly where he read her love sonnets under the willow bower. This house was postcard perfect: a quaint half-timbered cottage surrounded by wonderful gardens and walking trails. My favorite thing inside the house was an old wooden bench that Will and Anne used to sit on together. The old owners of the house were known to sell pieces of the bench to visiting tourists. Over the years the bench gradually wore down to stubby board with holes all though it. The cottage museum decided that no more pieces of the bench should be sold…so regretfully I will not be bringing home a piece in my suitcase.
Our Stratford tour ended with a grand highlight—a performance of As You Like It at the Swan Theater! In the play, there is a scene where Orlando goes about the forest of Arden tacking up poorly written love poetry on the trees in order to display his fierce devotion to Rosalind. Well, this scene occurred right around the intermission. I left the theater to get a snack and when I returned, the stage and seating area had been transformed with posters and signs, declaring Orlando’s love. I did not expect such a funny interpretation of this scene, so of course I enjoyed it immensely.
It always fascinates me how every director has a unique interpretation of a play. It doesn’t matter if two directors are directing the same play…the plays will never appear the same. It all depends upon how the director interprets the scenes. This process is similar to the reading of literature. As a future teacher, I want to encourage my students to look at literature as a director would look at a play. I would ask them things like: What is this scene saying to you? How would you represent this scene visually? Why does the author include this scene? As “literature directors,” it is the students’ job to take what they have experienced and understood from a novel, play, or poem and share these interpretations with everyone else. A good director should also be able to thoroughly defend and protect his or her interpretation. The fact that each student will see every line, every sentence, and every word a little differently is what makes reading, writing, and teaching literature so interesting.
(Sorry if that teaching philosophy stuff was boring…I just needed to process what I was learning.) My next post will begin the tales of the Lake District! Cheers!