Running now until 18 th September 2016, the Weston Library is hosting a new exhibition on all things macabre as part of the quatercentenary celebrations of the death of William Shakespeare. It's free and very much worth a visit!
Bearing in mind that life was perhaps held more cheaply then than we like to think we do today, with a variety of deadly risks from disease, illness, plague or public executions or war, drama served to dramatically thrill, scare and warn audiences and readers from the safety of the stage or page.
It is observed early in the supporting narrative banners within the room that Shakespeare took extraordinary care when scripting his scenes of death, giving actors great licence for their characters to their exit from the play (if not the stage, as it is pointed out that Desdemona ( Othello) long remains on stage beyond her murder). A representation of Desdemona's bed is one of the exhibition's centrepieces.
Showing many contemporary texts, including two First Folios (in effect, the complete set of 36 plays) published in 1623 (7 years after his death), complementary works by peers and predecessors evoke the prose, poetry and diaries of the age, with additional art and illustrations including vivid examples of the Dance of Death aiding the visitor to cross the River Styx ('the melancholy flood' Richard III) and emphasising that life was all too short.
Excellent supporting notes help to convey meaning and detail around the trove which the exhibition's curators, Dr Emma Smith and Dr Simon Palfrey of the University of Oxford have assembled.
You quickly fear for the fates of the living who may soon die and the dead who seem to linger post-mortem (such as Banquo (Macbeth) or old King Hamlet (Hamlet)) projecting their ghostly representations; possibly only in the minds of the bereaved, deranged or guilty! You may recognise these examples as being from the Tragedies, and in fairness, death or the threat of death is never far away (from King Lear to Anthony and Cleopatra to Romeo and Juliet).
'Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more.' Macbeth
In the Histories, death in and around war and conflict and politics (House of Cards knows this well 400 years on!) is all too inevitable (from Henry IV part 1, to Henry V to Richard III).
'My Kingdom for a horse!' Richard III
However, what comes as a bit of a surprise is that the Comedies are not free of the chill of the grim reaper, even in Much Ado About Nothing in which play no-one actually dies there is the plot device of the fake death of Hero. In The Merchant of Venice 'death' is revealed not just as a corporeal forfeit but also from loss of money and reputation, when Shylock loses all in court. The Comedy of Errors begins with a 24 hour stay of execution, and elsewhere heroines flee courts in fear of death sentences.
It may serve the visitor well to consider the estimable bard's dramatic approach to the portrayal of death in its many and varied forms in its historic and socio-political context.
Shakespeare seems to have been adept at navigating the competing dogma coming from both the Reformation and Counter-Reformation – Hamlet went to a protestant university but was seeing ghosts and souls in torment, which were most certainly not features of the Lutheran cannon which eschewed indulgences, prayers for the dead and purgatory and all such things popish.
'The rest is silence!' Hamlet
A word of warning is appropriate as this exhibition may not be as immersive or interactive for parents contemplating a visit with younger children.
'Exit pursued by a Bear!' The Winter's Tale