Antonia:

“Hello, we are Lucie and Antonia from Max-Josef-Stift grammar school in Munich and today we are interviewing the deputy head of the Shakespeare Research Library at the LMU, Ms. Dr. Boecker.

Thank you very much, Ms. Dr. Boecker for allowing us to be here today and for the opportunity to learn more about Shakespeare. “

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Lucie:

“Now let's start with the first question: when did you start being interested in Shakespeare? “

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

“I became interested in Shakespeare when I was studying English, I was in my early to mid-twenties back then. After that I took the state exam on Shakespeare and completed my doctorate on Shakespeare. All of this was at least twenty-five years ago, so it’s been quite a while. “

 

Antonia:

“We would like to know which of Shakespeare's works you personally like best? “

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

“This is, of course, a tricky question for someone who has been dealing with Shakespeare for basically her entire professional life and every day. My favorite play is probably “The Tempest” in German “Der Sturm.” It is about a magician who ends up on an island and meets various spirit- like creatures there.”

 

Antonia:

“What do you particularly like about this play? “

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

“In this play there is the character of the air spirit "Arial" who is captured in a pine tree by the witch who had been living on the island before the magician Posperos came to the island. And this character uses an incredibly beautiful language. In fact, the language used in the entire play is very poetic. In the end, it is this character that makes this play so special for me. “

 

Lucie:

“Let's move on to the next question: How old was Shakespeare when he started writing his works?

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

“This question is, like most questions about Shakespeare, not that easy to answer. I could give a simple answer and say twenty-six. Shakespeare was born in 1564, his first play or, to be more specific, a series of plays “Henry VI” was published around 1590. Of course, we don't know when he actually started writing this, but basically what we do know is that it happened in his mid-twenties. “

 

Antonia:

“During our research we learned that Shakespeare was born and grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon. How did people live in this area during his time? “

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

“This area was a center for wool trade, which means we know that there was a relatively large number of sheep. Even back then it was a rural area and still is. You can also notice this in Shakespeare's plays because there is an incredible number of words that allude to plants. This means Shakespeare knew very much about plants and was also familiar with nature. Stratford-upon-Avon itself is located in Warwickshire, a county in England. He also often used terms, especially for plants, which were only used in Warwickshire. The houses back then, including the house Shakespeare grew up in and the house that he later bought himself, were half- timbered houses and had thatched roofs. Stratford was, by our standards, a small town and Shakespeare’s father was, at least when Shakespeare was younger, a very respected man there. He was a glove maker, a craftsman, someone who mastered in something, someone who could do something that not everyone else was able to do. He later even became mayor of Stratford.”

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Lucie:

“Shakespeare was very well versed in the English language. Do you know if he went to university and if so which one?"

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

"So in this case we actually know for sure that Shakespeare didn't go to university. One of his colleagues, the playwright Ben Johnson, teased him a bit about it, even after his death. He said the following about Shakespeare, and it is a famous quote: "He had small Latin and less Greek". So he knew a little bit of Latin and even less Greek. But how can this be explained? Shakespeare attended a so-called "grammar school" in Stratford-upon-Avon, which is sort of the equivalent of today's high schools. Greek was taught there, but Latin was also taught in great detail so we assume that Shakespeare learned a lot of Latin and also had to memorise a lot and read Latin literature in its original language."

 

Antonia:

"Can you tell from Shakespeare's works that he attended a grammar school back then?"

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

"In fact, you can actually notice it. I'll give you an example: I've just mentioned that a lot of Latin literature was read there and an author who, among others, was also widely read in all Elizabethan grammar schools is Ovid. You may know him from your own Latin lessons, if you happen to have any, and Ovid was extremely important to Shakespeare. In his entire canon, i.e in all of his works, we find allusions to Ovid, sometimes only minor ones, but sometimes also structural ones when, for example, Shakespeare alludes to a certain myth. This means that if he hadn't gone to grammar school and in this case hadn't come across Ovid, then his plays would actually look a lot different."

 

Lucie:

"We are interested in knowing where Shakespeare's career began. When did Shakespeare first appear in the literary scene?"

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Ms. Dr. Boecker:

"He first appeared in the literary scene in London in 1590. This is the first evidence on someone named Shakespeare and that a play by that person was performed. This is not unusual because London was the center of the English theatre scene at the time. There were hardly any cities, no others in fact, in which there were permanent theatres, only London. As I said, it can be assumed that Shakespeare had already written for the theatre before. Especially since authors also worked together a lot back then, it wasn't necessarily always one author who wrote a play but the authors sometimes got together in pairs or groups of three and wrote the play together. Then, of course, it's a bit difficult to know whose name is associated with it in the end but the official starting date is 1590 and definitely London."

 

Antonia:

"Do you think some of his contemporaries rebuked Shakespeare's works?"

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

“Explicit rebuke from other writers is limited. There is a source from the early 1590s that refers to Shakespeare as an "upstart crow". But it stems from a competitor which means that this is not necessarily a rebuke of a play. Then there's the reference to his "small Latin and less Greek" by Ben Johnson. But this is from a time when Shakespeare had already died and it is not a reproach of a play itself. At that time there were the Puritans, who were something like a Protestant sect. They were massively opposed to theatre itself, but not specifically to Shakespeare. So I can't really say that any writer at that time explicitly reprimanded Shakespeare."

 

Lucie:

"Did Shakespeare actually become famous for his work during his lifetime or only after his death?"

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

"Fame is an interesting word in this context because it refers to a culture that would have probably defined or described fame in a different way than we do. What we do know is that his plays were popular. We know this because the people who owned the theatre Shakespeare wrote for kept books about which play brought in how much and so we know that Shakespeare's plays grossed quite a lot at the time. We also know that individual plays were published in the early modern version of a paperback. This is a so-called "quarto", a small book which only contains one of Shakespeare’s plays and there are many of them. This means that the people who printed these books must have been sure that someone would buy them. This also hints at his popularity or celebrity status. Seven years after Shakespeare's death, the so-called “First Folio” was published. This was the first edition by a playwright ever so before that there was no such thing as plays actually being published as a book or as a large magnificent edition. Again, the printers must have thought “aha we have a big expensive book here and there is someone who is going to buy this book”. That is also why the publication of this First Folio is an indicator that Shakespeare was very well known and popular. So yes, Shakespeare must have already been famous during his lifetime.”

 

Antonia:

“Our next question is if Shakespeare’s works were published under his own or another name.”

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

"Shakespeare's works have never been published under any name other than his own. In his days, there was no doubt about his identity. It can be said that the concept of authorship in the early modern period, i.e. the time when Shakespeare lived, was different than it is today. The author himself was not that important, especially when it came to plays. This is indicated by the fact that these quartos, which I have just told you about, do not necessarily say: "Romeo and Juliet – by William Shakespeare", but rather something like: "Romeo and Juliet – as it was played at the Globe – by the Lord Chamberlains Men". They only stated the theatre where a play was performed and the theatre group, in this case "the Lord Chamberlain's Men", because these quartos were probably aimed at people who had seen the play and wanted to read it again.”

 

Lucie:

"And now to our last question: In which style of writing did Shakespeare write his works?"

 

Ms. Dr. Boecker:

"For the most part, though not always, these plays are written in so-called blank verse. Blank verse is a iambic pentameter, so there are 5 iambs with one stressed syllable which is not a language in rhyme or at least not a continuous one, but it is a structured language. It has a rhythm to it and that's what makes it so catchy. In addition, Shakespeare was not only extremely innovative in terms of language and in terms of linguistic images, like metaphors and so on but also as far as neologisms are concerned. Shakespeare invented words and idioms so that his language has a density or a complexity to it that already makes it stand out. This is also true when compared to his contemporaries."

 

Lucie:

"That's it for our interview. Thank you for making so much time for us and our questions."

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Antonia:

"You definitely helped us. We wish you a nice afternoon. Goodbye!”