Black History Month - Ira Aldridge

Black History Month: 26 October 2020

 

Ira Aldridge was the first black Shakespearean actor, who made his career on the London stage. His father had initially intended him for the church, and sent him to New York's African Free School, where many future leaders of the American abolition movement were educated. However, Ira was attracted to the theatre, at a time when British actors were playing in New York, and the city's free black community had launched its own African Theatre. He made his debut as Rolla in 'Pizarro', but the only way for Ira to succeed was to emigrate. Therefore, when he was around 17, he worked his passage to Liverpool as a ship's steward.

 

His first known British performance in 1825 had a mixed reception. The Times commented on his apparent difficulty to pronounce English due to the shape of his lips, but The Globe found his enunciation interesting and distinct. Due to Ira's race, he received a hostile response, preventing him from establishing himself in London. Outside of London, he won respect, and was able to perform as Othello. His contemporaries praised his work, but was boycotted by the West End stage, and so sailed for Europe. While on a lengthy tour, visiting many places no foreign actor had been to, he died aged 59. The whole town of Lodz turned out to mourn his passing.

 

Want to find out more about Ira Aldridge? Click here for more information.

Shakespeare's England

Here are some of the sources which today's talk on Shakespeare's England (for Nonsuch Literary Week) was based on:

• A Compendium of Common Knowledge: A fantastic collection of information (somewhat randomly arranged) about everyday life in Elizabethan England, examining topics as diverse as food, music, duelling and how much to tip servants. Provided by http://www.elizabethan.org/ which also has other interesting material on Elizabethan topics. Its links page is also very thorough.
• Elizabethan Theatre: Lots of details on the different theatres operating in Elizabethan England.
• Shakespeare (from the RSC): Plenty of information, including a helpful PDF on Shakespeare's life and career.
• Elizabethan Theatre (A lecture): Lots of detail on theatres, performances, etc.
• Elizabethan England in the Year of Shakespeare's Birth (Joel Hurstfield, History Today, 1964): It may be 50 years old, but it is still a very helpful and detailed article, focusing on Sir Thomas Smith's survey of England written in 1565.

If you find any further useful sites, please let us know and we will add them to the list!

Strange Tudor Deaths

Stephen Gunn, the Tudor Historian, has compiled a list of strange ways that people during the Tudor period died after four years of extensive research of coroners reports from the period. These include being attacked by a bear, accidents involving maypoles and the danger of going near a cesspit whilst drunk. You can read about 10 of them in this BBC article. The deaths are clearly rather unfortunate for the individuals involved, but also give us a window into the lives of "ordinary people" during this period. For example, the accounts of people drowning whilst washing in the river show that cleanliness was important to Tudor people, despite the false stereotypes we have of Queen Elizabeth rarely taking a bath. The maypoles and bears show the variety of popular entertainment available to people. Other sport related deaths were connected to accidents from football, wrestling, bell-ringing and sledgehammer throwing.

One particularly sad story is the death of Jane Shaxspere, aged 2 years old, who drowned after falling into a millpond whilst picking marigolds. She was the cousin of William Shakespeare, and it seems quite likely that this incident influenced him when writing about the death of Ophelia in Hamlet, who also drowned whilst picking flowers. Interestingly, the picture of Ophelia used to illustrate this post was painted by John Everett Millais very close to here, by the Hogsmill River near Old Malden

PS: Many thanks to AC for the telling us about this article!

Magna Carta and Other Treasures

The British Library has been busy digitising its material and putting on the web. These include the Magna Carta, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's plays and the Gutenberg Bible. They include instant translations and guides by the curators. There is also an impressive timeline showing other important works in their collection. If you spot any other interesting documents like these, please let us know.