![\"S](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/S-birthday.jpeg\")
<\/a>The Birthday Boy . . . or is he?<\/p><\/div>\n
While I was busy either hiking or trying to track down my friends in Nepal<\/strong> and Suzanne<\/strong> was selecting the menu for her \u2018Last Supper\u2019<\/strong>, we missed an important date last month on April 23, the birthday of William Shakespeare<\/strong> \u2013 he turned 451.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry if you didn\u2019t get him anything or even send a card, he\u2019s used to being ignored. To wit:<\/p>\n Only four<\/strong> of the nation\u2019s 52 highest-ranked universities require that an English major<\/u><\/strong> take at least one, yes one, Shakespeare class \u2013 those schools: Harvard, Cal, Wellesley College (Massachusetts)<\/strong> and the U.S. Navel Academy<\/strong>. Go Navy!<\/p>\n Dr. Viola Chapman<\/p><\/div>\n Fortunately, my curriculum at Westminster College <\/strong>in Utah<\/strong> did include the study of several Shakespeare plays and sonnets. \u00a0I remember my first day walking into class and sizing up the professor, Dr. Chapman. \u00a0She was a elderly, diminutive woman with a stern continence, of course elderly to a college student in those days was anyone over 40. \u00a0She wore her hair in a bun and I thought she could have played the part of Norman Bate’s mother in\u00a0Psycho.<\/em>\u00a0 I was petrified. \u00a0I was afraid not to pay attention, but once she opened her mouth, she had me. She was brilliant and quirky – she’d sit on<\/em> her desk,\u00a0swinging her feet to and fro, reciting, by heart and with an Elizabethan accent, long passages from Shakespeare\u2019s plays and sonnets. \u00a0By the end of the first week, I was all in. \u00a0She brought the literature to life, she made me want to know more. \u00a0<\/span>There is no question in my mind that my interest in and ultimate love of Shakespeare was a result of one person, Dr. Viola Chapman<\/strong>. \u00a0By the time I had graduated, I\u2019d taken every class she taught and ended up with a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>minor in English<\/strong>.<\/span>\u00a0 She not only instilled in me a love of Shakespeare, but influenced my decision to become a teacher and ultimately try to turn high school students on to the \u2018The Bard\u2019<\/strong>. \u00a0 She taught at Westminster from 1948 until 1972 and was the first professor to be honored as \u2018Faculty Emeriti\u2019<\/strong> by the college. \u00a0She is without question, my favorite teacher of all time.<\/p>\n Christopher Marlowe<\/p><\/div>\n If you haven\u2019t really thought much about Shakespeare since you flunked that Merchant of Venice<\/em><\/strong> test in high school (like I did), then you may not be aware of the fact that there has been a long-standing debate as to whether William Shakespeare<\/strong> actually wrote all or any of the plays and sonnets attributed to him. Such luminaries as Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud<\/strong> and even Helen Keller<\/strong> have opined that Shakespeare wasn’t Shakespeare. \u00a0So who was? \u00a0Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, the Earl of Oxford, the Earl of Derby<\/strong> and several others have been debated ‘to be or not to be’ the \u2018real\u2019 Shakespeare.\u00a0\u00a0The debate will not be settled anytime soon, and it probably doesn\u2019t matter because if Shakespeare didn\u2019t write those plays and sonnets, the real author or authors are also about 450 years old and probably dead.<\/span><\/p>\n A line from\u00a0Captain \u2018Hawkeye\u2019 Pierce,<\/strong>\u00a0of the old TV series\u00a0M.A.S.H.,<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0even references<\/span>\u00a0t<\/span>he debate<\/span>\u00a0when he complained about a bad tasting breakfast, saying, \u00a0<\/span>\u201cThis bacon tastes as old as the Bacon that wrote Shakespeare\u2019s plays.”<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Whoever he was, Shakespeare continues to influence our lives today.<\/p>\n West Side Story<\/p><\/div>\n Some plays\/movies that you may be familiar with . . .<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0West Side Story<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 based on\u00a0<\/span>Romeo & Juliet<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Kiss Me Kate<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 based on\u00a0Taming of the Shrew<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Lion King<\/strong> \u2013<\/em>\u00a0based on\u00a0Hamlet<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n You’ve also probably quoted Shakespeare, maybe without even knowing it, as he coined too many phases to be listed here, but a few of the more familiar ones are:<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Love is blind<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Neither a borrower or lender be<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The world\u2019s mine oyster<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He will give the devil his due<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This above all to thine own self be true<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n And a favorite of mine . . .<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The first thing we do, let\u2019s kill all the lawyers<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n So a belated happy birthday to whoever<\/em> wrote all that wonderful literature and a tip of the cap to Dr. Viola Chapman for bringing it into my life.<\/p>\n There’s probably a Shakespeare play being performed somewhere close to you this summer – I say go see it; at 451 years old, he may not be around much longer and you just might enjoy it.<\/p>\n Class dismissed!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow While I was busy either hiking or trying to track down my friends in Nepal and Suzanne was selecting the menu for her \u2018Last Supper\u2019, we missed an important date last month on April 23, the birthday … read more<\/a><\/a><\/a>