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First accurate image of fantasy author William Shakespeare discovered
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has unveiled what it says is the only authentic image of the prototypical fantasy/supernatural author in the English language, William Shakespeare.
(Don't think Shakespeare belongs on SCI FI Wire? Check it out: Hamlet features ghosts, Macbeth's got witches, and The Tempest has all sorts of supernatural creatures; the other plays also have fantasy and supernatural elements.)
Professor Stanley Wells, chairman of the trust and one of the world's leading experts on Shakespearean studies, unveiled the portrait on Monday and said it has remained for centuries in the possession of the same family, the Cobbes.
The portrait is reportedly the only surviving one painted while the writer was still alive, in about 1610, when Shakespeare was 46 years old.
Up to now, only two images have been accepted as authentic representations of what Shakespeare may have looked like. One is the engraving by Martin Droeshout published in the First Folio of 1623. The other is the portrait bust in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon; the monument is mentioned in the Folio and therefore must have been in place by 1623. Both are posthumous: Shakespeare died in 1616.
By Joe B. at 9:51 PM ON 03/10/09
Hamlet features ghosts, Macbeth's got witches, and The Tempest has all sorts of supernatural creatures; the other plays also have fantasy and supernatural elements.)
Yeah, but they believed in all that back then. It wasn't science fiction to them.
By Shakespeare Prof at 10:13 PM ON 03/10/09
"The Tempest" deals with a ship crash landing on an uncharted world filled with alien creatures and advanced powers that are the result of years of study. If you don't think this is science fiction, check out "Forbidden Planet" which is directly and intentionally based upon "The Tempest" (and which, by the way, had a major influence on "Star Trek," as did many of Shakespeare's own works.) Going back further than Shakespeare, Thomas More's "Utopia" and Francis Bacon's "New Atlantis" are both clearly works of science fiction as well.
By Justo at 10:25 PM ON 03/10/09
neat stuff
By Token at 10:31 PM ON 03/10/09
Not to carp, but that looks more like the portrait of a 28-year-old rather than a main nearing 50. I doubt if people held on to their youth all that well in the 1600's. Nice pic, tho'...
By Mandy at 11:00 PM ON 03/10/09
Joe, just because it was the fifteenth century did not mean they all believed in these entities. Not everyone believed in the faeries or the Seelie Court yet they appear in A midsummer Night's dream. The one thing everyone was pretty much forced to believe in was God. The faeries and ghosts were fantasy even by the standards of the era.
And yes, Shakespeare DOES belong here.
By Mandy at 11:03 PM ON 03/10/09
Sorry, error in my last post. I meant to say sixteenth century.
By dragonhung at 11:52 PM ON 03/10/09
And who says no one believes in the various supernatural beasties now?
By Mandy at 12:31 AM ON 03/11/09
Dragon, you're playing with semantics. I meant in general. Shakespeare did not write these fictions with the idea that the faerie courts would know of his play. It belongs here, plain and simple.
By Slander at 1:42 AM ON 03/11/09
Shakespeare belongs on Scifi a Hell of a lot more than wrestling does.
By Pilgrim3 at 3:43 AM ON 03/11/09
Asking if they believed in the bright court is like asking if they believed in Monday.
By Native Texan at 7:34 AM ON 03/11/09
Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer's Night Dream, also ranks as a science fiction fantasy story along with The Tempest. Apparently the artist that painted the Shakespeare's portrait painted his as he wanted to appear and not as he truly looked at fifty.
By Captain Jack at 8:11 AM ON 03/11/09
Kinda looks like the actor who played him in the recent Doctor Who episode. Freaky!
By Barca at 10:14 AM ON 03/11/09
"Hamlet features ghosts, Macbeth's got witches, and The Tempest has all sorts of supernatural creatures; the other plays also have fantasy and supernatural elements.)"
I thought these elements were included not only because they made a good story, but also because they are part of Ancient Greek Playwriting 101. Is there a Greek Play that would not qualify for SciFi under Patrick Lee's definition?
By Veelox at 11:19 AM ON 03/11/09
I wonder if 500 years from now, when our ant overlords are referencing human sci-fi for a quaint entertainment article, if they will be having similar debates.
By stargazer_1682 at 11:19 AM ON 03/11/09
"Is there a Greek Play that would not qualify for SciFi under Patrick Lee's definition?"
And if not, so what? If it fits the genre, it fits the genre - no other qualifications apply.
By wordwitty at 12:29 PM ON 03/11/09
Hamlet and MacBeth were culturally accurate for their day and therefore not genre. Tempest and Midsummernight's dream were definitely genre. He purposely created fantastic worlds that he suspected were not real.
By Slander at 3:49 PM ON 03/11/09
Well... From a certain perspective, I can understand why it's on the channel: SFC was in a deep viewership slump and needed a ratings boost. Bonnie Hammer went looking elsewhere in the NBC/U stable for help. They got ECW, ratings skyrocketed, and the network survived.
In a sense, ECW is fantasy. But then, so is Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (which Scifi has also aired.) Pretty much all fictional television shows are. But this isn't the General Fiction Network. It's the Scifi Channel. Adding horror and fantasy to its slate is enough of a stretch as is.
I'm also someone who feels horror without supernatural/scifi elements (Saw, for example) doesn't belong here.
Scifi, you've got a strong enough slate to stand on your own now. Kick this wrestling crap to the curb.
By jbs780 at 4:36 PM ON 03/11/09
"(Saw, for example) doesn't belong here.
Saw doesn't belong ANYWHERE!
Just sayin'...
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jbs780:
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