THE SCENE: According to this apocryphal anecdote, William Shakespeare’s flair for the dramatic began at an early age.
THE TEXT: Mr. William Shakespeare was born at Stratford upon Avon in the county of Warwickshire. His father was a butcher, and I have been told heretofore by some of the neighbors, that when he was a boy he exercised his father’s trade, but when he killed a calf he would do it in a high style, and make a speech.
– Brief Lives, John Aubrey, 17th Century AD
“After this they hit on a plan which was really very hard on me. They would go into the streets and lanes and say I had sent them to compel travelers to come in. ” […]
“When the king had returned home, together with his wife, branded with the ignominy of not having accomplished his design, their former affection began, by degrees, to grow cold; and causes of dissension arose between them. The queen was highly offended at the behavior of the king, and asserted that she had married a monk, and not a monarch.” […]
“. Likewise, both the club and the lion’s skin are appropriate to their ancient Heracles, because in those days arms had not yet been invented, and men defended themselves against their enemies with clubs of wood and used the hides of animals for defensive armour.” […]
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