If you have ever learned how to read, it is impossible not to be impressed by the unparalleled depth of literary talent that has existed in England during the past 1500 years or so. As an English major drop-out, this was one of the things I looked forward to most about coming over here. When I lived in Boston, I used to think it was great that you could visit Walden Pond and Louisa May Alcott's house in the same afternoon. You can imagine the chills I get walking around Headington and realizing that I'm probably following the same path as some of the world's greatest writers. Although it's hard to know where to begin exploring with so many options to choose from, this weekend I decided to focus on the two personalities that have probably had the greatest influence on me: C.S. Lewis and the incomparable William Shakespeare.
I started out the morning in Oxford on a guided tour of C.S. Lewis's world, given by a man who was a childhood friend of Douglas Gresham (Lewis's stepson) and knew the Lewis family well. Our first stop was the Eagle and Child pub (a building I probably walked past 50 times before realizing its siginificance. This was of course the site where a group of 19 writers (including Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams) gathered every Tuesday morning between 1940 and 1963 for reading and criticism of their literary works.
As we were making our way around Oxford, our guide made several comments about how most people living around here don't have any idea who Lewis was. There is no shrine or memorial to any of the Inklings to be found in all of England. At first I found this unfathomable, until I realized that there is probably a good reason for it. As an alumnus of a school who graduated its first class in 1959, it's hard to appreciate the sheer magnitude of the contrubutions made here during the last 800+ years. As a case in point, we were just rounding the corner on our way up to Headington when our guide said, "Oh yeah--that building right there is the pathology lab where Fleming discovered penicillin."
We drove up to Headington and stopped the van to get out and walk around a quaint neighborhood that looked a lot like something you might read about in a storybook. As we came up to one of the houses, I noticed a plaque on the front that read:
J.R.R. Tolkien Lived Here. I stepped back, took a deep breath, and smiled at the realization that this was as close as any human being has ever gotten to The Shire. It was at this point that our guide began telling stories of how he used to run around the Lewis residence (the Kilns) playing with Doug as a child. He started telling us about the gardener that was almost like a part of the family to them. It turned out this gentleman was the inspiration for the character Puddleglum--hands down the most fascinating character in the Chronicles of Narnia (actually Thornbutt the dwarf was a close second). Along with Lee (East of Eden--based off Steinbeck's housekeeper) and Tom Bombadil (Lord of the Rings--based off a children's toy), Puddleglum lives on as one of my favorite characters in all of fiction literature. I asked our guide about the liklihood that the wardrobe purchased by Wheaton College was the genuine article. Turns out it's a total fraud. The wardrobe existed only in Lewis's imagination. In fact, the idea originated one day as Lewis was visiting the Brasenose church in Oxford. He evidently didn't care for the preacher, and in order to avoid greeting him after the service, Lewis exited the church from the opposite side of the sanctuary. There were several coats obstructing the passage to the back door, and after brushing past them Lewis found himself in the snow-covered ground of an Oxford winter. The lamp-post still survives in this location.
We then visited the Holy Trinity church, where Lewis and his brother worshiped for over 30 years. I sat down in the pew that he used to sit in and contemplated the fact that it was in this very spot that Lewis first got the idea for "The Screwtape Letters." We left the sanctuary and made our way to the cemetary outside the church--Lewis's final resting place. The inscription on his gravestone reads "Men must endure their going hence," which is of course taken from King Lear.
It was on this note that I departed from the Lewis tour and made my way up to Stratford Upon Avon to explore the world of William Shakespeare. It was already getting late by the time I arrived, so I only had time to see his birthplace. The small room where the Bard was born represents a Mecca for writers, having been visited by the likes of Emerson, Scott, Hawthorne, Dickens, and Mark Twain. After a brief visit, I headed back towards the theatres, where I had tickets for Henry VI. I can honestly tell you that I had no idea of what I was in for as I climbed the stairs to the gallery seating section of the Courtyard theatre. I had read Richard III and Henry V during one of my speech classes at the Academy, but I'll readily admit that I have always been confused by the history of the English Monarchs. Since it was only during the past week that I figured out that Prince Charles was next in line to the throne and that the War of the Roses was not just a Danny DeVito movie that I never saw, I was a little nervous about my ability to follow what was going on. I should also mention that this was Henry VI Part 3, and I can still remember how difficult it was to follow Die Hard 3 having not seen the first 2 at the time. As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. From the opening scene of the play, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. The RSC does such an amazing job of bringing the story to life, that you don't really even need a program to follow it. In fact, in some ways it was even more fun that way. It wasn't until the end of the first Act that I realized that Gloucester (played by an actor who looked almost identical to a younger version of Ian McDiarmid) would later become Richard III and that I was actually watching a prequel to a show I had already seen and loved. I am now completely addicted and have vowed not to leave the UK without having watched the entire historical works on stage. At 5 quid, how can you NOT take advantage of this kind of opportunity?
