Posted
on July 11, 2016
William
Shakespeare is a little bit famous.
To
say the least! He is often considered THE best – certainly one of
the best – of all English-speaking writers in history.
But
to Thomas Bowdler, who was born in Britain on this date in 1754,
Shakespeare's words were not “fit” to be read by “our virtuous
females.”
So
he published a book he titled The Family Shakespeare. He had
gone through Shakespeare's plays, and he'd censored anything he felt
should not be read by women. He cut some stuff out, and he edited
(changed) some stuff.
For
example, when Lady Macbeth said, “Out, damn'd spot!” - Bowdler
changed it to, “Out, crimson spot!”
Can
we all say yikes-y?
Because
of Bowdler's book, and his attitude, the English language gained a
new word: bowdlerize, which means to change or eliminate
offensive words or phrases. In other words, “to censor.”
Actually,
Bowdler helped more people to enjoy Shakespeare's works. Both kids
and women were allowed to read and learn about the “cleaned-up”
versions of Shakespeare. And other writers of the time were
presenting just summaries of the plays to students, or rewriting the
tragedies to have happy endings. Some of these writers didn't even
bother to use chunks of Shakespeare's words! At least Bowdler didn't
alter plot lines or do without quotes from the Bard himself.
Still, Bowdler was famous for censorship, and today does not celebrate
censorship, but rather encourages us all to watch for censorship, to
consider and reconsider our attitudes of protecting others from
certain words and ideas, to discuss swearing and standards and “Seven
Words You Can Never Say on Television.”
Also
on this date:
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