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CULTURAL STUDIES: Kenneth W Heaton Faints, fits, and fatalities from emotion in Shakespeare's characters: survey of the canon BMJ 2006; 333: 1335-1338 [Abstract] [Full text]

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Shake-speare died at 54 rather than 52

Bruce J Spittle   (23 December 2006)

Shakespearean Widows' Fatalities

Dorothea F. Kehler, Cambridge, CB3 9AL UK   (24 December 2006)

Has Shakespeare's Iago deceived again?

Andrew J Larner   (2 January 2007)

No fit but perhaps another death

Kenneth W Heaton   (8 January 2007)

Shake-speare died at 54 rather than 52 23 December 2006
Bruce J Spittle, Psychiatrist Dunedin, New Zealand 9035 Send response to journal: Re: Shake-speare died at 54 rather than 52	The evidence noted in Shakespeare by another name by Mark Anderson (1) is compelling that Edward de Vere, 1550-1604 is the author of the plays. When the cryptological evidence, mentioned only in part by Anderson, is added the case for the 17th Earl of Oxford is overwhelming. Thus Shake-speare died aged 54 not 52. (1) Anderson M. Shakespeare by another name: the life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the man who was Shakespeare. New York: Gotham Books, a division of Penguin Group; 2005. Competing interests: None declared
Shakespearean Widows' Fatalities 24 December 2006
Dorothea F. Kehler, Visiting Fellow Clare Hall, Herschel Road, Cambridge, CB3 9AL UK Send response to journal: Re: Shakespearean Widows' Fatalities	I find five more Shakespearean characters dying of grief: three widows and two widowers. The Duchess of Gloucester (Richard II) anticipates pining away after her husband is murdered: "Desolate, desolate, will I hence and die / The last leave of thee takes my weeping eye" (I.ii). In II.ii we learn of her death. A widow for only a few minutes, Juliet kills herself as soon as Friar Lawrence leaves her alone with the corpse of her husband. Thinking himself a widower, Romeo has responded to Juliet's supposed death through suicide. The title characters of the play Antony and Cleopatra echo the actions of Romeo and Juliet. Believing Cleopatra dead, Antony stabs himself. Although Antony is depicted as Octavia's husband, and we may question whether the lovers would have killed themselves had they not been defeated by Octavius Caesar, yet spiritually and physically Antony and Cleopatra are wed, hence her sexual pun as she presses the asp to her breast: "Husband, I come" (V.ii). Competing interests: None declared
Has Shakespeare's Iago deceived again? 2 January 2007
Andrew J Larner, Consultant Neurologist Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Liverpool Send response to journal: Re: Has Shakespeare's Iago deceived again?	I greatly enjoyed Kenneth W Heaton's comprehensive review of faints, fits and fatalities in Shakespeare's canon,1 and salute his diligent efforts. I hope it will not be seen as nit-picking if, as a neurologist, I suggest one possible modification to his conclusions. To my knowledge the only use of the word “epilepsy” in the Shakespearean canon occurs in Othello, The Moor of Venice (1604), spoken by Iago (Act IV, scene I). However, considering the circumstances of Othello's collapse, shortly after being goaded by Iago into the belief that Desdemona has been unfaithful, and his rapid recovery to continue his argument with Iago, I would suggest on clinical grounds that this was more likely to have been a syncopal, rather than an epileptic, event. Could it be that Iago's boldly stated diagnosis of epilepsy has succeeded in deceiving his auditors and readers? 'Twas ever thus! 1. Heaton KW. Faints, fits and fatalities from emotion in Shakespeare's characters: survey of the canon. BMJ 2006;333:1335-8. (23- 30 December) Competing interests: None declared
No fit but perhaps another death 8 January 2007
Kenneth W Heaton, Retired Reader in Medicine Formerly Bristol Royal Infirmary BS2 8HW Send response to journal: Re: No fit but perhaps another death	I agree with Andrew Larner that Iago’s diagnosis of epilepsy in Othello was probably wrong. I tried to convey this in my paper, admittedly in a compressed – even a gnomic – way, but this got lost in the editing. What I said, in the third last paragraph of the Discussion, was “Nowadays called vasovagal syncope, it (fainting) often causes myoclonic jerks, easily misdiagnosed as epilepsy (pace Iago).” On reflection, pace was an inappropriate way of making my point, given that peace and Iago are polar opposites. Maybe that is why the editor excised the phrase! I agree with Dorothea Kehler that my deaths from emotion could have included that of the distraught Duchess of Gloucester, reported in Richard II (2.2.97) and forecast by her (1.2.73), but we are told nothing of the interval between her forecast and her death, nor of her mode of death. I must disagree about the other four deaths mentioned by Kehler. These were all suicides and, as such, excluded by my brief (see footnote to Table 1). A better candidate for an overlooked emotional death is Queen Katherine (of Aragon) in All is True aka Henry VIII , whose case illustrates dangerously mixed emotions. At her abortive trial she expressed great anger as well as sadness about her rejection by the King, saying “my drops of tears I’ll turn to sparks of fire” (2.4.7). Later, while proclaiming “the burden of my sorrows”, she pours out her indignation and fury on the slimy Wolsey and Campeius, only to admit pathetically that “Like the lily, / That once was mistress of the field and flourished, / I’ll hang my head and perish” (3.1.110, 150-152). She is led out to die at 4.2.174. Competing interests: None declared