Tomb curse 'saved Shakespeare from exhumation'

Apr 25 2007

A CURSE engraved on his tomb in Stratford-upon-Avon may have saved playwright William Shakespeare's remains from exhumation, according to an academic.

The legendary Midland playwright was buried 391 years ago - on April 25, 1616 - in Holy Trinity Church.

The fact that he still rests in peace could be thanks to the curse on his tomb, which Dr Philip Schwyzer, of Exeter University, said showed his personal phobia of exhumation.

Shakespeare's tomb inscription reads: "Good friend for Jesus sake forebeare,/ To digg the dust encloased heare,/ Bleste be ye man yt spares thes stones,/ And curst be he yt moves my bones."

Dr Schwyzer, senior lecturer in Renaissance literature and culture, said: "Shakespeare had an unusual obsession with burial and a fear of exhumation.

"His epitaph marks his final, uncompromising statement on a theme that preoccupied him throughout his career as a writer for the stage."

The academic said: "Real anxiety about the mistreatment or exhumation of corpses is found in at least 16 of the 37 plays, including a clear majority of the histories and tragedies, and this anxiety is often more pronounced than the fear of death in itself."

Examples of anxiety over the moving of bones appeared in Romeo And Juliet, when Juliet imagined waking in the crypt and tearing bodies; in Hamlet, when a grave digger threw up bones and skulls; and in Richard III when the body of Henry VI was redirected when carried to the grave.

Dr Schwyzer said: "The stern inscription on the slab has been at least partially responsible for the fact that there have been no successful projects to open the grave."

His new book, Archaeologies Of English Renaissance Literature, published by Oxford University Press, explores the fascination with images of exhumation and excavation that runs through literary texts.