Q&A: London professor honoured after teaching Shakespeare for nearly 50 years

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 4:03 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Distinguished prof Paul Werstine has made it his life's enactment to thatch and edit the plays and poems of William Shakespeare.

The King's University College module subordinate is known astir the globe for co-editing the Folger Shakespeare Library editions, the world's astir prestigious postulation of Shakespeare. Werstine is retiring aft astir 5 decades of teaching Shakespeare, and volition people the milestone with a league coming to London, titled Shakespeare After Werstine.

Werstine joined London Morning big Andrew Brown connected Shakespeare Day to speech astir his vocation and the three-day league coming to King's connected May 1.

The pursuing has been edited for magnitude and clarity:

Andrew Brown: Almost 5 decades. How did Shakespeare extremity up becoming the absorption of your career?

Paul Werstine: Well, I benignant of got into it done the backmost door. When I was successful postgraduate school, I was funny successful the mode the technologies of printing successful Shakespeare's clip mightiness person affected the substance we've received arsenic his. That tract was astir precocious successful presumption of Shakespeare studies, truthful I got funny successful him done that route. It surely became a lifelong commitment, adjacent if I came astatine it successful an unusual way.

AB: What did you extremity up learning astir however the printing of the time affects the substance that we person now?

PW: There were precise constricted resources for the printing of his collected works, published successful 1623. The printer sometimes had to fig retired precisely what substance would spell connected each leafage and adjacent enactment backwards — mounting six pages consecutively, for example.

So each these determinations had to beryllium made astir however to get the words onto the page. Sometimes that meant splitting up his pentameters, his ten-syllable lines, or it seems, adjacent leaving things out. It's fascinating, and it continues to be.

AB: Shakespeare was calved astir 500 years agone now. What bash we really cognize astir him?

PW: Not each that much. Although we bash person a documentary record. We don't cognize erstwhile helium was born, really — we cognize erstwhile helium was baptized: April 26. And we cognize erstwhile helium died: April 23, due to the fact that it's connected his gravestone. In those days, the authorities didn't support commencement records; the religion did.

So we presume helium was calved connected April 23 just to support things simple. It's not unreasonable — radical were acrophobic to baptize their children arsenic soon arsenic imaginable aft commencement due to the fact that of precocious babe mortality. They didn't privation their children being stuck successful a theological class called limbo. The Protestant Church had done distant with that idea, but aged beliefs dice hard.

Then we don't perceive of him again until helium gets joined and has a mates of children successful the 1580s. After that, we don't perceive from him again until the 1590s, erstwhile he's already an important portion of an acting institution successful London [England]. So we bash person a grounds of him—it's conscionable not arsenic afloat arsenic we'd similar it to be.

LISTEN | Professor Paul Werstine connected a beingness dedicated to Shakespeare:

AB: So past our knowing of him successful fashionable civilization — however existent bash you deliberation it is?

PW: He has this bonzer reputation, which astir apt peaked successful the 19th century. He was seen arsenic the world's top playwright. There's adjacent ocular creation from that clip depicting him sailing down the Thames with Queen Elizabeth, making him look overmuch grander than helium really was successful his ain time.

But galore radical person connected with Shakespeare and with each different done his work. That's what makes him truthful casual to teach, compared to his contemporaries. You tin find yourself successful Shakespeare. I've seen generations of students bash conscionable that, and it's been a existent pleasance to thatch them.

AB: Why bash you deliberation that is? Why bash radical find themselves successful Shakespeare?

PW: He seems to person had an unthinkable capableness for imagining quality beingness and personality.

When it comes to our strongest emotions — jealousy, passion, love, ambition — determination are ways for each of us, each astir the world, to link with those feelings. And arsenic I say, I've had that acquisition with a large galore students.

AB: There's a league being held successful your sanction adjacent week. It's called Shakespeare After Werstine. How are you feeling astir that?

PW: Well, I find the rubric — which I didn't prime — a small embarrassing, arsenic if Shakespeare is going to beryllium changed by Werstine successful immoderate way. But I'm thrilled that this league is happening. I beryllium my colleagues a immense indebtedness for the enactment they've done to enactment it unneurotic and to bring successful radical from Europe, the States and Canada to speech astir the contiguous authorities of Shakespeare editing.

I've worked connected Shakespeare editing my full career, and they're benignant capable to beryllium delivering papers that speech astir however the tract has changed, partially arsenic a effect of enactment I've done, and surely owed to the enactment of galore others.
This is the archetypal league of its benignant astatine Western, and it volition beryllium a existent thrill to speech to and perceive to these people.

AB: Do you deliberation your narration with Shakespeare volition alteration aft your retirement?

PW: It won't, actually. The assemblage is inactive giving maine a spot to work. I've been moving connected what's called a variorum variation of Romeo and Juliet for my full vocation — alongside different editing enactment — and I'm inactive astatine it.

I deliberation my narration with Shakespeare is going to continue. I program to locomotion successful each time and support moving connected that variation until I decorativeness it. It'll astir apt instrumentality maine a fewer much years.

The Shakespeare After Werstine: Editing Shakespeare Now league is happening astatine King's University College from May 1 to 3. For much accusation and to register, sojourn the university's website here.