Westminster Abbey is one of those things you hear about all your life, but never think you’ll actually visit or stand in. That was certainly the case for me – I’ve heard so much about this place. The royal weddings, the funerals, and of course, the coronations, it all takes place in this Abbey. And it is a beautifully fitting place. I knew it was a gorgeous church, and that it had a lot of connection and relativity to the royal family and has for hundreds of years, but I never knew the extent of the artifacts, the tombs, and the window into the past that this place really is.
I was lucky enough to spend a good amount of time here, and with that I was able to hit all the main points. There were things that really stood out to me, like the tomb of the “unknown” little boys (who we think are the two princes murdered by King Richard), Queen Elizabeth I tomb, with her from-life cast on top of it, showing what her face really looked like. That was the best part of the entire Abbey for me. It brought so much reality into this imaginary person Ive always had in my head. To me she looks like her portraits – flushes white and caked with makeup, thin and sharp features, a small pointy nose, and draped with gorgeous fabrics and jewels. Though the fashion and adornment remains true for her, I realized that the portraits were only what she really wanted people to think she looked like, and all along she really was this beautiful and imperfect human, with a slopey nose and a few wrinkles in her forehead. It was so beautiful to see what she would look like if you saw her without all the makeup, like you were a friend of hers. It felt deeply personal for each person walking through.
There are many significant people buried/memorialized at Westminster Abbey, and three that stood out to me were Jane Austen (duh), Charles Dickens, and William Shakespeare.
Jane Austen was born in Hampshire, England, in 1775. She was born into a large family, and started writing from a young age. Her family was incredibly supportive of her writing, and her brothers actually helped her publish her books. Though Jane had a few romantic relationships, she never married – she lived much of her life in the English countryside and in Bath, which she loved to call her “Home”. Jane is known for her 6 novels, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion. She fell ill and died in 1817, but even to this day is considered one of the most famous authors of all time.
Charles Dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth England. He is remembered heavily as a famous English novelist and social critic, and was actually said to hang out in the same tea room (where we had tea at the pump room at the Baths!) with Jane Austen. As his father was sent to a debtors prison when he was very young, Dickens worked in a shoe factory as a child to help support the family. He began writing in early adulthood, and went on to write some of the classics like A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations. His stories often featured themes of child labor, poverty, and injustice, which for him were all very real, and were a huge part of his personal story. He was buried in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey in 1870.
William Shakespeare born in 1564, is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and one of the most influential dramatists in the world, and rightfully so. To begin to encapsulate Shakespeares life and accomplishments would take way more pages than I have available right now, but being able to still see his work on major display in todays world is more than enough proof that he is one of the greats. Not much is known about his early life, but he married his wife, Anne Hathaway, at 18 years old and they had 3 children. He became a shareholder in the Globe Theater, and within a short span of years he wrote 39 plays. He died in 1616 and is buried in Holy Trinity Church where he was born, in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Theatre in London U of A 