There were several literary icons buried or memorialized in Westminster Abbey. It was quite crowded so I’m sure I missed a few, but I caught sight and took pictures of memorials for Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Dickens, Austen, and the Brontü sisters. Obviously I will be picking my favorites to write about which would have to be Shakespeare, Austen, and Charlotte Brontë.
I found it interesting (although not surprising in the least) that Shakespeare was the only writer of the three just listed who had an actual statue commemorating them. Even further, Austen and Charlotte’s names were the only things given to their memorials other than their birth and death years. Their names were also quite small on either side of Shakespeare’s grand statue in comparison with all the other male names or statues surrounding them. Just an interesting aspect of the memorials I happened to notice.
Anyways, none of these writers are actually buried at Westminster Abbey. Shakespeare’s memorial is a statue of him leaning against a pile of books while holding a piece of paper with lines from The Tempest. His memorial was installed in 1741, and it contains his birth year of 1564 and his death year of 1616. I’m not sure anyone really needs biographical information on Shakespeare, but nonetheless, he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, married Anne Hathaway at 18, had three children, and was an actor and playwright in London. He is best known for his plays Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Hamlet, as well as his sonnets, of which he wrote 154.
Moving on to Austen, who was sadly only given a small plaque with her name and birth/death year on it. Austen was born in Hampshire, England in 1775. She spent her early life with family, and occupied her days with reading and creative writing. Jane Austen is known for her works of literature such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma.
Charlotte Brontë, who was also sadly only given an even smaller plaque with her name, alongside her sisters’, was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. Charlotte helped raise her younger siblings in her early years. She is known best for her famous literary work of Jane Eyre.
Overall, I’d say Westminster Abbey was a pretty cool place for literary fanatics like me!
- Jill Qualls
Theatre in London U of A 