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It turns out, we're all totally misquoting William Shakespeare. Also, Jane Austen is probably not like the woman you're imagining in your head. And the story of Frankenstein... well, we just have that entire thing wrong.
In this episode of Misconceptions, we're covering famous books and authors. It's time to rethink what you know about our most classic stories.
Join host Justin Dodd in an endless pursuit of the truth.
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0:00
Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well, is not actually the line
0:05
Yeah, that's right. One of the most iconic lines and one of the most famous scenes from one of the English
0:09
language's most influential plays is not what most of us think it is
0:13
The actual line is, alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest of
0:18
most excellent fancy. And this is just one of many Shakespearean quotes that we are all completely misquoting
0:24
For example, the witches in Macbeth don't say bubble bubble, toil and trouble, it's
0:28
double double. And don't even get me started on Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo
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That's not a misquote per se, but if I have to see one more community theater production
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where Juliet is looking off her balcony like this, reinforcing the misconception that wherefore means where and not essentially why
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I think I'm going to lose it. Hi, I'm Justin Dodd, here to set the story straight on all the things in history that may have gotten a little bent
0:53
If you have a topic you want us to cover in a future episode, leave it in the comments below. Today, we're talking misconceptions about famous books and authors
1:01
And speaking of Shakespeare, is that guy even who we think it is? Okay, let's calm down one thing at a time
1:06
Let's do it. Roll the intro. Frankenstein was created by an evil doctor and his assistant, Igor
1:20
For being one of the most famous horror stories of all time, there are a ton of misconceptions about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
1:26
The most glaring one is of course that Frankenstein is not the name of the monster but rather of his creator, Dr. Victor Frankenstein
1:33
That's an easy one but already we've run into another misconception. Dr. Victor Frankenstein is not a doctor
1:40
Nowhere in the book does it ever say that he's a doctor of anything. In fact, in Mary Shelley's original novel, he's a student
1:46
This misconception is due in part to the many iterations that came later where Victor Frankenstein is portrayed as being Dr. Frankenstein
1:53
Including my personal favorite interpretation, young Frankenstein. So, the monster is just the monster and Frankenstein is just Mr. Frankenstein. No, MD. Got it
2:02
Luckily, we're all on the same page about our favorite hunchback lab assistant, Igor, right
2:06
Well, I have some bad news, unfortunately. Igor is not an original character in the story of Frankenstein
2:12
Victor Frankenstein did have an assistant in a theatrical adaptation of the novel that premiered in 1823, but his name was Fritz
2:19
The character appeared again in the original 1931 film adaptation, which may be why so many people identify him with the Frankenstein story, but again, his name was an Igor
2:29
So where did that name come from? Well, in the sequels to that original film, there was an Igor, spelled with a Y, incidentally, but he was neither a hunchback nor a lab assistant
2:38
He was an insane blacksmith who survived an attempted hanging. Don't ask
2:43
In the novel, there was no assistant at all. No Igor, no Fritz, no creepy blacksmith
2:48
The elusive Igor, although mostly and incorrectly associated with Frankenstein, is now considered
2:53
to be a stock henchman character for the Gothic villain archetype in general He even been depicted as being Dracula assistant in some iterations of that story Of course the real monster of Mary Shelley Frankenstein is the society that villainized him Thank you Thank you I am very
3:10
smart. Jane Austen was completely anonymous. It's one of the first things discussed when talking
3:16
about Jane Austen's legacy. Her name never appeared on her books during her lifetime. And this is true
3:22
Her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, was credited simply by a lady
3:27
After its success, Austen's subsequent novels were credited to the author of Sense and Sensibility
3:32
and eventually became by the author of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. This was due to a couple of factors, but the main being what you might expect, 19th century sexism
3:42
It wasn't considered proper for women to put a career such as writing above domestic duties like motherhood
3:48
And beyond the social pressures, male relatives generally had to represent women in legal matters
3:52
So as a result, female authors often chose to publish anonymously. But most people don't know that it was actually very common
3:59
for books to be published without a credited author at the time, regardless of gender
4:03
James Rabin, a professor of modern history at the University of Essex, in his research into anonymity in the 18th century
4:09
found that between 1750 and 1790, around 80% of novels were published anonymously
4:15
And even without her name ever appearing on any of her novels, apparently the secret of
4:20
Austen's identity wasn't very well kept. In the book Jane Austen, Her Life in Letters, which details the life of the author as told
4:27
by her family members, it's revealed that among the aristocracy, it was fairly well
4:31
known who the real author of Pride and Prejudice was. The Prince Regent of England even invited Austen specifically to his library to..
4:40
hang out, I guess? Novella and chill, maybe? Her anonymity goes hand-in-hand with the pervasive notion that Austen was a shy, simple woman
4:49
But this may be more of a posthumous fabrication than it is an accurate representation of Austen's life
4:54
In Valerie Gross-Venner Meier's biography, it's stated that after Austen's death in 1817
4:59
her family was quick to gentrify her, to portray her as cozy and sweet, ignoring the vinegary vein which fascinates us
5:06
They censored her letters and doctored her image. She was tougher, more irritable, and more sardonic than they liked to acknowledge
5:12
Historians believe that William Shakespeare was not the actual Shakespeare. It's a pretty interesting conspiracy theory
5:20
The author and poet behind some of the greatest written works of all time is not who we think it is
5:25
Bill Shakespeare was just the ghost writer for some anonymous other writer
5:30
Potentially royalty, potentially a woman, but definitely not a simple actor from Stratford-upon-Avon
5:37
While there are definitely a handful of people who believe these stories, it's a misconception that Shakespeare's identity is at the center of some great historical debate
5:45
The vast majority of theater historians and Shakespearean experts consider this theory far-fetched and hardly credible
5:50
Myself included I not an expert per se but I do have an undergraduate degree in theater so do with that what you will There no concrete proof that anyone other than William Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare plays He did occasionally work with collaborators but there no convincing evidence that there
6:06
is some mysterious other figure masquerading as William Shakespeare. The main pieces of evidence are simply suspicions about his credibility, such as how could someone
6:17
of relatively humble background know so much about the inner workings of royal affairs
6:21
Is it possible for one person to write so many absolute bangers
6:25
Could a man really understand so deeply the beauty of life and love and heartbreak
6:32
The lack of hard evidence hasn't stopped the anti-Stratfordian theory from making its way into popular culture
6:38
The Oxfordian theory posits that the true Shakespeare is Edward de Vere
6:42
17th Earl of Oxford. Oxfordian's made argument relies on the parallels between events in certain Shakespeare plays
6:48
and events in De Vere's life, reshaping these works to be more autobiographical than simply
6:53
royal dramas. This theory has some basically insurmountable problems, though, like the fact
6:58
that De Vere died in 1604 and several Shakespeare plays were published after that date, with
7:04
references within the works to historical events that occurred in the decade after De Vere passed
7:09
That would be taking Ghost Rider to a whole new level. I'm sorry, that was insensitive. Rest in
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piece, my man. While it's true that we don't know everything about the life of William Shakespeare
7:19
it's fair to say that the Oxfordian theory is based more on interesting coincidences than any
7:24
amount of hard evidence. While it may not hold water historically, the theory even inspired the
7:29
2011 film Anonymous. The movie, just like many of the claims of Oxfordians, was a flop
7:35
That joke is like nine years too late. Hemingway is the author of a famous six-word short story
7:41
In most college creative writing classes, you'll study the genre of flash fiction
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very, very short stories that still contain a beginning, a middle, and an end
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One of the more famous examples is this infamous six-word tale, For Sale, Baby Shoes Never Worn
7:57
Ernest Hemingway is often attributed as the author of this tragic combination of words
8:01
but this is, however, a misconception. A literary agent named Peter Miller claimed to have been told the story of Hemingway
8:08
coming up with the story by a well-established newspaper syndicator in 1974. He then published
8:14
his claim in the 1991 book Get Published, Get Produced, a Literary Agent's Tips on How to Sell
8:19
Your Writing. Tip number one, however, was not have a short, concise title. His story goes that
8:24
Hemingway was having lunch at Lucho's with a handful of other writers. He offered a bet that
8:29
he could write a complete story with only six words. Each writer put in $10, and after writing
8:34
down the short story on a napkin and passing it around the table, he claimed the pot
8:39
And it makes sense that this story would be attributed to Hemingway. One of his defining qualities is his minimalist language, so a tragic six word story seems right up his
8:47
alley But there no evidence to suggest that Hemingway is the actual author of the story Miller story was apparently heard in 1974 but Hemingway died in 1961 In fact it likely that there is no actual author and it simply an amalgamation of actual ads
9:03
from the early 20th century. An ad appeared in the Ironwood News Record in 1906
9:06
that read, For sale, baby carriage, never been used, apply at this office
9:11
And then, in 1910, an article in the Spokane Press mentioned an ad that read
9:16
Baby's hand made trousseau, and baby's bed for sale, never been used
9:20
Over the next few decades, several examples of similar stories or titles of stories arose
9:25
Various authors or playwrights have been credited, but ultimately, it seems that the original
9:29
author of this sad story was the cruel hand of reality itself
9:34
Yeah, thank you. I'm also very emotionally deep. Sherlock Holmes's catchphrase was, elementary, my dear Watson
9:42
Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is still one of the most referenced and replicated
9:46
stories of all time. Among his many adventures, one series of actions remains constant
9:51
Sherlock Holmes makes a perplexingly accurate observation, Watson is astonished, and Holmes responds with the casual and rather condescending retort
9:59
Elementary, my dear Watson. The only problem? This string of words never appears in any of the original stories
10:06
Holmes does use the word elementary to describe certain deductions throughout the books and stories
10:10
In 1893, Doyle's The Adventure of the Crooked Man, which was published in The Strand magazine
10:15
included the phrase elementary after Holmes deduced Watson's recent actions based on the doctor's appearance
10:21
In 1901, the serialized version of The Hound of the Baskervilles included a scene
10:26
in which Holmes examines a walking stick and manages to deduce the size of the man's dog
10:31
Interesting, though elementary, said he. He also, on multiple accounts, does use the phrase my dear Watson
10:38
sometimes even within the same scene that he uses the term elementary. See 1893's The Crooked Man again, for instance
10:44
But never, not once, do the words appear together. This didn't stop this phrase from working its way into the zeitgeist, though
10:52
As early as 1901, a short parody story that featured the detective Shylock Combs
10:57
I mean, that's just clever, included the phrase, Elementary, my dear, Potson
11:02
I mean, that is just the pinnacle of biting satirical wordplay right there, come on
11:07
Over the next century, this phrase would be used countless times by countless speakers
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Various versions of Sherlock Holmes, outside of the Doyle canon of course, would eventually
11:15
wield the catchphrase like a badge of honor. Such as in the 1929 film The Return of Sherlock Holmes
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That doesn't change the fact that it's a modern fabrication. I guess not all famous quotes can be legit
11:27
At least we'll always have, Luke, I am your father. What? Why are you shaking your head
11:34
What does this mean? Thanks for watching our recently rebooted Misconceptions. We are so stoked to be back, bringing you the truth about all of your favorite lies
11:42
Don't forget to leave your suggestions for our next episode's topic in the comments below
11:46
And remember, don't believe everything you read. Well, unless it cites primary sources and is written by a credible journal, then it's
11:53
probably fine
#education