Peter pounding our flesh

Carolyn Cooper

Last Wednesday, April 23, was the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare. Perchance, it was not. The date of birth of England's world-famous poet and dramatist is actually quite mysterious. Nobody knows for sure. Shakespeare was christened on April 26, 1564, but there's no record of his birth.

Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. That's a fact. In a grand gesture of dramatic completion, it was decided that his dates of birth and death should be identical. April 23 is also the feast day of St George, the patron saint of England. So it was an auspicious day for Shakespeare's birth. The unofficial national poet of England sanctified by association! This is all part of the Shakespeare mystique.

And talking of national poets, I must congratulate Professor Mervyn Morris on his recent appointment as Poet Laureate of Jamaica. In Ancient Greece, a crown of laurel leaves was the symbol used to honour poets and other heroes. These days, this mark of distinction means that the recipient is expected to compose grand poems for national occasions. Professor Morris is not a man who aspires to be a saint. His poems can be quite naughty. So I very much look forward to ironic poems cleverly evading celebration of this and that.

IMPERIAL ENTERPRISE

The elevation of Shakespeare to near-sainthood can be seen as part of the imperial enterprise of Great Britain. An empire that birthed the greatest dramatist the world has ever known must, surely, be entitled to conquer the Earth! It is through language and literature that the culture of England has been imprinted on the minds of colonised peoples. And Shakespeare's plays have been translated into all the major languages.

All the same, there is much speculation about whether or not Shakespeare actually wrote those plays. Conspiracy theorists argue that 'Shakespeare' is a front for the real author who didn't want his identity to be known. And there are at least 80 candidates for the title of the greatest. Like all conspiracy theories, the fake-Shakespeare claim is a matter of faith, not scholarship.

Then on Shakespeare's alleged birthday, I heard an enthusiast on the BBC World Service say that the plays are like the Old Testament. They tell eternal truths. And you can always find a quote to fit a current issue. That's quite true. But I know fundamentalist Christians will not be amused by the comparison between the sacred word of God and worldly theatrical entertainment.

OVERSEER PETER PHILLIPS

Heresy aside, I did think of Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice when I heard about the new bank tax imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Let's face it. The IMF is the owner of Plantation Jamaica and Peter Phillips is just the overseer pounding us down into the ground. The parallels with Shakespeare's play are not exact, but there are enough.

The key characters in The Merchant of Venice are Shylock, the money-lender; Bassanio, who takes out a loan; and Antonio, his friend, who agrees to be the guarantor for the loan. So in our little parable, the IMF is Shylock and Peter Phillips (di govament) is Bassanio. Now here's where the problem starts. We, the people of Jamaica, are supposed to be Antonio, collective guarantors for the loan.

But did we ask Peter to take out any loan with the IMF? And, unlike Antonio, we certainly did not agree to be guarantors. We had no choice in the matter. Peter decided that we would have to pay off his loan. He will say he borrowed the money for us. So why are we complaining? What is one lickle dollar out of each thousand we are taking out of the bank? Lickle or not, is our dollar and Peter has no right to give it to the IMF.

SWEETHEART PORTIA

The terrible moral issue in The Merchant of Venice is the deadly terms of the loan. Shylock insists that if Bassanio cannot repay the loan, he will demand a pound of Antonio's flesh. Remember, we are Antonio. So that's our flesh. To be fair, Bassanio did warn Antonio about accepting the terms of the loan. Not our Peter. He forced us right into it.

As it turns out, neither Bassanio nor Antonio can repay the loan, so Shylock gleefully prepares to claim his pound of flesh. But wait! The best joke is that Bassanio borrowed the money to woo his sweetheart. He wanted to be able to travel in splendour to court her. Believe it or not, the name of Bassanio's sweetheart is Portia! So there you have it. The Government is borrowing money from the IMF so that the Government can travel in style. And we are the ones who get stuck with the bill.

In The Merchant of Venice, Antonio is saved by the cleverness of Portia, disguised as a male lawyer. She tells Shylock he can take his pound of flesh but he's not entitled to one drop of blood. And that's that. I wish our Portia could outwit the IMF and free us from the burden of unconscionable debt. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride!

On behalf of the people of Jamaica, I'm commissioning our new Poet Laureate to compose a poem for the present national crisis. And I'm taking the liberty of giving Professor Morris the title: Banking on trouble.

Carolyn Cooper is a professor of literary and cultural studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona. Visit her bilingual blog at http://carolynjoycooper.wordpress.com. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and karokupa@gmail.com.