Shakespeare a dope smoker?
(fw from The Age, via AFP)
LONDON
Monday 6 November 2000
Scientists believe they may have discovered the source of
William Shakespeare's genius smoking cannabis, a British
newspaper has reported.
Researchers are investigating whether the secret of the Bard's
creativity was his dopesmoking, according to the Independent
on Sunday.
Pipes found at Shakespeare's home in StratforduponAvon,
central England, are being tested for traces of the drug, the paper said.
Dr Frances Thackeray, head of palaeontology at the Transvaal Museum
in Pretoria, South Africa, believes there is evidence of Shakespeare's drug
habit in his work, the paper said.
Thackeray points to the Bard's use of complex imagery of darkness and
mental journeys as evidence of druginduced visions, according to the
Independent.
In a paper written for the Shakespearean Society of Southern Africa,
he said: "There are very few literary scholars who have recognised the
potential link between Shakespeare and hallucinogenic stimuli.
"A close reading of his sonnets and some other lines suggests that he was
aware of them and may have experienced the effects himself."
He added: "This project has Stratford agog."
Thackeray and a colleague, Professor Nick van der Merwe, have asked
Pretoria police laboratories to analyse the contents of several clay pipes
retrieved from New Place in StratforduponAvon, where Shakespeare lived
until his death in 1616.
Cannabis was first cultivated in England in 400 AD and in the 16th and 17th
centuries was commonly used to produce hemp for ships' ropes and canvas.
AFP
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