Shakespeare in the Botanic Gardens

Who would have thought that my mind could wander to Shakespeare’s works while watching and photographing birds at the Botanic Gardens?

I captured some shots of the olive-backed sunbird at the beautiful patches of Heliconia and ginger plants. I also saw a Brahminy kite perched at the top of a tree way up the hill. The kite had company: a crow was preparing to perch on a lower branch.

For some unexplainable reason, the sight of the crows and the Brahminy kite made me think of Shakespeare, Macbeth and Julius Caesar. In the 1950s and probably today, Shakespeare’s writings are used as a recommended text for English literature. Many students, including me, struggled to understand what Shakespeare tried to convey. The following shots reminded me of King Duncan in Macbeth and the ruler’s assassination, Julius Caesar. The crow conveyed the characters who overthrew and replaced the rulers.

The crow chased away the Brahminy kite and took over the “throne.”

Bird watchers often see smaller birds’ antics. The smaller birds assert dominance over a favoured location for food or to protect their young in a nest in a nearby tree.

When Shakespeare wrote his plays, there was no TV or radio, and nearly all the information available to the public was obtained by word of mouth from relatives, friends, the schoolteacher, and books. Plays like Shakespeare’s were also a source of information and had some influence on public opinion.

When we used these plays to study English Literature, how interesting it would have been if our teacher had emphasised the state of the media at that point – and perhaps talked about how factual and fake news could condition our thoughts. It would be interesting to see such stories used to sway public opinion or propagate false news or propaganda. Although the play was based on the assassination and replacement of a king and a ruler, the facts were changed in Macbeth’s case, for example, and embellished with witchcraft and thunder, lightning and rain. In the play, the blame for Macbeth’s act is also partly attributed to his wife, who is portrayed as being lured by the desire for more power as queen.

The lure of power, money, fame and status is hard to resist, but the reality is that they do, to this day, influence and motivate people. When we collaborate with others, the challenge is to calibrate such incentives so that enough must be provided. At the same time, we have to find capable people who can be incentivised without over-providing such incentives to the detriment of the system. The trick is calibrating it so that people get enough to do their job well without being attracted by inducements to work for their self-interest.

Shakespeare’s language and expressions were challenging. Half the time, I could not understand what he was saying. Some of his expressions stayed with me for years because I had to memorise many exam passages.

Here is an example from Macbeth:

“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is no longer heard. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Can one imagine this as saying that life is fleeting and meaningless—like a short candle that burns out quickly?

It is a challenge to figure out all the mental acrobatics that Shakespeare’s writings subjected us to. One can only imagine what Shakespeare’s fertile imagination could have conjured up if he were alive and witnessed all the antics of the crows and the Brahminy kite in our parks and gardens.

But never mind, maybe such flights of fancy are more appropriate for the birds.