Shakespeare in Prison

Robben Island Prison
Image from Britannica Encyclopedia 

It was a pitch-black midnight. The Robben Island Prison stood like a gigantic monster on a grim terrain. The guard who was on watch that night was startled by an unusual sound from one of the dark cells in the solitary confinement section of the prison. What could be that grunt-like sound at this time of the night when all prisoners must be asleep? Even light was not permitted anywhere in the prison. Forget sounds. Was it some ghost? After all, so many prisoners died in those cells succumbing to the brutality of the British police.

The guard moved in the direction of the sound. It was coming from the cell where a prisoner named Nelson Mandela was kept. The guard stood outside the dark cell and listened. “To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer…”

“Mandela, what the hell are you doing?” The guard asked. He knew if the chief heard such sounds that would be the end of the prisoner.

Mandela told the guard that he was reciting the soliloquies from some of Shakespeare’s plays.

The prisoners were not allowed to read anything except the Bible. Later Tolstoy’s speeches and some books of H G Wells were also allowed. Not Shakespeare. But Mandela had managed to get a copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare.

It was an Indian named Venkata Ratnam who smuggled in Shakespeare to Robben. Venkata Ratnam was a teacher at the Durban University and was arrested when he started supporting the causes of the Africans against the British colonial government. When the guard saw a book with him, he was questioned. “It’s Shakespeare Bible,” said the professor. As soon as he heard the word ‘Bible’ the guard crossed himself piously and let the prisoner carry it in.

Shakespeare became a favourite author of many of the prisoners. Mandela loved the soliloquies. Shakespeare was discussed in detail by the learned among the prisoners.

Much later, as a free man, Mandela visited England and addressed a group of students of the London University. One of his counsels to the students was to learn to enjoy the liberating power of good literature. Good literature can be as soothing as a miraculous balm when you are going through tough times. Shakespeare can be a deity in a prison.