Fawcett MK: Keeping Up

OFF THE SHELF! Their lordships the Earl of Sandwich, the Duke of Wellington and Lord Cardigan, together with Laszlo Biro, are among many others whose names are embedded in the English language because of something they wore, cooked or invented in some way. For example, in the mid-nineteenth century, the women’s rights advocate Amelia Bloomer wrote favourably about wearing a loose trouser outfit. The idea caught on and ‘bloomers’ quickly became quite the thing for women who wanted less restrictive clothing. Such eponyms are interesting, often quite benign and celebratory of the innovators and inventors. However, no such kudos attended the Reverend James Bowdler, who, in 1807 published ‘The Family Shakespeare’. He believed that the plays could not be read ‘safely’ to women and children unless they were highly edited, cutting out any nasty bits. He changed the text of Hamlet so that the suicide of Ophelia became an unfortunate accident and removed all trace of Doll Tearsheet the prostitut...