Relaxation Cushion
Shakespeare

As you like it

Silvius

No, Corin, being old, thou canst not guess, Though in thy youth thou wast as true a lover As ever sigh'd upon a midnight pillow. But if thy love were ever like to mine, As sure I think did never man love so, How many actions most ridiculous Hast thou been drawn to by thy fantasy?

Cushion under Crown of Henry IV is morphing to a pillow:

Henry IV, Part I, [II, 4], line 1361, Falstaff

Shall I? content: this chair shall be my state, this dagger my sceptre, and this cushion my crown.

Henry IV, Part II, [IV, 5], line 2891, Henry IV

Set me the crown upon my pillow here.

Henry IV, Part II, [IV, 5], line 2907, Henry V

No; I will sit and watch here by the King.

[Exeunt all but the PRINCE]

Why doth the crown lie there upon his pillow, Being so troublesome a bedfellow? O polish'd perturbation! golden care! That keep'st the ports of slumber open wide To many a watchful night! Sleep with it now! Yet not so sound and half so deeply sweet As he whose brow with homely biggen bound Snores out the watch of night. O majesty! When thou dost pinch thy bearer, thou dost sit Like a rich armour worn in heat of day That scald'st with safety. By his gates of breath There lies a downy feather which stirs not. Did he suspire, that light and weightless down Perforce must move. My gracious lord! my father! This sleep is sound indeed; this is a sleep That from this golden rigol hath divorc'd So many English kings. Thy due from me Is tears and heavy sorrows of the blood Which nature, love, and filial tenderness, Shall, O dear father, pay thee plenteously. My due from thee is this imperial crown, Which, as immediate from thy place and blood, Derives itself to me. [Putting on the crown] Lo where it Which God shall guard; and put the world's whole strength Into one giant arm, it shall not force This lineal honour from me. This from thee Will I to mine leave as 'tis left to me. Exit

Henry IV, Part II, [IV, 5], line 2949, Henry IV

Where is the crown? Who took it from my pillow?

Henry V, pillow on epingham

Good morrow, old Sir Thomas Erpingham: A good soft pillow for that good white head Were better than a churlish turf of France.

Weird Shakespeare monument

The Shakespeare monument in Stratford contains a number of suspicious features. In the original monument (different from the current monument) the Stratford man is depicted holding a sack, as befits one who deals in grain, malt, etc. In the current monument, the Stratford man is depicted with a pen and a sheet of paper, and the sack of grain has become a cushion. The great poet is using a cushion as a writing table! Those who built the original monument were evidently trying to set up the Stratford man as the poet Shakespeare, and conceal Oxford's authorship, but they had to depict the Stratford man as a grain dealer since he was known as such in Stratford. Those who built the current monument were bolder, and emphasized literature rather than grain, though they didn't dare to erase all traces of the previous monument. So the sack of grain became a cushion, and the cushion became a writing table. Who Was Shakespeare?

anti-Stradfordian theory of Shakespeare cushion

According to the anti-Stratfordian theory, the original monument to Shakespeare depicted him as a commodity dealer. Their claim is that the cushion on which Shakespeare is resting his arms was originally a wool sack, or some other such symbol of his merchant trade. The theory is that when the monument was restored in 1749, the present monument was substituted for the original. Somehow the figure of Shakespeare was altered (or replaced, depending upon the theorist), the "wool sack" became a cushion, and the pen and paper were wedged into Shakespeare's hands to add verisimilitude to the "hoax" that the Stratfordian Shakespeare was the author of the plays. Anti-Stratfordians claim that since no one complained about the errors in the Hollar engraving and its copies, their silence is proof that the engravings accurately depict the "original state" of the monument. Shakespeare Monument

Fun of Shakespeare's cushion in wikipedia

In Dugdale's depiction, the poet is not shown holding a quill or paper, and the cushion appears to be tipped up against his body. The art critic Marion Spielmann satirised the illustration, describing it as giving the impression that Shakespeare was pressing the cushion to his groin, "which, for no reason, except perhaps abdominal pains, is hugged against what dancing-masters euphemistically term the 'lower chest'". Wikipedia: Shakespeare funerary monument

How much theatre cost cost when pound was pound of pure silver

The members of the audience at one of Shakespeare's plays varied greatly by class. The poorer members of the audience would pay one English penny, in some cases an entire day's pay, to stand in front of the stage. If a spectator wished to sit it would cost him another penny and if he desired a cushion it would cost yet another penny. The richest patrons would sit in covered galleries and have the best view, but this seat could cost as much as half a crown. Shakespeare