One student's day in

Oxford & Stratford-Upon-Avon
12 January 2006


Our full day today actually started out rather leisurely with free time in Oxford, during which many of us sought out the pub J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis once frequented, The Eagle and Child. Called “The Bird and Baby” by them, the pub has been around since 1650, and the name is attributed to the tale of an abandoned child who was fostered by an eagle. Since the 1940’s, it was a meeting place for a group known as the Inklings, who used the “rabbit room” (parlor room) to discuss writings; Tolkien, Lewis, Charles Williams and other friends were all part of this group.

After dining at the pub, our group broke up, and Britta, Anne, and I hit up the post office and explored a vintage store called Uncle Sam’s, where a lot of Cornellians ended up buying some cool stuff; Anne bought neckties.


Martyr's Memorial

Image courtesy bbc.co.uk

 

When our free time was up, we met at Martyr’s Memorial for our whirlwind tour of Oxford led by our guide, Jane. The memorial was built in the 19th century in honor of two bishops and one archbishop who were burned at the stake in 1555 and 1556, respectively, after having been tried and found guilty for heresy.

 

Oxford University itself doesn’t have an actual campus in the traditional sense but rather is scattered all over town. It’s also the oldest university in the English speaking world, and, though it’s unknown exactly how old it is, it’s believed to date back to the 11th or 12th century. The university is also split into 39 colleges, both of which a student is a member (the university and an individual college), though one’s heart and loyalty lies with their college, according to our guide. Jane also said that many students are even now wearing badges for their college to show their pride, despite the fact that, as she said, choosing a college is based on everything but academics. Eleven percent of applicants don’t even know which college to choose, so a computer chooses it for them, and once that’s done, you’re not allowed to change it.

 



Our guide, Jane, tells us all about Oxford.
(C. Ballard photo)


Jane also shared with us a lot of facts about the various individual colleges throughout our tour. St. John’s College, for example, is where Prime Minister Tony Blair went. Trinity College was founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas Pope. New College, founded in 1379 was where perhaps the most illustrious alumnus went – Hugh Grant! Well, maybe not so illustrious. All Souls College, founded in 1438, is very elite and selective; one can’t apply to go there and rather has to be invited specifically for post-grad studies. The first woman to be accepted was actually an American named Susan Hurley. Other former students include Christoper Wren, the lengendary English architect who designed, among other things, Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre, and Lawrence of Arabia – who I thought was simply fictional. Apparently not! University College is the oldest college (1249), and both C.S. Lewis and Bill Clinton studied there, the latter of whom was a Rhodes Scholar.

Sheldonian Theatre - designed by Christopher Wren

(C. Ballard photo)


St. Frideswide Window

(C. Ballard photo)

Christ Church College and Cathedral were also a main focus of our tour. Christ Church's students included John Locke and, following in the literary tradition of Lewis and Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, then known as Charles Dodgson. I really enjoyed being able to see things Carroll used as inspiration for aspects of his “Alice” tales, such as the characters with long necks by the fireplace and a back staircase that would be familiar to readers.

The cathedral was, as with every other cathedral we’ve seen so far, beautiful. Services are still held daily and are in Anglican tradition. Many decorations featured a skull – something not prevalent in other cathedrals we went to, such as those in Canterbury and Salisbury – which was to remind us all that we’re going to die. Well, that’s chipper! Wouldn’t want to forget our own mortality, would we?

I loved the St. Frideswide window – in particular the lower panels, which actually featured a toilet to commemorate the very first one! Toilet talk aside, the window was quite beautiful, thanks its vividly colored lower panels.



Following dinner at our hotel in Stratford-Upon-Avon, The Falcon, we headed to our first play, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of the Bard’s classic… wait, no. We didn’t actually see a Shakespeare play but rather a dramatic interpretation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel, Great Expectations, about which I was really excited. Apparently, though, my excitement was not enough, and fatigue ultimately took over, causing me to fall in and out of consciousness throughout the play, which I felt terrible about. I was pretty mad at myself, but I must’ve been extremely tired for that to have happened.

From what I did see, though, there were quite a few interesting bits, such as the narration. At first, I was confused about the whole cast reciting lines of narration throughout the play, but I really think it helped remind us of the story’s fictional roots and highlighted the narrative style for which Dickens was so well-known. The sets were also really impressive, and I like the way something smaller, such as a single staircase, could be rotated around and made to look bigger, or feel bigger. Apart from the random fits of sleep, I did enjoy GE and thought everyone did a good job bringing Dickens to the stage.

Cara Ballard ~ 31 January 2006