Shakespeare References in The Temple Of My Familiar

I decided to revisit Alice Walker’s The Temple Of My Familiar, a book I read in my late teens soon after it was first published, and found that it contains a few Shakespeare references. The first reference is to Othello. Alice Walker writes: “They burned us first – well, we were so visible. Even after centuries of living among the Europeans. You can think of Desdemona and Othello, if you can’t come at it any other way, in trying to catch even a glimpse of our presence in Europe. The Inquisition eventually traveled where they were, too, to watery Venice, a dank and still somehow beautiful place” (p. 195). She then continues, about Shakespeare and Othello: “But did you never wonder why, in the little bit of the story the whites could not prevent Shakespeare, at least, from trying to tell (that ‘mysterious’ playwright about whom so very little is known), that there are only Moors (defined as men) and no Mooresses? I can tell you, we were there, somewhat paler than when we were in Africa, yes, but imagine Desdemona’s and Othello’s children” (p. 195). Othello is referred to again: “One or two settled in Venice and inspired a famous play” (p. 196). And then again: “In Venice, where Othello was a nobleman, there are today endless statues of Moors, dressed in the livery of slaves” (p. 197). Alice Walker writes, “but in his heart of hearts he was fearless,” “heart of hearts” being a phrase coined by Shakespeare and used in Hamlet. Hamlet says, “Give me that man/That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him/In my heart’s core, aye, in my heart of heart,/As I do thee.” Alice Walker also uses the phrase “The long and short of it” (p. 133) which Shakespeare used but did not coin.

The Temple Of My Familiar was published in 1989. First Pocket Books printing was in May 1990.