Burial at Sea and Shakespeare's Pericles
Accuracy of the Superstition Surrounding Thaisa's Death in the Play
Nov 19, 2008
The "death" of Thaisa in act III of William Shakespeare's Pericles is a very tragic and puzzling scene.
When she dies in childbirth during a sea voyage, the ship's sailors wish to immediately have her body removed from the ship, believing the storm battering them will not cease until “the ship be cleared of the dead” (III.1, 50).
Superstition and Burial at Sea
In his article "Burial at Sea: Separating and Placing the Dead During the Age of Sail," David Stewart explains that this superstitious connection between the spirits of the recently deceased and bad luck at sea was very common among sailors of the time. Seamen frequently feared the dead because their appearance signified disaster or death.
Sailors felt that proper burial rituals were absolutely essential to prevent haunting. They absolutely feared disposing of a body without a formal ceremony, though it did happen occasionally, such as in the heat of battle or in instances of disease outbreak when proper rites were not possible.
To seafaring men, these ceremonies were the only way to properly separate the dead from the land of the living. Maritime lore was absolutely full of stories of unquiet souls and the sailors didn’t wish to create even more restless spirits by failing to perform the necessary rituals.
Popular belief of the time suggested that ghosts were frequently the restless souls of those killed before their time due to accidental or violent means. Most sailors were young men, and accidental or violent deaths aboard seafaring vessels of the time were not uncommon. Therefore, most who died at sea were in danger of becoming restless spirits.
Thaisa herself “dies” in the prime of her life, which explains in part the sailors’ strong desire to have her body removed from the ship.
The Burial at Sea Ceremony
The burial at sea ceremony included several elements adapted from traditional land-based ceremonies which were designed to separate the dead from the living and incorporate the deceased’s spirit into the afterlife. Instead of a wooden coffin, most sailors were simply wrapped up in their hammocks for burial. On land, the coffin’s lid formed one of the most substantial barriers between the land of the living and that of the dead. The cloth of a death shroud lacked the solidity of wood, and therefore was seen as a far less substantial barrier, but at sea options were limited.
The sewing of the shroud was generally done by the sail-maker or his mates, and the last stitch was frequently placed through the nose of the deceased. This served two purposes: First, it was just another method of ensuring the dead did not return to life, similar to an old Norse practice of burying bodies with stakes through their breasts. Second, it was a way of ensuring the body was actually dead, as the pain would awaken a sailor who was merely unconscious rather than deceased.
Burial at Sea Versus Burial on Land
The final barrier in a funeral service on land was the covering of the casket with a layer of impenetrable earth. At sea, this was impossible, so the water’s surface was as close as they could get. The burial shrouds were weighted at the feet, frequently with cannon balls, before being thrown overboard.
Sending the body to the bottom of the ocean was another way of emphasizing the boundaries between the living and the dead. Unfortunately, the sea itself was seen more as a threshold than a boundary and as such was inferior to a layer of solid earth. In maritime lore, anchor cables and shorelines were seen as gateways between the surface and the deep and sailors believed that the spirits of the dead could utilize them to return to the land of the living.
The Burial of Thaisa
The uncertain nature of the burial shroud and ocean’s surface as barriers led to sailors’ fear of spirits returning while at sea. Because of this fear, sailors did absolutely everything they could to ensure that the deceased were properly taken care of.
The sailors on Pericles’ ship feared the bad luck Thaisa’s spirit could bring, and as such wanted her body off the ship and beyond the barrier of the water’s surface as soon as possible.
