#second best bed

Many of the modern depictions of witches come from Shakespeare's writings in the play Macbeth. While it is possible that Shakespeare confused the witches of his reality with the experiences of another Shakespeare that formed part of the I.B.M. (see link for further details) it is more likely that he neither knew nor cared about genuine witchcraft and simply portrayed them in a manner he thought fitting. (If any one of you unholy fuckers of mothers tries to tell me that Shakespeare's list of potion ingredients was actually an old-timey list of herbs, I will invoke the fullest extent of my wrath upon you. Admittedly that is not much, I am not a member of WUBI, but it's the principle of the thing)

To this legacy already settled in law, Shakespeare added a bed. In the wills of his time, beds and their accoutrements appeared frequently and were often pictured in loving detail. Since Shakespeare does not describe the bedframe, mattress, sheets, pillows, or coverlet, his family undoubtedly already knew which bed he meant. A best bed might have a full headboard and a mattress stuffed with feathers, while the second bed would have a half-headboard and a mattress stuffed with flocks. “Best” and “second best” were common ways of identifying beds; one man dictated that “I bequeath to John my said son the best featherbed and to Joan my wife the second, to Robert my son the third, and to Joan my daughter the fourth featherbed.” With “second-best” a testator did not insult his legatee; not even “worst” could do that. A principal heir might receive a valuable horse, a best cloak, a whole house, and a worst bed. Nor was the best bed always bestowed in affection. Some men who gave their best beds to their widows did so only if the women agreed “not to meddle nor make with no part of my goods.” Or the best bed might be conferred on condition that the widow vacated the family home within weeks of the testator’s death.

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