Category Archives: Shakespeare’s World

Dido, Queen of Carthage: Marlowe and Shakespeare’s visions of Troy

Dido, Queen of Carthage is one of Christopher Marlowe’s least-performed and least-read plays. It’s sometimes been suggested that this unpopularity has been caused by it being an early, perhaps undergraduate effort. Recently there has been a revival of interest in … Continue reading

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Reaping the harvest: growing food in Shakespeare’s England and our own

With the weather on the turn and autumn just around the corner, there’s just time to celebrate the joys of gardening and farming edible plants. This blog post, A Field Guide to Renaissance Gardens, offers some glorious images of sumptuous … Continue reading

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Royal Shakespeare Company plans for 2014

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s plans for the summer 2014 season have just been released and mailings are being received by members. It’s Artistic Director Gregory Doran’s first full season, and he continues to carry out his promise to perform the … Continue reading

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Warwickshire witchcraft: Macbeth and the mystery of Meon Hill

“And over there, the hill with the flat top, that’s Meon Hill”. The guide at the top of the RSC’s tower didn’t need to say more, knowing we were locals. With our guest for the weekend we were admiring the … Continue reading

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“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date”: the end of the holidays

26 August was the Summer Bank Holiday in the UK, the last official holiday until Christmas. And the end of August, though still summer, always feels like the end of the holiday season. Holidays have very different meanings to us … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s collaborators in the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre

After far too long being seen in isolation, Shakespeare is increasingly seen as but one of many writers of the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods. Just recently there have been many studies looking at those other writers who inspired … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s mulberries: trees of history and legend

Last Sunday, 4 August 2013, one of Stratford’s mulberry trees split in two. There are many ancient mulberries in the town, principally in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s gardens, and they’re mostly propped up by metal or brick supports, making them look … Continue reading

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The end of chivalry: John Talbot, the terror of the French

According to the messenger who gives the news in the first scene of Henry VI Part 1, Lord Talbot was captured by the French during a battle that took place on 10 August. The tenth of August last this dreadful … Continue reading

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Stratford’s heritage of food and drink

Ever since the town of Stratford-upon-Avon was granted the right to hold a weekly market in 1196 it has thrived on trade. The goods bought and sold were the agricultural produce of the area, still remembered in some of the … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and The White Queen: using creative license

The current television series The White Queen has been criticised for its historical inaccuracies, its glossy costumes and out-of-period settings. I haven’t read the books by Philippa Gregory, so can’t tell how much of this relates to them and how … Continue reading

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