Category Archives: Shakespeare’s World

Chaos, Jack Cade and the men of Kent

But then are we in order when we are most out of order. This contradictory line is spoken by the rebel Jack Cade in Shakespeare’s play Henry VI part 2. In his very first history play Shakespeare chose to explore … Continue reading

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So who did invent the Shakespearean Theatre?

Who invented the “Shakespearean theatre”? Burbage and Shakespeare and/or Henslowe and Alleyn?  This is the title of a one-day conference being held at the University of Reading this Saturday coming, 24 November. Because Shakespeare is now the most famous playwright … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s Welsh

The Welsh are rightly proud of their national history and heritage, but they haven’t always been represented seriously in literature and the media. Even in Shakespeare’s day efforts were made to set the record straight by drawing attention to the … Continue reading

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Learning about education in Shakespeare’s town and the universities

Duncan Salkeld’s new book Shakespeare among the Courtesans is based on close study of documentary evidence, a technique which he notes sometimes takes a battering. Facts, he notes, are “subject to interpretation, and so refracted through a variety of political, … Continue reading

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Funeral monuments: remembering Shakespeare’s Henry V and Richard III

Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night! Comets, importing change of times and states, Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky, And with them scourge the bad revolting stars That have consented unto Henry’s death! King Henry … Continue reading

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Latest news about Shakespeare’s portraits

Shakespeare’s face is universally recognised, and there must be thousands of different portraits in existence. Yet very few of them could be said to be authentic in any way. For centuries people have wanted to own their own image of … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and Hallowe’en: not just Macbeth

The Elizabethan and Jacobeans had superstitions covering almost every area of life. Supernatural explanations for natural phenomena were widely accepted: the appearance of a comet in 1577 caused public alarm, and even historian John Stow believed the story that the striking … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and our restless world

In 2010 the British Museum collaborated with the BBC to create The History of the World in 100 Objects, radio broadcasts linked with a website and book of the same name. It focused on items from the Museum’s collection ranging … Continue reading

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Fairs, pedlars, and Shakespeare’s Stratford

October is fair-time in Stratford-upon-Avon and the surrounding towns as the travelling rides, the prize stalls and the hot dog stands fill the town’s streets. The traditional pig roast is still part of the Mop fair as is the fortune-teller’s … Continue reading

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Black History month: communities and visitors in Tudor England

October is Black History month, and this year’s focus on Shakespeare has included a number of discussions of the presence of non-white people in England in the early modern period. Historian Michael Wood’s piece suggests there was a black community in London, … Continue reading

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