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Category Archives: Shakespeare’s World
Christmas at court: Queen Elizabeth’s wardrobe raided
You’re at work again and everything is getting back to normal. Spare a thought then for those who are busiest at Christmas – those who entertain us. In spite of the more sophisticated offerings available today, people still enjoy pantomimes. … Continue reading
Mourning at the closing of the year
Shakespeare often idealised brotherhood: not just as a literal bond of blood, but also as a relationship of close trust and love. In his own life Shakespeare was one of eight siblings. Infant mortality took its toll, two sisters dying as … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Benson Company, death, Edmond Shakespeare, Frank Benson, funeral, London, prayers, Richard Day, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare, Southwark, stained glass
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Shakespeare and the birds at Christmas
There’s no doubt that Shakespeare loved the birds he saw and heard around him. He refers time and again to their behaviour, and particularly their song. Romeo and Juliet disagree over whether they hear larks or nightingales, in Macbeth, the … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World
Tagged birds, cockerel, Hamlet, robin, Shakespeare, wren
1 Comment
A view of Christmas
Christmas Day is always a time for looking back at the year that’s ending and forward with hope. I’ve known this picture of Christmas celebrations in an English village all my life as it used to hang in my parents’ … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World
Tagged Christmas, Coriolanus, Dunlop, English Folk Dance and Song Society, Henry Seabright, Mumming, Reginald Tiddy
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Shakespeare’s Christmas through the eyes of the Victorians
This year I’ve received a Christmas card featuring an engraving dating back to 1846, originally published to illustrate “A Story about a Christmas in the seventeenth century”*. It’s a charming picture, but one thing is certain: Christmas in the seventeenth … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World
Tagged As You Like it, Christmas, Christmas tree, holly, ivy, mistletoe, Queen Victoria, Shakespeare, Thomas Tusser, Victorian, Yule log
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Elizabethan Christmas: carols
Now we’re getting really near to Christmas, let’s have some music to get us in the mood. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titania contrasts the long summer evenings with the cosiness of winter round the fire: The human mortals want … Continue reading
Posted in Shakespeare's World
Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, carols, Christmas, Gaudete, music, Shakespeare, Steeleye Span, Thomas Tusser
4 Comments
Lawyers inspiring Shakespeare
Among the beautiful Tudor portraits at the National Portrait Gallery is this one of a dignified elder stateman, Thomas Sackville, painted around 1601 by J de Critz the Elder. The label, as well as detailing his role in government, mentions … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World, Sources
Tagged Gorboduc, Hamlet, Hanery VI Part 3, Inns of court, King Lear, Shakespeare, Thomas Sackville, tragedy
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More about Shakespeare and the King James bible
You can’t have missed the fact that 2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. Many of the events and articles celebrating this milestone have made the connection with Shakespeare as the KJ Bible was … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Authorized Version, David Edgar, First Folio, Folger Shakespeare Library, King James Bible, Manifold Greatness, Royal Shakespeare Company, Tyndale, Written on the Heart
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Still harping on First Folios with Eric Rasmussen
Not many books in themselves become the focus of other people’s work, but the 1623 edition of Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories and Tragedies, commonly known as the First Folio, is no ordinary book. Professor Eric Rasmussen has just paid a flying … Continue reading
What can doctors learn from Shakespeare?
It’s long been acknowledged that Shakespeare took a great interest in medicine and psychology, and this week the BBC picked up a new article written by Dr Kenneth Heaton indicating that doctors might do well to study Shakespeare to improve … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World
Tagged doctor, illness, John Hall, Macbeth, medicine, psychology, Shakespeare, sleep
3 Comments