Tag Archives: Shakespeare

A Monty Python view of the authorship question, by Eric Idle

Over the past months I’ve read dozens of pieces about the authorship question and although many of them have been very much worth reading, this article from the New Yorker is the only one that has made me laugh. The … Continue reading

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Robin Hood and Shakespeare

A new play by David Farr, called The Heart of Robin Hood, is just about to open at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The legend of Robin Hood is a great subject for the RSC as it was obviously a story … Continue reading

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The Shakespeare blog hits 100!

Yes this is my 100th post since I started The Shakespeare Blog just over six months ago. It’s a good time to reassess the site, and over the past week I’ve been planning a few changes which will go live … Continue reading

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Gunpowder, treason and plot: Guy Fawkes and the Shakespeare connection

As I write this Guy Fawkes is trending on Twitter and “Occupy Wall Street” protestors are wearing Guy Fawkes masks inspired by the film Vendetta. Perhaps Guy Fawkes Day is set to become a politically meaningful date in the calendar … Continue reading

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The mysteries of emblems, mottoes, and Shakespeare’s own chair

In my last post I looked at how Shakespeare acquired his family’s coat of arms. It is set down in two drafts made on 20 October 1596, described as follows:   The arms are blazoned. “Gold, on a bend sable, a spear of … Continue reading

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The facts about Shakespeare’s coat of arms

At some time in the late 1560s or early 1570s William’s father John Shakespeare enquired about acquiring a coat of arms for his family. John had ambition: as a young man he left the little village of Snitterfield for the … Continue reading

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Walking for Shakespeare: Nine Day’s Wonder

Walking for fun’s not a concept that would have been understood in Shakespeare’s day, and the sponsored walk would have been an even more alien idea. Walking was a necessity, and when Shakespeare left Stratford for London as a young … Continue reading

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Recording Shakespeare’s town: documents of the Stratford-upon-Avon Corporation

After experiencing Hollywood’s wildly inaccurate version of history in the film Anonymous I’ve returned with relief to a book which looks at the reality. Dr Robert Bearman has continued the task, begun in the 1920s, of transcribing and editing the … Continue reading

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Why Shakespeare was Shakespeare, Mr Emmerich

Roland Emmerich, aiming to promote his film Anonymous, has now come up with a video giving 10 reasons why he believes that Shakespeare wasn’t Shakespeare. I’ve been trying to ignore the hype over this film, but I couldn’t resist answering … Continue reading

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Stephen Fry and the English language

Stephen Fry has just reached the end of his five-part series Fry’s Planet Word, in praise of the English language. Saving the best until last Fry looked at English story-telling through poetry, drama, fiction and even songwriting. It’s available now on … Continue reading

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