The Shakespeare & Beyond blog features a wide range of Shakespeare-related topics: the early modern period in which he lived, the ways his plays have been interpreted and staged over the past four centuries, the enduring power of his characters and language, and more.
Shakespeare & Beyond also explores the topics that shape our experience of Shakespeare today: trends in performance, the latest discoveries and scholarship, news stories, pop culture, interesting books, new movies, the rich context of theater and literary history, and more. As the word “beyond” suggests, from time to time Shakespeare & Beyond also covers topics that are not directly linked to Shakespeare.
We know John Donne as a famous poet and divine, but in the 17th century he was also celebrated as a letterwriter. It is no surprise, then, that after Donne and Anne More secretly married, he broke the news to his new father-in-law in a letter.
Sometimes called a “problem play” because of its exploration of social issues, Measure for Measure raises questions that audiences continue to debate. While the play is one of Shakespeare’s less performed plays, several quotes from it are well known.
Shakespeare lived through climate change, too. Scholar Harry R. McCarthy says characters in the plays—from Titania to Viola to the courtiers in The Tempest—show the power in catastrophic times of turning “our thoughts to the collective over the individual.”
Responding to Measure for Measure over the centuries
Posted
Author
Johnna Champion
A variety of collection items show mixed audience responses to the play, enough so that it has been described as a “problem play.” Explore responses—by a government, by a student, and by artists—over the centuries.
What were readers of Shakespeare thinking about as the United States was forming? Scholar Brandi K. Adams looks at a critical edition of Antony and Cleopatra published in 1776 and how our understanding of the plays builds off past readings.
On August 22, 1485, Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field. 500 years later, Richard is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and popular villains. But how much of Shakespeare’s depiction is truth and how much is theatrical invention?
Arts administrator, writer, and advocate Howard Sherman recently saw The Winter’s Tale for the first time. He shares his approach to seeing Shakespeare after decades of theatergoing and the rewards of letting the production speak first.
Americans have conscripted Shakespeare in causes all the way back to Jamestown’s founding. Looking ahead, in a fractured world might Shakespeare’s talent for giving “us pause” or “time to pause. And attend” unite us in a new consensus?
Curator Heather Wolfe shares heavily annotated books in the Folger collection from early modern readers who knew the power of underlining words, adding notes in the margins, and even an occasional doodle in anything they were reading.
