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Shakespeare & Beyond

Shakespeare & Beyond

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.

What's Onstage at Shakespeare Theaters in February
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's Onstage at Shakespeare Theaters in February

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Author
Ben Lauer

See what’s onstage at Shakespeare theaters across the United States this month.

Riding double: Women on horseback and early modern courtship rituals
Shakespeare and Beyond

Riding double: Women on horseback and early modern courtship rituals

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Author
Patricia Akhimie

Patricia Akhimie examines the crucial role of women’s travels on horseback in the making of early modern marriage.

Re-thinking "Honest Iago"
Shakespeare and Beyond

Re-thinking "Honest Iago"

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Author
Austin Tichenor

Austin Tichenor grapples with the larger question of whether Iago deserves the sympathetic re-evaluation found in Iago: The Green Eyed Monster.

Garden of Love: Embroidered treasures from 17th-century England
Shakespeare and Beyond

Garden of Love: Embroidered treasures from 17th-century England

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Author
Rachel Pollack

The language of botanicals can be found in some of the smallest treasures to survive the 17th century, such as embroidered boxes.

Excerpt: "Shakespeare's House"
Shakespeare and Beyond

Excerpt: "Shakespeare's House"

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

“When it came to Elizabethan furniture, you could never be completely certain that it wasn’t bewitched,” writes Richard Schoch.

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in January
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in January

Posted

Find out what’s on this month at Shakespeare theaters in Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Atlanta, South Bend, and more.

Shakes-year in Review: Shakespeare theaters look back at 2023
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakes-year in Review: Shakespeare theaters look back at 2023

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Author
Ben Lauer

We asked our theater partners across the United States to share their highlights from 2023.

Birds of Shakespeare: The greylag goose
Shakespeare and Beyond

Birds of Shakespeare: The greylag goose

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Author
Missy Dunaway

Artist Missy Dunaway concludes her Birds of Shakespeare series with the greylag goose, the subject of Romeo and Mercutio’s rapid-fire puns in Romeo and Juliet.

How William Shakespeare invented the holiday romcom
Shakespeare and Beyond

How William Shakespeare invented the holiday romcom

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Author
Austin Tichenor

Austin Tichenor argues that today’s holiday romantic comedies are full of recognizably Shakespearean motifs.

Shakespeare’s Asia: Ships, spices, and porcelain
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare’s Asia: Ships, spices, and porcelain

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Author
Su Fang Ng

Folger Fellow Su Fang Ng examines several Shakespeare allusions to Asia that reinforce associations with spices, trade, and voyages.

The education of Henry VIII
Shakespeare and Beyond

The education of Henry VIII

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

How did Henry VIII’s childhood and education help shape him into the king he would become? This excerpt from Hunting the Falcon offers some intriguing insights.

The Woodstreet Cake: A spiced holiday cake with a spicy history
Shakespeare and Beyond

The Woodstreet Cake: A spiced holiday cake with a spicy history

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Author
KC Hysmith

Follow this adapted recipe from a 17th-century manuscript in the Folger collection to make Woodstreet Cake, named for a London lane reputed for good cakes and good times at its popular taverns.

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