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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 October
Julius Caesar at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in October

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Author
Esther French

Every month, we share a snapshot of Shakespeare in performance around America. What plays are onstage this month? We check in with our theater partners.

Eight ideas for a Shakespeare-themed Halloween costume, from Cleopatra to Snug the Lion
Cleopatra
Shakespeare and Beyond

Eight ideas for a Shakespeare-themed Halloween costume, from Cleopatra to Snug the Lion

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Author
Esther French

We’ve got eight great ideas for Shakespeare-themed Halloween costumes, from Cleopatra and Richard III to Falstaff and Snug the Lion.

When words fail: A possible interpretation of Isabella's silence in Measure for Measure
Isabella and the Duke in Measure for Measure
Shakespeare and Beyond

When words fail: A possible interpretation of Isabella's silence in Measure for Measure

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Author
Leandra Lynn

“Measure for Measure” is technically a comedy, which means it ends with a marriage. So why does Isabella respond to the Duke’s proposal with silence?

Excerpt from Dunbar: Edward St. Aubyn retells King Lear
Shakespeare and Beyond

Excerpt from Dunbar: Edward St. Aubyn retells King Lear

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Shakespeare & Beyond

In “Dunbar,” a new novel by Edward St. Aubyn that retells the Shakespeare play “King Lear,” Henry Dunbar makes the mistake of handing over control of his global corporation to his eldest daughters, who bribe a doctor to declare him…

Shakespeare's mother tongue: English and Latin collide in The Merry Wives of Windsor
Mistress Quickly in The Merry Wives of Windsor
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare's mother tongue: English and Latin collide in The Merry Wives of Windsor

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Author
Alice Leonard

“The Merry Wives of Windsor” was written around 1597, and is often considered to be Shakespeare’s most English play.

Thomas Nashe: A dominant literary voice in Elizabethan England
Thomas Nashe
Shakespeare and Beyond

Thomas Nashe: A dominant literary voice in Elizabethan England

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Author
Andrew Hadfield Jennifer Richards

We are used to thinking of Elizabethan (and Jacobean) literature with Shakespeare at the center, but evidence suggests that, although Shakespeare was considered an important writer in the last decade of the queen’s reign, Thomas Nashe was one of the…

Rome’s encounter with Egypt in Antony and Cleopatra
Rome and Egypt
Shakespeare and Beyond

Rome’s encounter with Egypt in Antony and Cleopatra

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Shakespeare & Beyond

In this excerpt from “Shakespeare’s Roman Trilogy,” Paul Cantor writes about the Romanization of Egypt and the Egyptization of Rome in “Antony and Cleopatra.”

Richard Burton, Shakespeare, and the search for the source of the Nile
Shakespeare in Swahililand
Shakespeare and Beyond

Richard Burton, Shakespeare, and the search for the source of the Nile

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Shakespeare & Beyond

When European explorers first began traveling into the interior of the African continent, they brought Shakespeare with them. This excerpt from Shakespeare in Swahililand, written by Edward Wilson-Lee, relates the expedition of Richard Francis Burton and his search for the…

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in September
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in September

Posted
Author
Esther French

Every month, we check in with our theater partners to share a snapshot of Shakespeare in performance around America.

An English Garden: Dancing tunes and lyric poetry in Elizabethan England
Shakespeare and Beyond

An English Garden: Dancing tunes and lyric poetry in Elizabethan England

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Shakespeare & Beyond

As the arts and culture flourished in Shakespeare’s England, musical life blossomed as well.

The rise and fall of sumptuary laws: Rules for dressing in Shakespeare's England
A court costume of the time of James I. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Shakespeare and Beyond

The rise and fall of sumptuary laws: Rules for dressing in Shakespeare's England

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Author
Karen Lyon

In Shakespeare’s England, those wearing clothes adjudged to be above their station were subject to fines or imprisonment under sumptuary laws.

The well-dressed Elizabethan: Renaissance fashions as social markers
English clothing
Shakespeare and Beyond

The well-dressed Elizabethan: Renaissance fashions as social markers

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Author
Karen Lyon

Renaissance fashion was unquestionably distinctive, especially among the upper class, who favored clothing with luxurious fabrics and dramatic silhouettes.

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