Elizabethan England

“Beware the Ideas of March!” But what are the Ides of March? And how did Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar help cement them in the popular imagination?

As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s festive comedies, but there are also heavier themes in the play. We asked Folger Director Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper for her take on Shakespeare’s beloved comedy.

Shakespeare’s plays are well stocked with merchants of Venice and gentlemen of Verona, with one-third of his plays based in Italy. But what did Shakespeare—and his audiences—really know about such distant places and people?

Shakespeare didn’t write any plays about Christmas—but he did write one for the festive season. More on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and the holiday of Twelfth Night.

What did people eat in Shakespeare’s England? In Much Ado About Cooking, food historian Sam Bilton uncovers the surprising world of early modern cuisine, a delicious world shaped by global trade, humoral medicine, and delight in spectacle.

Shakespeare stories in the news this fall, from the Hamnet film to a new discovery in Shakespeare Quarterly about Shakespeare’s father. Plus a surprising connection between the middle school phrase “6-7” and Richard II.

Before Shakespeare became a literary icon, he was a working writer trying to earn a living in an often precarious new industry. Daniel Swift traces how his creativity unfolded at London’s first commercial playhouse, The Theatre.

Imprisoned for nearly 20 years by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, fought her battles between the lines of her correspondence. 57 recently decoded letters show the human and political costs of Mary’s captivity.

Before Shakespeare became a household name, there was Richard Burbage, the first actor to play Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard III, and King Lear. Scholar Siobhan Keenan examines his remarkable career and lasting impact on early modern theater.

Marlowe and Shakespeare were both born in 1564, rising from working-class origins to find success in the new world of the theater. But before Shakespeare transformed English drama, Marlowe had already done so.

Bess of Hardwick was the other famous Bess in Elizabethan England, after “Good Queen Bess,” aka Queen Elizabeth. Fabulously wealthy and savvy, she outlived four husbands, rising in status with each one. Trace her evolving power in letters from her last three husbands.

Imagine you want to become a power player in the rather authoritarian court of Queen Elizabeth. You want her to notice you in a favorable way, so you need to dress, act, and speak just right. Here are a few pointers.