Skip to main content
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.

“Comic sport”: Shakespeare’s depictions of governments in chaos
Shakespeare and Beyond

“Comic sport”: Shakespeare’s depictions of governments in chaos

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

Chaotic and ineffective government may be a problem in our current life, but it makes for excellent drama in the theater — and in William Shakespeare’s hands, excellent comedy as well.

“More strange than true”: Finding America among the fairies
Shakespeare and Beyond

“More strange than true”: Finding America among the fairies

Posted
Author
Victoria Muñoz

“I have had a most rare vision…” Bottom’s words in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” echo the language of Spanish conquistadors describing Aztec Mexico.

A Shakespeare Halloween guide: What to watch, listen to, read—and wear
Shakespeare and Beyond

A Shakespeare Halloween guide: What to watch, listen to, read—and wear

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

We’ve put together a Shakespeare Halloween guide for you this year, with ideas for Halloween costumes and recommendations for what to watch, listen to, and read. Happy Halloween!

Up Close: A poll book from the 1710 election in London
Shakespeare and Beyond

Up Close: A poll book from the 1710 election in London

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Voting was not a secret process in early modern England. The poll book shown here published the names of all the voters in London and which candidates and party they voted for in 1710.

Roast joint of mutton: A recipe from ‘Fat Rascals’
Shakespeare and Beyond

Roast joint of mutton: A recipe from ‘Fat Rascals’

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

John Tufts is an award-winning actor and the author of “Fat Rascals: Dining at Shakespeare’s Table,” a cookbook featuring over 150 authentic recipes straight out of Shakespeare’s plays. Here, he shares his recipe for a roast joint of mutton, inspired…

Dante vs. Shakespeare: An excerpt from ‘Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles’ by Harold Bloom
Shakespeare and Beyond

Dante vs. Shakespeare: An excerpt from ‘Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles’ by Harold Bloom

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

The excerpt begins: “Dante, poet and man, is obsessive. This is particularly true in the Latin meaning of the word: besiege or be besieged. Shakespeare’s protagonists sometimes are obsessive or besieged. Yet they can and do change. Leontes emerges from…

Where to Watch Shakespeare in October
Shakespeare and Beyond

Where to Watch Shakespeare in October

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

There are a ton of places to watch Shakespeare in October, both online and in-person. Here’s what the Folger’s theater partners are up to this month.

Strange Shakespeare: Macbeth and the even weirder sisters
Shakespeare and Beyond

Strange Shakespeare: Macbeth and the even weirder sisters

Posted
Author
David Taylor

Shakespeare’s witches haven’t always terrified audiences. For a century and more – from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries – actors played these parts for laughs. During the period in which Shakespeare became “the Bard”, the witches in…

Quiz: Complete these famous Shakespeare lines
Shakespeare and Beyond

Quiz: Complete these famous Shakespeare lines

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Take this quiz to see if you remember what comes after famous lines from Shakespeare plays like “All the world’s a stage” and “Parting is such sweet sorrow”.

“In the brave squares”: The Show Must Go Online
Shakespeare and Beyond

“In the brave squares”: The Show Must Go Online

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

One of the lasting achievements of the extended COVID quarantine will surely be an extraordinary archive of the complete works of William Shakespeare performed on Zoom by casts from around the world, under the umbrella title The Show Must Go…

Hating on star-gazing: Early modern astrology and its critics
Shakespeare and Beyond

Hating on star-gazing: Early modern astrology and its critics

Posted
Author
Katherine Walker

Where do you turn for answers to pressing questions? You might glance at a weather forecast, the latest political polls, a book of theology or philosophy—or flip a coin. People living in the early modern period likewise had their ways…

Does a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Modern perfumes and the Myth of the Tudors
Shakespeare and Beyond

Does a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Modern perfumes and the Myth of the Tudors

Posted
Author
Colleen Kennedy

Does a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Can we capture the perfumes of the past to savor in the present? This blog post looks at two 21st-century perfumes that try to market their scents by evoking early…

1 24 25 26 27 28 70