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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.

Quiz: Shakespeare's Mothers
Shakespeare and Beyond

Quiz: Shakespeare's Mothers

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Author
Ben Lauer

There are more moms in Shakespeare’s plays than you might think. Take our quiz and see how well you know the mothers of Shakespeare.

Excerpt - The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth
The Assassin of Verona
Shakespeare and Beyond

Excerpt - The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth

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Shakespeare & Beyond

In Benet Brandreth’s historical thriller “The Assassin of Verona,” William Shakespeare is disguised as a steward to the English ambassador in 1586 Venice.

Excerpt - Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett
Miranda in Milan book cover
Shakespeare and Beyond

Excerpt - Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett

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Shakespeare & Beyond

What happens after “The Tempest” ends? “Miranda in Milan,” Katharine Duckett’s debut novel, picks up where Shakespeare’s play leaves off.

Play on! Octavio Solis on translating ‘Edward III’
Shakespeare and Beyond

Play on! Octavio Solis on translating ‘Edward III’

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Shakespeare & Beyond

“The whole construction of the story is supported by a single theme: the value of a man’s word,” Octavio Solis writes about “Edward III,” which he translated for the Play on! project.

John Barrymore: A bridge to Shakespearean actors past
Photograph of John Barrymore as Hamlet
Shakespeare and Beyond

John Barrymore: A bridge to Shakespearean actors past

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Author
Austin Tichenor

John Barrymore is sometimes passed over in the lists of great Shakespeare actors, but he was an important transitional figure in our understanding of the evolution of Shakespearean performance styles, writes Austin Tichenor.

Drawing Shakespeare: Hamlet
drawing of Hamlet bas relief on Folger Shakespeare Library building exterior
Shakespeare and Beyond

Drawing Shakespeare: Hamlet

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Author
Paul Glenshaw

In this Folger bas-relief, sculptor John Gregory shows Hamlet facing the sources of his torment: his father’s murder and his mother’s betrayal.

Tastes of the Mediterranean: Italian food before Italy
Woodblock print illustrating the proper set up of a kitchen
Shakespeare and Beyond

Tastes of the Mediterranean: Italian food before Italy

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Author
Elisa Tersigni

Italian regions share a culinary history that is rooted in the ingredients, tastes, and techniques that came out of early-modern innovations, explorations, and cultural movements.

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

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in April

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Author
Ben Lauer

Shakespeare was born on April 23, which makes April the perfect month to catch one of his plays at a theater near you. We checked in with some of our theater partners to find out what they have onstage.

Small Latin and Less Greek: A Look at the Inkhorn Controversy
a photograph of a page in a dictionary
Shakespeare and Beyond

Small Latin and Less Greek: A Look at the Inkhorn Controversy

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Author
Sara Schliep

The Inkhorn Controversy in the 15th and 16th centuries focused on the use of long, Latinate words as opposed to shorter, Saxon-rooted English counterparts.

Excerpt: What Blest Genius? The Jubilee That Made Shakespeare
Shakespeare Jubilee
Shakespeare and Beyond

Excerpt: What Blest Genius? The Jubilee That Made Shakespeare

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Shakespeare & Beyond

This new book by Andrew McConnell Stott is about David Garrick and the Shakespeare Jubilee of 1769 in Stratford-upon-Avon.

A Guide to Ladies: Hannah Woolley's missing book emerges from the archives
A Guide to Ladies by Hannah Woolley
Shakespeare and Beyond

A Guide to Ladies: Hannah Woolley's missing book emerges from the archives

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Author
David B. Goldstein

One of Hannah Woolley’s books has sat hidden in plain sight at the Folger since 1990—included in the Folger online catalog, but missing from an international database that scholars often use to search for early English books. It is the…

Taffety Tarts: How Folger manuscript recipes helped a 17th-century pastry make it into the Oxford English Dictionary
Taffety tarts
Shakespeare and Beyond

Taffety Tarts: How Folger manuscript recipes helped a 17th-century pastry make it into the Oxford English Dictionary

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Author
Mary-Anne Boermans

Food historian and The Great British Baking Show winner Mary-Anne Boermans writes about piecing together 17th-century manuscript recipes for Taffety Tarts.

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