The Hostess seems to have been a favorite character from the beginning, ruling the tavern where Prince Hal hangs out with Falstaff. Evidently aware of her popularity with audiences, Shakespeare developed her character further in later plays, where she evolves into Mistress Quickly.
Does this dollhouse copy of Shakespeare’s plays belong to Barbie?
See education in Shakespeare’s day through the eyes of Ben Jonson: learning ABCs and the Lord’s Prayer with hornbooks, and drilling Latin grammar endlessly.
Charles Gounod’s 19th-century opera “Roméo et Juliette” is a love story of heartbreaking tragedy, punctuated by four masterful duets. Matthew Shilvock of San Francisco Opera explains why the work is such a masterpiece.
Star Trek owes a striking thematic and linguistic debt to William Shakespeare, as in classic episodes like “The Conscience of the King” and “The Defector.”
There’s no other character from Shakespeare who has charmed the imaginations of opera composers and librettists more than Sir John Falstaff.
