Folger Curator of Manuscripts Heather Wolfe dropped a bombshell in The New York Times this past week: Newly discovered depictions of Shakespeare’s coat of arms from the seventeenth century provide documentary evidence that while the heralds made the grant of arms to his father, William Shakespeare himself was intimately involved in the application and the ensuing controversy over… Continue Reading »
America’s Shakespeare: How George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams quoted Shakespeare during and after the American Revolution.
Shakespeare’s heroines often end up with husbands who don’t seem good enough for them, while Cervantes might instead suggest it would be better to leave excellent women single—whether in the convent or outside the bounds of society. Does one option seem more satisfying, or are both hard to swallow? Cervantes specified that he should be… Continue Reading »
Sword-fighting workshops for kids! Selfies with Shakespeare! The First Folio continues on its tour of the United States during this special 400th anniversary year for Shakespeare. Here’s a quick cheat sheet of all the places where you can find our traveling exhibition, First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, this month: San Diego Public Library with The Old Globe, San Diego,… Continue Reading »
The Shakespeare Unlimited podcast connects Shakespeare and his plays with our world today through interviews with actors, directors, and scholars—but also with astronomers, a conservator, and a professional magician, among others. The 50th episode, which deals with race, Othello, and how the Elizabethans portrayed blackness onstage, offers a startling, new interpretation of Desdemona’s handkerchief that is… Continue Reading »
