Interpreting Shakespeare

When Shakespeare was seven years old, the death of a local woman who he might not have ever met changed his life forever. A look at how her death, along with the death of his son, are immortalized in one of his most famous tragedies.

How did Shakespeare view the court? Did he kiss up to the upper class in his plays? Or did he secretly laugh at their superficiality?

How did Shakespeare view the court? Did he kiss up to the upper class in his plays? Or did he secretly laugh at their superficiality?

In As You Like It, the character of Jacques leaves Arden Forest because he's too cynical to survive in the happy world of the play. Perhaps Shakespeare's own skepticism drove him to create new worlds where he could survive.

Everyone from the Queen to a local whore has been suggested as the so-called "dark lady" of Shakespeare's later sonnets. Little evidence gives any idea of her identity, but perhaps she was not a Londoner at all, but a homely, country woman left behind in Stratford.

Tradition holds that Queen Elizabeth I commissioned Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor so that she could see Falstaff in love. Whether this is true or not, the play is a tribute to a very different lady in Shakespeare's life.

How political are Shakespeare's political plays? Part 4 in a 4 part series exploring the political influences and historical discrepancies of Shakespeare's Richard III explores the political atmosphere of the 1590's and the impact it had on Shakespeare's play.

How political are Shakespeare's political plays? Part 3 in a 4 part series exploring the political influences and historical discrepancies of Shakespeare's Richard III explores the historical and dramatic character of Shakespeare's character Richmond, who became King Henry VII.

How political are Shakespeare's political plays? Part 2 in a 4 part series exploring the political influences and historical discrepancies of Shakespeare's Richard III explores the historical and dramatic character of George of Clarence.

How political are Shakespeare's political plays? Part 1 in a 4 part series exploring the political influences and historical discrepancies of Shakespeare's Richard III explores the relationship between Richard and his wife Anne in Shakespeare's plays and in history.