How linguists are unlocking the meanings of Shakespeare’s words using numbers: Rose Marinelli/Shutterstock Today it would seem odd to describe a flower with the word “bastard” – why apply a term of personal abuse to a flower? But in Shakespeare’s time, “bastard” was a technical term describing certain plants. Similarly, associating the word “bad” with …
Shakespeare’s environmentalism: how his plays explore the same ecological issues we face today: Climate change, urban sprawl, air pollution, deforestation, depleted fish stocks, biodiversity and species loss: these are not exclusively modern problems that only sprang up in the last few hundred years. In fact, the common but misleading phrase “industrial revolution” masks the long …
Shakespeare’s First Folio turns 400: what would be lost without the collection? An expert speculates: Shakespeare's First Folio was the first published work to include Macbeth. Matt Riches/Unsplash It has been 400 years since the publication of the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays, a volume now known as the First Folio. Prepared by his …
The Winter’s Tale review: jarring Shakespeare’s Globe production lacks warmth: The Winter’s Tale is one of Shakespeare’s great “hospitality plays” – a tragicomedy about what goes wrong when a guest outstays their welcome. Leontes, king of Sicilia, suspects his friend Polixenes, the king of Bohemia, of adultery and catastrophe ensues. In keeping with the 16th-century …
Winter of discontent: the media continuously misses Shakespeare’s original meaning of the phrase: Nurses striking in the winter of 2022 and 2023. PA Images/Alamy From 1978 to 79, public sector workers in the UK engaged in nationally coordinated strike action. The news was full of stories of limited services at hospitals because domestic cleaners were …
Four of Shakespeare’s plays and how they speak to the current political situation in Britain: New prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is the latest to take on the leading role in this unravelling Shakespearean drama. Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy The last few years in politics have gifted the keen observer many allusions to some of Shakespeare’s …
Five myths about Shakespeare’s contribution to the English language: Untitled design Wikimedia Shakespeare’s language is widely considered to represent the pinnacle of English. But that status is underpinned by multiple myths – ideas about language that have departed from reality (or what is even plausible). Those myths send us down rabbit holes and make us …
A cool Paternoster image: Image from page 5 of “Shakespeare’s home at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon” (1863) Image by Internet Archive Book Images Identifier: shakespeareshome00bell Title: Shakespeare’s home at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon Year: 1863 (1860s) Authors: Bellew, J. C. M. (John Chippendall Montesquieu), 1823-1874 Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 Shakespeare family Clopton family. [from old catalog] Arden …
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s greatest villain: Hamlet and Ophelia by Agnes Pringle. Chiswick Town Hall, CC BY-NC-SA Who is Shakespeare’s greatest villain? Richard III? Iago? Macbeth? They all have a claim to the title; however, the correct answer is Hamlet. Hamlet not only behaves villainously throughout his eponymous play, but has somehow persuaded generations of audiences …