Shakespeare & Beyond
Quiz: Which Shakespeare character doesn’t belong?
Take this quiz to see if you can identify the odd one out in each set of characters for a specific Shakespeare play.
Top 5 Folger Finds of 2020
Revisit the bright spots of 2020 by taking a look at some of our most popular #FolgerFinds posts on Instagram from the past year. Highlights from the Folger collection include a beautiful book binding, a striking costume design, and a…
Top 5 Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episodes of 2020
Our top Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episodes from 2020 explore Shakespeare’s sources, his sonnets, and the solace we take in his work. Happy listening!
Early modern recipe combinations to get you through the winter
We’ve created some delicious combinations of our early modern recipe adaptations for you to experiment with over the holidays and beyond.
Order It: The prologue to Romeo and Juliet
“Two households, both alike in dignity…” Take this quiz to see if you can correctly order the lines of the prologue to Romeo and Juliet.
Excerpt: ‘Shakespeare and the Political Way’ by Elizabeth Frazer
“Shakespeare’s dramas, in my interpretation, play with rival ideas of the nature of the political way,” writes Elizabeth Frazer. Read more in this excerpt from the introduction.
A Shakespeare Halloween guide: What to watch, listen to, read—and wear
We’ve put together a Shakespeare Halloween guide for you this year, with ideas for Halloween costumes and recommendations for what to watch, listen to, and read. Happy Halloween!
Up Close: A poll book from the 1710 election in London
Voting was not a secret process in early modern England. The poll book shown here published the names of all the voters in London and which candidates and party they voted for in 1710.
Roast joint of mutton: A recipe from ‘Fat Rascals’
John Tufts is an award-winning actor and the author of “Fat Rascals: Dining at Shakespeare’s Table,” a cookbook featuring over 150 authentic recipes straight out of Shakespeare’s plays. Here, he shares his recipe for a roast joint of mutton, inspired…
Dante vs. Shakespeare: An excerpt from ‘Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles’ by Harold Bloom
The excerpt begins: “Dante, poet and man, is obsessive. This is particularly true in the Latin meaning of the word: besiege or be besieged. Shakespeare’s protagonists sometimes are obsessive or besieged. Yet they can and do change. Leontes emerges from…
Quiz: Complete these famous Shakespeare lines
Take this quiz to see if you remember what comes after famous lines from Shakespeare plays like “All the world’s a stage” and “Parting is such sweet sorrow”.
Up Close: An 18th-century caricature of the Shakespeare-forging William Henry Ireland and his family
This hand-colored caricature from 1797, “The Oaken Chest or the Gold Mines of Ireland, a Farce,” satirizes William Henry Ireland and his family in their forgery of the “Shakespeare Papers.” The print is full of delightful details that will make…