Shakespeare & Beyond

Excerpt: "The Great White Bard"
Farah Karim-Cooper explores the way that race is represented by Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello, in this excerpt from her new book, The Great White Bard.

Quiz: Hamlet or Polonius?
Who said it: Hamlet or Polonius? Test your knowledge of these well-known lines from Hamlet.

Excerpt: "Anne-thology: Poems Re-Presenting Anne Shakespeare"
Read four poems from a newly published collection that marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife.

Excerpt: "Shakespeare's tutor: The influence of Thomas Kyd"
Learn more about authorship and influence among the playwrights of Shakespeare’s day in this excerpt from a recent book by Darren Freebury-Jones.

Quiz: Stage directions in Shakespeare plays
“He exits, pursued by a bear.” Take our quiz to match stage directions like this one with the Shakespeare plays in which they appear.

Excerpt: "King Lear: Shakespeare's Dark Consolations"
“King Lear is about insiders who with terrible suddenness are shoved outside, and what they learn or don’t learn from finding themselves positioned there,” writes Arthur Frank.

Excerpt: "Shakespeare and University Drama in Early Modern England" by Daniel Blank
Daniel Blank writes about Shakespeare’s presence within the early modern university sphere.

Quiz: Deaths in Shakespeare plays
Lots of characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, sometimes in quite violent and graphic ways. Test your knowledge by taking our quiz.

Excerpt: "Shakespeare without a Life" by Margreta de Grazia
Did Shakespeare give much thought to how his works would survive after his death? Margreta de Grazia argues that his sonnets show he did.

Excerpt: "Richard III's Bodies from Medieval England to Modernity"
The disabled body of Richard III, a historical English king and one of Shakespeare’s most iconic villains, is the focus of a recent book by Jeffrey R. Wilson.

Excerpt: "Shakespeare's Book" by Chris Laoutaris
Chris Laoutaris explores the Shakespearean printing mystery behind the Pavier-Jaggard Quartos, published a few years before the First Folio.
