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Off the shelf

Book excerpts, reviews, author interviews, and reading recommendations
The soliloquy and Hamlet - Excerpt: 'The Elizabethan Mind' by Helen Hackett
The Elizabethan Mind
Shakespeare and Beyond

The soliloquy and Hamlet - Excerpt: 'The Elizabethan Mind' by Helen Hackett

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Helen Hackett explores Shakespeare’s use of the soliloquy in “Hamlet,” including the famous “To be or not to be” speech, in this excerpt from her new book, “The Elizabethan Mind: Searching for the Self in an Age of Uncertainty,” published…

A summer Shakespeare adventure: 'Her Majesty’s Will' by David Blixt
Her Majesty's Will book cover
Shakespeare and Beyond

A summer Shakespeare adventure: 'Her Majesty’s Will' by David Blixt

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Austin Tichenor

Austin Tichenor recommends an adventure novel starring a young Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, who uncover a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth.

Excerpt: Jonathan Bate's preface to the RSC's second edition of Shakespeare's complete works
RSC Complete Works
Shakespeare and Beyond

Excerpt: Jonathan Bate's preface to the RSC's second edition of Shakespeare's complete works

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Shakespeare & Beyond

“To know Shakespeare thoroughly and read him well aloud, it was necessary to have a usable edition of his works, a text that did away with printer’s errors and the vagaries of old spelling and punctuation, that explained the more…

Excerpt - "William Shakespeare’s Avengers: The Complete Works" by Ian Doescher
The Avengers
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Excerpt - "William Shakespeare’s Avengers: The Complete Works" by Ian Doescher

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The Bard meets the MCU in Ian Doescher’s reworking of the four Avengers films as a Shakespearean play. Read an excerpt from the epic Battle of New York scene from the first Avengers film.

Bottom's dream - Excerpt: 'Reading Shakespeare Reading Me' by Leonard Barkan
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Bottom's dream - Excerpt: 'Reading Shakespeare Reading Me' by Leonard Barkan

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This excerpt from Leonard Barkan’s new book “Reading Shakespeare Reading Me” explores Bottom’s awakening and recollection of his enchantment as a donkey in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Juliet, an artful Italian diva - Excerpt: "The Diva's Gift to the Shakespearean Stage" by Pamela Allen Brown
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Juliet, an artful Italian diva - Excerpt: "The Diva's Gift to the Shakespearean Stage" by Pamela Allen Brown

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In her new book “The Diva’s Gift to the Shakespearean Stage,” Pamela Allen Brown explores the considerable impact of Italian divas on Shakespeare and other English playwrights. This excerpt looks at the character of Juliet.

Excerpt: 'Index, A History of the' by Dennis Duncan
incomplete handwritten index
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Excerpt: 'Index, A History of the' by Dennis Duncan

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While doing research in the Folger collection, Dennis Duncan encountered hundreds of indexes created by early modern readers. In this excerpt from his newly published book, “Index, A History of the,” Duncan describes the fascinating variety of reader indexes he…

The sanitized Shakespeare of Mary Lamb and Henrietta Bowdler - Excerpt: 'Shakespeare's Lady Editors' by Molly Yarn
Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare
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The sanitized Shakespeare of Mary Lamb and Henrietta Bowdler - Excerpt: 'Shakespeare's Lady Editors' by Molly Yarn

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Shakespeare & Beyond

As anyone who has read Shakespeare’s plays can attest, their content is not always very appropriate for children: brutal murders, bawdy jokes, incest, etc. Editions of Shakespeare’s plays that have been designed specifically for children often omit or smooth over…

The unlikely link between a sixth-century queen and Macbeth
The Dark Queens
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The unlikely link between a sixth-century queen and Macbeth

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Shakespeare & Beyond

While working on a dual biography of Brunhild and Fredegund, Shelley Puhak stumbled across a connection between these medieval queens and Shakespeare.

Excerpt: 'A Fine Madness: A Christopher Marlowe Murder Mystery' by Alan Judd
A Fine Madness cover
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Excerpt: 'A Fine Madness: A Christopher Marlowe Murder Mystery' by Alan Judd

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Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe may not be as famous as his contemporary William Shakespeare, but his death at age 29 was far more dramatic — an argument over a bill that led to a stabbing, with the killer successfully pleading…

The world of Italy in Shakespeare's comedies - Excerpt: Shakespeare and the Comedy of Enchantment
A scene that takes place in Venice in Italy
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The world of Italy in Shakespeare's comedies - Excerpt: Shakespeare and the Comedy of Enchantment

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Charles Cattermole. A scene from The Merchant of Venice. 19th century. Folger ART Box C368.5 no.1 (size S) Italy is the setting most associated with Shakespeare’s comedies, providing layers of dramatic potential that Kent Cartwright explores in an excerpt from…

Excerpt: Learwife by J. R. Thorp
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Excerpt: Learwife by J. R. Thorp

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Picking up where Shakespeare’s King Lear ends, a new novel imagines the life of Lear’s wife, who in this telling has been banished for 15 years when she receives word of her family members’ deaths. Learwife by J.R. Thorp gives…

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