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Plague

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Recipes for dealing with the plague in Shakespeare’s England
Burges's water for the plague
Shakespeare and Beyond

Recipes for dealing with the plague in Shakespeare’s England

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Author
Yann Ryan

Recipes for plague-curing potions like “Doctor Burges’s remedy” are often found in household recipe books of Shakespeare’s time. Folger fellow Yann Ryan writes about the circulation of information and misinformation through these recipes.

Speaking what we feel: Shakespeare’s plague plays
Shakespeare and Beyond

Speaking what we feel: Shakespeare’s plague plays

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Author
Austin Tichenor

How do Shakespeare’s plays reflect a life filled with plague outbreaks, asks Austin Tichenor — and do we see his plays in new ways now?

Living through the plague times - Excerpt: 'Death By Shakespeare' by Kathryn Harkup
book cover
Shakespeare and Beyond

Living through the plague times - Excerpt: 'Death By Shakespeare' by Kathryn Harkup

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Shakespeare & Beyond

What would it have been like to live through the plague outbreaks of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries? And what insight does that give us into the mentions of plague in Shakespeare’s plays? Kathryn Harkup has looked at the science…

Sonnets & Chill: What did Shakespeare’s audiences do when the theaters were closed?
One person reading a letter to another person with a dog
Shakespeare and Beyond

Sonnets & Chill: What did Shakespeare’s audiences do when the theaters were closed?

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Author
Austin Tichenor

Speed reading Launce’s letter : / J. Gilbert ; W. Thomas, sc. 19th century. Folger Shakespeare Library. ART File S528t7 no.10 (size XS)All right, enough. We’ve all heard how super-productive William Shakespeare was when the plague shut down his theaters:…

Shakespeare at a distance: When the playhouses close but performance continues
Watercolor sketch of the Globe stage
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare at a distance: When the playhouses close but performance continues

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Author
Daniel Blank

Watercolor sketch of the Globe stage by Cyril Walter Hodges. Folger Shakespeare Library. The coronavirus pandemic has forced the closure of theaters around the world, and it might seem at first glance that the theater community has come to a…