Inside Shakespeare's plays

What happens when a king loses his people’s trust? Historian Helen Castor delves into the 14th century drama behind Richard II’s fall and Henry IV’s rise, the events that inspired Shakespeare’s celebrated history plays.

Discover how the Folger’s new teaching guides make Shakespeare’s works more engaging, accessible, and relevant, with strategies for teaching the plays, tackling topics like race and gender, and meeting the needs of today’s students.

Explore how Shakespeare reshaped the tragic form with complex characters and self-deception. Rhodri Lewis dives into the evolution of Shakespearean tragedy, revealing its lasting modern impact.

Scholar Will Tosh explores the hidden queer lives in Shakespeare’s works, revealing how early modern gender fluidity and same-sex desire influenced the Bard’s plays and characters.

Explore Throughlines, a free resource offering teaching materials to help educators integrate discussions of race into Shakespeare and other premodern texts in college classrooms.

Discover how our perceptions of Juliet have evolved over centuries, as Sophie Duncan explores the lasting legacy of Shakespeare’s first tragic heroine.