Inside Shakespeare's plays
Play on! Q&A: Caridad Svich on translating ‘Henry VIII’
Playwright Caridad Svich writes how ‘Henry VIII’ oscillates between characters’ desire for power, on the one hand, and forgiveness, on the other.
Shakespeare and marriage, in his plays and in his own life
What did William Shakespeare think of marriage, based on how he wrote about it in his plays and what we know about his union with Anne Hathaway?
‘The Winter’s Tale’ and the problem of the Bohemia seacoast
A key plot point of Shakespeare’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’ relies on the country of Bohemia having a seacoast, which poses a geographical dilemma.
Imagining Shakespeare: What's your favorite "statue scene" from "The Winter's Tale?"
We asked our followers on social media to share their favorite stagings of the “statue scene” from “The Winter’s Tale” with the hashtag #ImaginingShakespeare.
Imagining Shakespeare: What happens in the statue scene from "The Winter’s Tale?”
Spoiler alert: something magical happens in the last scene of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale.” We dug into the Folger collection to explore.
Folger Director Michael Witmore on his favorite Shakespeare play: The Winter's Tale
What makes “The Winter’s Tale” so compelling? Folger Director Michael Witmore shares spoiler-free insights about this Shakespeare play in three short videos.
Much A-Don't About Dating
What does Shakespeare tell us of love? The plays provide us with a wealth of wooing and wedding, and many examples of what not to do.
![Hamlet and ghost. J. Coghlan. [early 19th century?]. Folger Shakespeare Library.](https://images.folger.edu/uploads/2017/10/011490-Hamlet-ghost.jpg?fit=10%2C10 "Hamlet and his father's ghost")
How Catholic and Protestant beliefs affect Hamlet's reaction to his father's ghost
When Hamlet first encounters his father’s ghost, the Danish prince’s reactions reflect Shakespeare’s understanding of the theological differences between early modern Catholics and Protestants regarding the spiritual realm, says David Scott Kastan.
When words fail: A possible interpretation of Isabella's silence in Measure for Measure
“Measure for Measure” is technically a comedy, which means it ends with a marriage. So why does Isabella respond to the Duke’s proposal with silence?
Shakespeare's mother tongue: English and Latin collide in The Merry Wives of Windsor
“The Merry Wives of Windsor” was written around 1597, and is often considered to be Shakespeare’s most English play.
The pelican in her piety
If you search for the word “pelican” in Shakespeare’s plays, you come across three instances, in Hamlet, King Lear, and Richard II. All three refer to a symbolic meaning of the pelican that can feel remote to today’s reader or…
Love letters in Shakespeare: As You Like It, Hamlet, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona
We look at three instances of love letters in Shakespeare’s plays: Orlando’s love poems to Rosalind in As You Like It, Hamlet’s passionate missive to Ophelia in Hamlet, and Proteus’s romantic letter to Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.