For the Love of Shakespeare!

Many of our English students are studying Shakespeare’s plays at the moment. We know Shakespeare isn’t everyone’s favourite author, so to spark your excitement about his works we’ve collected three of our favourite facts about him and his plays.

The bubonic plague shaped Shakespeare’s life. Firstly, Shakespeare has no decendants. Shakespeare had 3 children with his wife Anne Hathaway, but none of his grand-children had children of their own. Although Shakespeare lived long after the first the bubonic plague which ravaged Europe and the shores of the Mediterranean from 1346 to 1353, he probably lost some family members to its regular reoccurrences. Secondly, he wrote some of his first poetry while theatres were closed for the plague from 1592-1594. It’s a good reminder of how human history and experience has been shaped by disease just as much as by humanity’s own innovation. For other fascinating examples of this, see the theory that Isaac Newtown may have developed his theory of gravity in-part due to his forced isolation from the bubonic plague epidemic in England in 1665.

All the female characters in Shakespeare’s works were played by male actors. Shakespeare’s plays are known for both challenging the views of his time, and also perpetuating some views that wouldn’t fly today. Understanding that all the actors in the play were men adds another level of nuance to Shakespeare’s depictions of women. From the witty and unmarriable Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing) to the passive and tragic Desdemona (Othello) Shakespeare’s women experience all aspects of sexism whilst their words and experiences are portrayed entirely by men.

Finally, for those of you who know our Head Tutor, Breanna, as your Latin tutor, you’ll be excited to know that Shakespeare could also read and write in Latin. So even if you never read his plays, you’re a little bit more similar to him than you probably realised! On a literary note, Shakespeare’s classical education contributed to his knowledge of Roman mythology which he references throughout his plays, and his decision to write his plays Julius Caesar (the infamous Roman general and first Emperor of Rome) and Troilus and Cressida (based on the Trojan War).

There are plenty more fascinating aspects of Shakepeare’s life and works so get reading and see where your interests take you!