Discovering Literature: Shakespeare - The British Library success fail Apr JUN Jul 17 2015 2016 2017 208 captures 20 Nov 2015 - 26 Jan 2021 About this capture COLLECTED BY Collection: PURL.org TIMESTAMPS Skip to main content Search our website or catalogue Search our website or catalogue Search Please enter your search term Our website Main catalogue Catalogues Main catalogue Explore the British Library (56m items) Printed material Bookbindings British National Bibliography English Short Title Catalogue Incunabula (early printing) Manuscripts Archives and manuscripts Illuminated manuscripts Other catalogues India Family History Photographically illustrated books Photographs Sound Victorian ephemera Full list of catalogues Collections For researchers Subjects More about our collections Digital collections Digitised British newspapers Endangered archives Festival books (1475-1700) International Dunhuang Project Manuscripts Sounds Theses UK Web Archive Subject resources Management and business studies Social Welfare In the Reading Rooms Electronic resources Collection blogs Americas studies Asian and African studies English and drama Inspired by Medieval manuscripts Social science Sound and vision Untold lives Full list of blogs Discover Online exhibitions Online Gallery overview Turn the pages of our beautiful books Highlights tour Sacred texts Hebrew manuscripts Taking Liberties Georeferencer (maps) More online exhibitions Personal galleries ecards Treasures in full Caxton’s Chaucer Codex Sinaiticus Gutenberg Bible Magna Carta Shakespeare Quartos Turning the Pages Learning Discovering Literature Learning at the Library Accents and dialects English language/literature History The Victorians Timelines World War One Mobile 19th century books app UK SoundMap Podcasts and audio Our podcasts page Our podcasts on iTunes Voices of Science Services Reading Rooms Overview Opening times Register for a Reader Pass Guides to getting started My Reading Room requests St Pancras Reading Rooms Boston Spa Reading Room Also at our buildings Business & IP Centre Conference Centre Food and drink Learning programme WiFi Online, by post, in print Brand licensing Audio transcription Document supply Fine art prints Images Online (picture sales) Imaging services Metadata Services Newspaper Microfilm Services Online Shop Permissions Publishing Expert advice Business & IP Collection care Reference team For Authors Public Lending Right Visiting Sites opening times St Pancras Boston Spa Exhibitions and events Opening times What’s on Exhibitions Events Tours Box Office Learning Workshops for schools Teacher conferences Family activities Reading Rooms Opening times Register for a Reader Pass Guides to getting started Other facilities Business & IP Centre Conference Centre Food and drink WiFi About About us Overview Quick information Strategy, policy, programmes Annual report Governance Supplying the Library Freedom of information Corporate Social Responsibility Contact us Jobs Careers Working at the Library Vacancies and how to apply Support us Fundraising Adopt a Book Keep in touch Sign up for our e-newsletters Full list of blogs Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Watch our YouTube channel Join us on Google+ Find us on Pinterest Press Press and policy Press releases Help in languages other than English Chinese - 中文 Arabic - عربي French - Français German - Deutsch More Information for... All researchers Authors Entrepreneurs Journalists Librarians People in higher education Publishers (legal deposit) Scientists Social Scientists Teachers Discovering Literature: Shakespeare Home Works Articles Collection items Themes Teaching resources People About the project Shakespeare 2016 Explore Shakespeare in context Search Shakespeare Search   Explore Shakespeare’s plays in relation to the social, political and cultural context in which they were written, and in which they have been interpreted over the last four centuries. Featured articles Shakespeare's life From Stratford to London (and back again), from ‘upstart crow’ to 'wonder of our stage', Andrew Dickson recounts some of the details of William Shakespeare’s life. Read more ‘New mutiny’: the violence of Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is not only a love story. Andrew Dickson describes how the play reflects the violence and chaos of Shakespearean London - and how, more recently, directors have used it to explore conflicts of their own time. Read more Playing Othello Hugh Quarshie describes his reservations about Othello, and how he used these to shape the production in which he played the title role. Read more Prospero: magician and artist In his portrayal of Prospero's 'art', Shakespeare seems to draw parallels between theatre and magic. Emma Smith explores these, but questions the idea that the magus is a self-portrait of the playwright. Read more Sovereignty and subversion in King Lear Professor Kiernan Ryan argues that the subversive spirit of King Lear remains as powerful as ever, four centuries after it was first performed. Read more Hamlet: the play within the play From The Murder of Gonzago to Hamlet's pretence of madness, Hamlet is a work obsessed with acting and deception. Gillian Woods explores how the play unsettles distinctions between performance and reality and how it thus exposes the mechanisms of theatre. Read more The first night of The Tempest The Tempest was first performed in the enclosed, candlelit space of the new Blackfriars theatre. Here Professor Gordon McMullan describes how audience members would have found themselves participating in an innovative and captivating theatrical experience. Read more A Queer reading of Twelfth Night Miranda Fay Thomas explores how Twelfth Night interrogates conventional ideas about gender and sexuality, portraying gender as performative and suggesting erotic possibilities between same-sex pairs. Read more Juliet's eloquence Over the course of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet goes from being a sheltered child to a young woman passionately in love. Penny Gay considers how this transformation, and its tragic consequences, are accompanied by Juliet's development as a poet. Read more Ophelia, gender and madness The character of Ophelia has fascinated directors, actresses, writers and painters since she first appeared on stage. Here Elaine Showalter discusses Ophelia's madness as a particularly female malady, showing how from Shakespeare's day to our own Ophelia has been used both to reflect and to challenge evolving ideas about female psychology and sexuality. Read more Conjuring darkness in Macbeth Much of Macbeth is set at night, yet its first performances took place in the open air, during daylight hours. John Mullan explores how Shakespeare uses speech and action to conjure the play's sense of growing darkness. Read more An introduction to Coriolanus Michael Dobson describes the political context in which Shakespeare wrote Coriolanus, and how the play has resonated with later generations of playwrights, directors and actors. Read more Themes Explore Shakespeare’s plays by theme. Tragedies From Hamlet’s melancholy to Juliet’s eloquence; and from Lear’s madness to Othello’s misunderstanding, discover the richness of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Read more Comedies From cross dressing in Twelfth Night to magical storms in The Tempest; from deception in Much Ado to doubling in Midsummer Night’s Dream, discover the beauty and complexity of Shakespeare’s comedies. Read more Context From the open air Globe to the candlelit Blackfriars; from countryside to city; and from noblemen to strangers, discover the world that shaped Shakespeare’s work and that influenced his legacy. Read more Histories From the staging of disability to the influence of Machiavelli, explore Shakespeare’s history plays. Read more View themes Collection items Explore a selection of collection items that relate to Shakespeare and the context in which his plays were written. First quarto of Hamlet Drawing of Shakespeare's house by George Vertue Date: 1737 The first illustrated works of Shakespeare edited by Nicholas Rowe, 1709 Engraved view of London by C.J. Visscher showing the Globe Date: c. 1650 Original mortgage deed of William Shakespeare with a verified signature Date: 11 March 1613 Shakespeare's First Folio View all collection items Works Explore 13 of Shakespeare’s plays. Romeo and Juliet Created by: William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet begins with a Chorus setting the scene in the Italian city of Verona, where the Capulets and the ... The Merchant of Venice Created by: William Shakespeare The title page of the first quarto printing of The Merchant of Venice (1600) gives a succinct summary of the plot: ... Richard III Created by: William Shakespeare In Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 and 3, Shakespeare traces the 15th-century dispute between the houses of York and Lancaster ... View plays Shakespeare in Ten Acts Silver Ruff Necklace Jewellery designed by Rosa Pietsch £30 Shakespeare in Ten Acts (paperback) Ten leading experts take a fresh look at Shakespeare £25 Skull Plate China plate with illustration by Phoebe Richardson £35 Share this page Print this page Please consider the environment before printing British Library Newsletter Subscribe to our free email newsletter for useful resources, latest news and events plus exclusive offers Email Subscribe Shakespeare Works Articles Collection items Themes Teaching resources People About the project Shakespeare 2016 Desktop site Mobile site Terms of use About the British Library Privacy Cookies Accessibility Contact us All text is © British Library Board and is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence, except where otherwise stated.