Good artists copy, great artists steal. That’s the line they tell us about what it takes to be great at art, but was it true for William Shakespeare? The bard borrows heavily from sources like Holinshed, Ovid, and others in the writing of his plays but does it impact how we understand the story? This week we welcome our guest, JM Pressley of the Shakespeare Resource Center to walk us through the history of sources as it applies to Shakespeare’s plays. Turns out, the reality of life in 16th century England might surprise you when it comes to examining how to bard developed his plot lines.

M. Pressley has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts and an M.A. in Writing, both from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He has been the author, designer, content editor, and webmaster of the Shakespeare Resource Center since it began, over 20 years ago.