That Shakespeare Life

Halloween is coming up a few days from now, and it seems like a good opportunity to explore the origins to the holiday, which began as a religious celebration. Of course, since then it's grown into a fun night of candy and costumes for us here in the US, but for William Shakespeare, ghouls, ghosts, and witches had real life implications.

While king of Scotland, James VI became convinced witchcraft was an active danger to him personally, and in order to prevent that danger, he conducted witch trials that began in 1591. James was convinced that a coven of powerful witches was conspiring to murder him through magic, and that they were in league with the Devil. In 1597, after the Scotland witch trials concluded, James published his study of witchcraft, called Demonology. When he then became king of England in 1603, that book was published in London. James I's fascination with witches was so well known that many historians believe Shakespeare composed Macbeth just two years later, and included the famous three witch sisters, specifically for James I.

To help us understand this part of Shakespeare's life and exactly what the state of witchcraft was in Shakespeare's life, as well as the influence of this part of society on the plays we have from Shakespeare, we welcome Marion Gibson as our guest today.

Halloween is coming up a few days from now, and it seems like a good opportunity to explore the origins to the holiday, which began as a religious celebration. Of course, since then it’s grown into a fun night of candy and costumes for us here in the US, but for William Shakespeare, ghouls, ghosts, and witches had real life implications.

While king of Scotland, James VI became convinced witchcraft was an active danger to him personally, and in order to prevent that danger, he conducted witch trials that began in 1591. James was convinced that a coven of powerful witches was conspiring to murder him through magic, and that they were in league with the Devil. In 1597, after the Scotland witch trials concluded, James published his study of witchcraft, called Demonology. When he then became king of England in 1603, that book was published in London. James I’s fascination with witches was so well known that many historians believe Shakespeare composed Macbeth just two years later, and included the famous three witch sisters, specifically for James I.

To help us understand this part of Shakespeare’s life and exactly what the state of witchcraft was in Shakespeare’s life, as well as the influence of this part of society on the plays we have from Shakespeare, we welcome Marion Gibson as our guest today. 

From the Chandos portrait to first folio engraving, all of our visual depictions of William Shakespeare show him with a full face beard. Was this grooming style typical for Elizabethans or was William Shakespeare stepping outside the norm with his choice of facial hair? We think of Shakespeare as a hipster artist guy today, but what did the Elizabethans think about Shakespeare's Beard?

From the Chandos portrait to first folio engraving, all of our visual depictions of William Shakespeare show him with a full face beard. Was this grooming style typical for Elizabethans or was William Shakespeare stepping outside the norm with his choice of facial hair? We think of Shakespeare as a hipster artist guy today, but what did the Elizabethans think about Shakespeare’s Beard?

When we think about William Shakespeare, we almost synonymously think of him holding a quill pen, or furiously scratching away on a piece of parchment with ink on his hands creating a masterpiece. When it comes to the history of writing, pens in particular, and even references to writing that happens inside Shakespeare's plays, the world of writing instruments in Shakespeare's lifetime was really widely varied. Not only were there other options beyond the infamous quill pen, but it's highly likely many of Shakespeare's plays were actually taken down using a precursor to the same No. 2 pencils many of us create our artwork with today. Here to help us explore the history of writing instruments in England, including table books, graphite pencils, and a delightful look at Elizabethan erasers, is professor of Shakespeare and early modern drama, Tiffany Stern.

Between 1590 and 1642, there were about twenty companies of actors in London and only 4-5 of them played in London proper at one time. In addition to these companies, there were more than a hundred provincial troupes. The fact that there were many more provincial troupes than city-playing companies demonstrates that for William Shakespeare's lifetime, it was actually the purpose built theater which was new and different, while travelling companies were the traditional way to tell stories through performance.

Here this week to help us understand a bit more about travelling theater companies is our guest, Sally-Beth Maclean. Sally-Beth is the REED Director of Research and General Editor of the Records of Early English Drama series at the University of Toronto. Her research project specifically into Early Modern Theaters started in 2011 focusing on 8 theatres north of the Thames and is currently exploring six theatres south of the Thames, which include Shakespeare's Globe and the Rose.

For years, historians have ruminated on the state of William Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, and the financial troubles that were speculated to have caused the bard to leave Grammar School before graduation around age 14. Without any real substantial evidence to confirm or deny what actually happened to John Shakespeare, we have been left to wonder what, if any impact, these troubles had on the budding young playwright. Wondering, that is, until now. Dr. Glyn Parry has uncovered new documents that shed light on William Shakespeare's early life and help us understand how some of Shakespeare's political views might have formed. Glyn Parry is a professor of humanities at the University of Roehampton, a fellow of Royal Historical Society, a Member of the American Historical Association, and Member of the History of Science Society. His work focuses on Early modern magic, Shakespeare and his environment, and Tudor government in action.

Glyn joins us today to explore the discovery of these new documents and explain how this new discovery offers an exciting glimpse into how young Shakespeare became the fiery political dramatist we know him as today.