Amanda's Shakespeare Blog June 2003 Archive

From 1788 to 1820, performances of "King Lear" were prohibited on the English Stage due to the insanity of the reigning monarch, King George III. Read the story of Lear, ... Read More

Mary Arden's House, the attraction that drew millions of Shakespeare fans from across the globe, is not really Arden's house at all. Read the full story.

Shakespeare wrote more about birds than any other poet in western literature. Here are some of the Bard's many references to his favorite bird, the glorious swan.

Rosalind, the heroine of "As You Like It", has more lines than any of Shakespeare's female characters. Cleopatra comes in second with 670 lines and third place belongs to Imogen ... Read More

Shakespeare's plays are set in many exotic locations, from Verona and Milan to Athens and Rousillon. If you want to know more, here is a list of the settings of ... Read More

Learn about London's first public playhouse and early home to Shakespeare's acting troupe, the Chamberlain's Men.

Shakespeare's paternal grandfather, Richard Shakespeare, was a farmer in the village of Snitterfield located four miles from Stratford. Coincidentally, Richard leased land from Robert Arden, Shakespeare's maternal grandfather. Find out ... Read More

From Elizabeth I to Ben Jonson, Shakespearean England was a treasure-trove of historical giants. It was hard to choose, but here is a list of those five contemporaries of the ... Read More

According to famed editor and scholar Tucker Brooke, Shakespeare was "utterly incapable" of writing the uninspiried verse of "Edward III." Others, however, find great depth and beauty in the play, ... Read More

Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. The cause of Shakespeare's death is a mystery, but tradition tells us that "Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting and it ... Read More

The first authoritative collection of Shakespeare's plays was published seven whole years after his death. But why?