British Legends: The Life and Legacy of William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s First Folio

From the first, he was always pitching his work on the biggest stage imaginable. The motto of the Globe, his theatre, was Totus mundus agit histrionem The whole world is a playhouse. His plays seem to tell us that here is a great writer who is happily steeped in low culture and the English countryside as much as court politics and affairs of state.

There is something appealingly English, even offhand, about his titles: As well as the nailbiting intensity of Othello or Macbeth , Shakespeare can embody the laid-back nonchalance of the English amateur. Typically, Shakespeare seems to have left the stage with scarcely a backward glance. Despite having forever changed English life, language and culture, at home and abroad, Shakespeare remains an enigma.

His work is a mirror on which we can reflect themes of love and hate, war and peace, freedom and tyranny, but the man himself is mysterious. After years, such magical invisibility makes him more than ever godlike. Shakespeare was a writer who always seemed to be able to do what he wanted with the language, marrying Anglo-Saxon, continental and classical traditions in a weave of poetry and storytelling. When the good vernacular gets braided with Latin coinages, the English language is remade and renewed.

Hamlet answers this uniquely modern question by redefining the theatrical expression of identity. Shakespeare is not just an icon of Englishness. Stratford now became the hub of the Shakespeare memorial industry gloves, rings, mugs, knick-knacks. Great stars hanker after the great roles: This portrait of Shakespeare, one of several contested images, seems to capture the artist in his prime.

He understood that it was the work that mattered, not the hoopla that accompanied it. When Richard III is facing his downfall, he declares: Abroad, the play still resonates as a lethal blend of tragedy and history.

The Holy Grail of Shakespeare scholarship: This thrilling document also demonstrates the playwright unerringly drawn to a timeless and modern theme — the fate of the dispossessed. The speech Shakespeare writes here contains an impassioned plea for sympathy and understanding towards the plight of refugees.

They are excellent resources for starting conversations in the classroom, especially as marks four-hundred years since his death. They will empower students with deeper insights and broader understandings about the Bard, his life and times. Incorporating clips from previous productions made for both the stage and screen provides insight into the innumerable ways Hamlet has been brought to life.

Tennant also interviews a number of actors and experts to understand the complexities of the characters and the plot and the diverse ways in which the play can be interpreted.

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A useful documentary for a deeper understanding of the Shakespearian context, and an interesting starting point for debate about the textual integrity of the classics. Suggesting Shakespeare and the culture of England are inextricably linked, Schama traces the links between a changing England and the writings of Shakespeare, and how Shakespeare created an image of Britishness which has carried through to today.

In particular, there is a focus upon the nature of gender and how the sexes interact in the plays, considering the frequency with which female characters took a male form in the plays. A useful insight into Feminist readings of Shakespeare, as well as a useful tool for establishing context. For the first time ever, the final resting place of William Shakespeare will be investigated.

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With the tombstone engraved with a curse and seemingly too small for a burial, this spot has been the cause of much controversy. Using modern archaeological techniques, the tomb can now be examined without disturbing the remains, finally explaining the centuries-long debate. The research reveals the manner in which the entire Shakespeare family was buried, and provides plausible hypotheses as to why the grave stone is such a particular shape and size. The programme provides a unique insight into the man and legend, beyond his work as playwright.

For many of us, approaching Shakespeare is often met with trepidation. His works are often regarded as inaccessible, confusing, or challenging to read.