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British Library: Discovering Literature: Comedies
From cross-dressing in Twelfth Night to magical storms in The Tempest; from deception in Much Ado to biting satire in The Alchemist, discover the beauty and complexity of Shakespearean and Renaissance comedies.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Ethnicity and Identity
From Othello and Shylock to depictions of the 'New World' and anti-immigration riots, explore Shakespeare's fascination with ethnic identity.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Renaissance Writers
Uncover the fascinating, colorful lives of Renaissance writers including John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe, and explore key features and themes in their groundbreaking plays and poetry.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Poetry
Discover close readings, critical interpretations, and personal responses to Shakespeare's sonnets, the poetry of John Donne, and more.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Elizabethan England
Exploration and trade, crime and punishment, clothing and social structure: explore key aspects of Elizabethan life, culture, and society.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Gender, Sexuality, Courtship and Marriage
From courtship rituals to cross-dressing to love poetry, examine the ways in which Shakespeare and Renaissance writers explored identity, sexuality, and gender roles.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Shakespeare's Life and World
From the open-air Globe to the candlelit Blackfriars; from the countryside to the city; discover the world that shaped Shakespeare's work and influenced his legacy.
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Putting Hamlet in Context: A Summary of Sources
This summary of sources is a quick and easy way to explore the contexts for Hamlet - from ideas on mortality and revenge to traveling players, melancholy, and madness. It will help you make thoughtful connections between the play and the...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Putting Twelfth Night in Context: A Summary of Sources
This summary of sources is a quick and easy way to explore the contexts for Twelfth Night - from early tales of confusion between twins to ideas about men playing women, women wearing men's clothes, carnival, and topsy-turvy. Included...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Putting the Tempest in Context: A Summary of Sources
This summary of sources is a quick and easy way to explore the contexts for The Tempest - from early modern ideas about magic, masques, and music, to controversial images and first-hand accounts of shipwreck and colonization. Included...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Putting the Merchant of Venice in Context: A Summary of Sources
This summary of sources is a quick and easy way to explore the contexts for The Merchant of Venice - from early modern ideas about trade and usury, Venice and Jewish culture to 20th-century productions by both Nazis and Yiddish companies...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Putting Romeo and Juliet in Context: A Summary of Sources
This summary of sources is a quick and easy way to explore the contexts for Romeo and Juliet - from young love in Shakespeare's day to sonnets and sleeping potions, and from Brooke's 1562 poem on Romeus and Juliet to a 21st-century...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Putting Othello in Context: A Summary of Sources
This summary of sources is a quick and easy way to explore the contexts for Othello - from sex in early modern Venice and race in Shakespeare's London, to Coleridge's critique of the play and Ira Aldridge's ground-breaking performance....
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Putting Much Ado About Nothing in Context: A Summary of Sources
This summary of sources is a quick and easy way to explore the contexts for Much Ado about Nothing - from ideas on marriage to masked balls and disguises. Included are ideas for activities and a PDF with related information.
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Putting Julius Caesar in Context: A Summary of Sources
This summary of sources is a quick and easy way to explore the contexts for Julius Caesar - from early modern views on ghosts and tyrannicide to later readings of the play in light of fascist ideas. Included are ideas for activities and...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: King Lear: The Disintegration of the Social Structure
These activities encourage students to examine the tensions that characterized the political and social landscape of the early 17th century and to compare these with fears about the disintegration of the social structure expressed in...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Hamlet: Ophelia, Gender and Madness
In his portrayal of Hamlet and Ophelia, Shakespeare raises troubling questions about gender and madness. These activities encourage students to compare these two central characters, and how they have been used to reflect changing views...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Dreams, Illusion and Doubling
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare explores and reflects upon Elizabethan debates around the nature of dreams. These activities revolve around how the structure, characters and themes in A Midsummer Night's Dream reflect this...
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Collection Items
Explore a selection of collection items that relate to Shakespeare, Renaissance writers, and the context in which their works were created.
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Macbeth: Lady Macbeth
This varied series of activities is designed to encourage learners to exercise independence of thought when exploring the presentation of Lady Macbeth throughout the play. The tasks draw learners' attention to the varied ways in which...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Macbeth: Discovering Literature Resources
This site provides links to various resources such as collection items, articles, and teaching activities for Macbeth. It includes a 16th-century pamphlet on witchcraft, alongside character analyses of the weird sisters and Lady Macbeth....
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Othello: Critical Approaches
This activity allows students to consider how different critical approaches can influence a reading of the play. Students will work in groups to explore different attitudes to Othello by looking at a range of texts from the past,...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Much Ado About Nothing: Comedy and Tragedy
Engaging with these sources will encourage students to examine the way Shakespeare approached his work, as well as examples of contemporary texts with similar themes, some of which are challenging. Included are discussion questions,...
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British Library: Teaching Resources: Measure for Measure: A Problem Play?
What is Measure for Measure's problem? The play confronts us with questions about sex, morality, and power, which challenge us as readers and audiences. In these activities, students will debate why the play is so problematic, through...