Hamlet (1600)
Introduction “Hamlet” is among Shakespeare’s most revered plays. Indeed, it is among the most revered plays by any writer in history. Why is this? Part of the answer lies in the language, the poetry. Whether or not you know the play well, you will likely recognise line after line because so much of it is […]
Timon of Athens (1607)
Introduction Sometime between 1604 and 1608, when Shakespeare had just turned 40, he wrote three plays that share a single theme: of generosity followed by ingratitude, leading to resentment, conflict and death. These three plays are “Timon of Athens” (c.1604), “King Lear” (c. 1606) and “Coriolanus (c.1608). The dates are speculative, but the uniformity of […]
Titus Andronicus (c. 1593)
Introduction “Titus Andronicus” contains some extraordinarily brutal scenes. To take a couple of examples – after Titus’s daughter Lavinia is raped by two young men, her tongue is cut out and her hands cut off so that she can’t speak or write the names of her assailants. Later, these two assailants are murdered by Lavinia’s […]