William Shakespeare

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Standard Name: Shakespeare, William
The "Chandos" portrait of William Shakespeare, perhaps by John Taylor, c. 1610. Its claims to authenticity are doubtful, but better than most. It was the first portrait acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, 1856. An oval frame is painted round Shakespeare, who looks inscrutably at the viewer, with a bald forehead, moustache and small beard, wearing a black coat with white collar and a hoop earring in his left ear.

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Education Melesina Trench
Her successive years with different guardians account for the apparent inconsistency in her comments about her education. In maturity she named her favourite youthful reading as Shakespeare , Molière , and Sterne .
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
Yet she...
Education Catherine Cookson
The house had no books and when a lodger brought in Shakespeare, Milton , and Donne , they were pronounced unsuitable for a child. CC did read a Shakespeare sonnet at about this age and...
Education Sarah Kane
At school, SK directed plays by Shakespeare , as well as Joan Littlewood 's musical Oh, What a Lovely War. She took a BA degree in drama at Bristol University (first class honours), and...
Education Harriette Wilson
HW 's story of her education is one of tyranny and resistance. Her worst beating from her father was incurred for obstinacy. Her elder sister Jane (called Diana in her memoirs) was supposed to teach...
Education Mary Agnes Hamilton
Initially, MAH was taught by her father , who also coached her in Formal Logic in preparation for her Cambridge Little-go (entrance) examinations. Her parents frequently took their children to the theatre to see the...
Education Catherine Cookson
Once married, CC set out to educate herself with books from the public library. She read the central canon in English from Shakespeare to the Romantics. She also read philosophy and found Socrates a help...
Education Harriette Wilson
While she was still in her teens, although engaged in her second paid sexual relationship, her lover Frederic Lamb set out to get her reading Milton , Shakespeare , Byron , theRambler, Virgil
Education Alice Walker
On her own the child AW was always reading. At eight she identified in someone else's house a photograph of Booker T. Washington —and asked, Why don't you give it to me, please?
White, Evelyn. Alice Walker. A Life. Norton, 2004.
31
After...
Education Michèle Roberts
She chose the medieval option. Her tutor was Rosemary Woolf , and she studied no authors later than Shakespeare . She reports the results of this in two different ways. In one version the course...
Education Elizabeth Barrett Browning
EBB 's early immersion in fairy stories and popular tales was followed by a more ambitious course of reading that began around the age of seven with history, classical poetry, and some of Shakespeare 's...
Education Rose Tremain
At this stage of her life, Rosie's great interest and talent was not writing but painting, like her sister. She set out to make a huge, hanging, illustrated copy of Keats 's Ode to Autumn...
Education Harold Pinter
HP attended Hackney Downs Grammar School , where he excelled at sports, particularly as a runner. Joe Brearley , his teacher of English, was important in nurturing his love of poetry and drama, and casting...
Education Dora Greenwell
Thereafter, she taught herself, studying philosophy, Latin, German, Italian, French, political economy, and theology.
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
199
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
Dorling, William. Memoirs of Dora Greenwell. James Clarke, 1885.
73
She was very well read and took a particular interest in the writings of Caroline Norton , Felicia Hemans
Education Nina Hamnett
Back in Tenby, her father and grandmother sent her to a stricter school, a high-class Academy for young Ladies at Westgate-on-Sea.
Hamnett, Nina. Laughing Torso. Ray Long & Richard R. Smith, Inc., 1932.
7
NH did not relish the new experience, and ran away, but...
Education Jean Middlemass
JM adored drama: by the age of eight she was eagerly reciting Shakespeare . She was taught Latin and the rudiments of Greek by her father . She also attended French classes with Mr Roche .
Black, Helen C. Notable Women Authors of the Day. D. Bryce, 1893.
264-5

Timeline

June 1911: Ellen Terry lectured on the topic of Shakespeare's...

Building item

June 1911

Ellen Terry lectured on the topic of Shakespeare 's Triumphant Women, under the auspices of the Pioneer Players .
Cockin, Katharine. “Cicely Hamilton’s Warriors: dramatic reinventions of militancy in the British women’s suffrage movement”. Women’s History Review, Vol.
14
, No. 3/4, pp. 527-42.
534

1913: Caroline Spurgeon became the first woman...

Building item

1913

Caroline Spurgeon became the first woman professor in Britain when she was named Professor of English Literature at Bedford College .
Harte, Negley. The University of London 1836-1986. Athlone, 1986.
254
Duncan-Jones, Katherine. “Why Have So Few Women Written on Shakespeare?”. Early Modern Lives: Biography and Autobiography, Renaissance and Seventeenth Century Conference, London, 28 June 2002.

15 February 1913: The Birmingham Repertory Theatre opened with...

Building item

15 February 1913

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre opened with a performance of Twelfth NightWilliam Shakespeare .
Hartnoll, Phyllis, editor. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 1983.
86

December 1927: Nancy Hewins opened the first production...

Building item

December 1927

Nancy Hewins opened the first production by her touring Osiris Players , Britain's first professional all-female theatre company (successor to the amateur Isis Players , which she had run as an Oxford undergraduate).
Barker, Paul. “Shakespeare’s Sisters”. The Guardian, 26 June 2004, p. G2: 17.
G2: 17

23 April 1932: On the traditional date of Shakespeare's...

Building item

23 April 1932

On the traditional date of Shakespeare 's birthday, the new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford upon Avon opened with a performance of Henry IV, parts I and II.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
376
Stevenson, John, 1946 -. British Society, 1914-45. Penguin, 1984.
417

1944: Laurence Olivier directed and starred in...

Building item

1944

Laurence Olivier directed and starred in the film Henry V, making the most of the English patriotic feeling in Shakespeare 's original play.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
393

1944: The Old Vic Company began its season at New...

Building item

1944

The Old Vic Company began its season at New Theatre in London with Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson in Ibsen 's Peer Gynt, Shaw 's Arms and the Man, and Shakespeare 's Richard III.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
393

1946: At the age of fifteen or sixteen, Irish-born...

Writing climate item

1946

At the age of fifteen or sixteen, Irish-born Catherine Gaskin (now resident in Australia) published her first novel, This Other Eden (titled from a famous speech about England spoken by Shakespeare 's John of Gaunt).
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

April 1946: The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford...

Building item

April 1946

The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre , Stratford upon Avon, was reopened by Sir Barry Jackson with a performance of Love's Labour's LostWilliam Shakespeare produced by Peter Brook .
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
396

1949: Laurence Olivier's Hamlet, released the previous...

Building item

1949

Laurence Olivier 's Hamlet,William Shakespeare released the previous year, became the first British film to win the Oscar for best film.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
401

1951: Theatre historian Allardyce Nicoll established...

Writing climate item

1951

Theatre historian Allardyce Nicoll established the Shakespeare Institute ; it is part of Birmingham University and is housed in Mason Croft at Stratford, formerly the home of novelist Marie Corelli .
“The Shakespeare Institute”. The University of Birmingham.

10 May 1951: Actress Vivien Leigh and actor Laurence Olivier...

Building item

10 May 1951

Actress Vivien Leigh and actor Laurence Olivier began the season at St James's Theatre , London, alternately playing Shaw 's Caesar and Cleopatra and Shakespeare 's Antony and Cleopatra.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
404

December 1965: Actress Peggy Ashcroft toured Norway with...

Women writers item

December 1965

Actress Peggy Ashcroft toured Norway with a show of her own devising, Words on Women and Some Women's Words, originally written for performance at London University .
Billington, Michael. Peggy Ashcroft, 1907-1991. Mandarin, 1991.
212-13

: Peter Brook directed at Stratford upon Avon...

Building item

Spring 1970

Peter Brook directed at Stratford upon Avon a production of Shakespeare 's Midsummer Night's Dream which redefined the possibilities of theatre.
Callow, Simon. “A Prospero for our time”. Guardian Unlimited, 2 Apr. 2005.

23 April 1975: A major demonstration was held in Belgrave...

Writing climate item

23 April 1975

A major demonstration was held in Belgrave Square, London, in support of Public Lending Right.
Fraser, Antonia. Must You Go?. Random House of Canada, 2010.
16

Texts

No bibliographical results available.