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 Mrs F. C. Patrick
She must have been well educated. She has a good grasp of history and politics, and of canonical English fiction from Richardson to her own most respected immediate female predecessors. She took a wry interest...
Education Elizabeth Jenkins
Then, during the years 1924-7, EJ studied at Newnham College, Cambridge . She realised the value of this education at the time, but not so profoundly as she did later.
qtd. in
Jenkins, Elizabeth. The View from Downshire Hill. Michael Johnson, 2004.
18
She received her BA...
Education Andrea Levy
AL attended Highbury Hill Grammar School , where she studied the Victorians on her history syllabus and Shakespeare and the Metaphysical poets for A-level English (an exam which, she says, she nearly failed). She got...
Education Jean Rhys
JR attended the local Catholic convent school where whites were in the minority. Most of the girls were coloured (of mixed blood). Mother Mount Calvary, the Superior of the convent, gave her extra instruction in...
Education Ngaio Marsh
She enjoyed her years here much more than at her first school. It was here that she became quite fervently religious for a while, though neither of her parents shared her intense belief. The school...
Education Ellen Wood
She was educated at home under the influence of a father interested in music and classical scholarship.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
As a child she was noted for her prodigious memory and active imagination, and knew much of Shakespeare
Education Lady Cynthia Asquith
Her education under her next governess, Squidge (an Austrian called Miss Fraulein by everyone but Cynthia), was a quite different matter: Beauman writes that Squidge had a heart but no mind. Nevertheless, by sixteen Cynthia...
Education Augusta Gregory
AG and her sisters received little formal education; their lessons took second place to their brothers'.
McDiarmid, Lucy et al. “Introduction, Notes, and Bibliography”. Selected Writings, Penguin, 1995, pp. xi - xliv, 525.
xiii
Under her evangelical mother's strict supervision, they were taught by a succession of governesses and tutors, who...
Education Louisa Baldwin
Following her marriage, she studied German, French, and Italian, as well as the works of Shakespeare and the novels of George Eliot .
Taylor, Ina. Victorian Sisters. Adler and Adler, 1987.
114-15, 127
Education Emily Hickey
She demonstrated an early interest in reading. Scott , Tennyson , and Barrett Browning numbered among her early favourites. Her father, however, did not allow her to read Shakespeare , as he was repelled by...
Education Margaret Haig Viscountess Rhondda
Taught by governesses until she was thirteen, Margaret Haig Thomas learned to read at about five. She was taught German and French, and she also learned Welsh as a child but did not retain it...
Education Frances Horovitz
As a sixth-form student, she went on a class trip to Italy, where she was introduced to the art of the Renaissance. Shakespeare was another important discovery. Her class also took trips to the...
Education Rhoda Broughton
She was taught at home by her father. He encouraged her to read widely, introduced her to English poetry and Shakespeare , and taught her Latin and Greek.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
Education Matilda Betham-Edwards
Because of her mother's early death, MBE , she said later, was largely self-educated, her teachers being plenty of the best books.
Black, Helen C. Notable Women Authors of the Day. D. Bryce, 1893.
124
Apart from the family library, a half-guinea annual subscription to the Ipswich Mechanics' Institution
Education Shelagh Delaney
At the age of twelve, SD attended her first theatrical event: an amateur production at Broughton Secondary School of Shakespeare 's Othello, which made a great impression.
“Meeting Shelagh Delaney”. Times, 2 Feb. 1959, p. 12.
12

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.