The Elizabethans were more stalwart than we are when it comes to fatal diseases. London was stricken with the bubonic plague repeatedly during Shakespeare’s time, specifically in 1563, 1578, 1582, 1592, and 1603. The first and the last of these each killed roughly one-fourth of London’s population. And when the plague took a break, smallpox would be as likely to stalk the land, claiming no less a victim than Elizabeth herself when she was 29, leaving her with deep scars requiring that famous white makeup, and taking away with it …

‘A plague on both your houses!’: Shakespeare’s Tough-Minded Attitude Toward Plagues Read More »

Shakespeare anticipated the democrats’ justification to use illegal means to capture the executive in Julius Caesar, when he plumbed Roman history for the story of Caesar’s assassination, and the transition from a Roman republic, which dated back to the 6th century B.C., to a dictatorship. Here’s Cassius, seeding a plot to overthrow Caesar, and insinuating to Brutus that Caesar’s power has grown so great that before he becomes a dictator, they need to destroy him and install a triumvirate of dictators themselves: Cassius: “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow …

Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed?: Julius Caesar and the U.S. Election Read More »