That Shakespeare Life
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That Shakespeare Life
Hosted by Cassidy Cash, That Shakespeare Life takes you behind the curtain and into the real life of William Shakespeare.
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Doublets, French Hose, and Plunging 16th Century Necklines
Shakespeare is famous for his costume changes in his plays, including characters that swap genders and seemingly fool the world as their true identity...
Shampoo: How to wash your hair in Shakespeare's England
In Shakespeare's plays, there are over 150 references to the word "hair" across which Shakespeare talks about a barber fixing someone's hair, about ha...
The History, Design, and Fashion Culture of Gauntlet Gloves
In Shakespeare's plays, he uses the word "gauntlet" a total of 6 times. In one instance, the stage directions declare that a character "throws down hi...
How to Insult Someone Like Shakespeare
Zounds! Your Bunched Back toad! In Shakespeare's plays we find a hoard of truly fabulous one liners, zingers, and impressive insults that frequent the...
Painting Your Lips, Bleaching Your Skin, and Other Cosmetic Treatments for Renaissance Women
In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet declares "Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face, Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek" Katharina in Taming of...
Evil May Day and Sir Thomas More
Immigration, labor tensions, and social unrest were pressing realities in Shakespeare's England—and few events capture that strain more vividly than t...
Homelessness and Vagrancy in Shakespeare's England
For the 16th century, a vagrant was someone who operated outside of societal norms, someone who moved around without a fixed home, or produced a profi...
Starlings in Shakespeare's England
In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Hotspur delivers a chilling threat against King Richard:
"I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak
Seige of Famagusta and Shakespeare's Othello
In Shakespeare's Othello, the Second Senator in Act One warns of a Turkish fleet bearing down on Cyprus. Later in that same scene, the Duke of Venice...
Courts, Rackets, Balls, and Rules: The Game of Tennis in the 16th Century
In Shakespeare's plays, we see 6 total references to tennis. Polonius mentions an argument over a tennis game in Hamlet. Henry V and Pericles talk abo...
Easter in Shakespeare's England: Faith, Feasting, and a New Doublet
Shakespeare's only reference to Easter comes up in Romeo and Juliet Act III when Mercutio talks about buying a new doublet for Easter. Despite only a...
Monkeys and Apes in Shakespeare's England
In this episode of That Shakespeare Life, we explore the surprising presence of monkeys, apes, and baboons in early modern England and the role these...
Children's Toys and Games in Tudor England:
What toys did children play with in Shakespeare's lifetime? In this episode, historian Dr. Julia Martins joins That Shakespeare Life to explore the ga...
How HIstorians Know Shakespeare is Shakespeare
Joined this week by historian Susan D. Amussen, we take a close look at the historical evidence that confirms William Shakespeare as a real working pl...
Ides of March in Renaissance England
In this episode, we explore what the "Ides" actually meant in ancient Rome and how March 15th transformed from an ordinary—sometimes even festive—date...
Three Hours Too Soon: How Shakespeare Kept Time
In this episode, we explore how time was measured in Shakespeare's England — from weight-driven household clocks to elite pocket watches imported from...
Hoof, Boat, & Shoe: Travel in Shakespeare's England
In Shakespeare's lifetime, travel wasn't reserved for grand tours or royal progresses — it was woven into daily life. Ordinary Elizabethans crossed ri...
Second Hand Shops: How Old Wares Were Redistributed in Shakespeare's England
In Shakespeare's play, The Winter's Tale, Autolycus talks about "selling all my trumpery." The reference made me wonder if Autolycus was packing up al...
Henry Wotton and the Invention of Diplomacy
There are many men who lived alongside William Shakespeare in turn of the 17th century England, but today's featured contemporary is a man who served...
Much Ado About Cooking
From delectable marchpane in Romeo and Juliet, and the herbs of the Merchant of Venice to stew'd prunes of Henry IV, and carving capons in Love's Labo...
The Real Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
When Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, he gave the melancholy Dane two university friends with peculiarly Danish names—Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. For many...
What Did "Weird" Mean to Shakespeare? The Strange History of Macbeth's Weird Sisters
When Shakespeare called the sisters in Macbeth "weird," he did not mean what we mean by the word today. In early modern England, "weird" carried deep...
New Year’s Gifts at the Court of Elizabeth I
Today, we think of Christmas as the season of giving—but in Shakespeare’s England, it was New Year’s Day that reigned supreme as the biggest gift-givi...
New Year's Gifts at the Court of Elizabeth I
Today, we think of Christmas as the season of giving—but in Shakespeare's England, it was New Year's Day that reigned supreme as the biggest gift-givi...
Arthurian England: How the Tudors Used Myth to Build a Nation
When we think of King Arthur, many of us imagine medieval romance—knights in shining armor, enchanted swords, or chivalric quests. But for the Tudors,...
“What Masque? What Music?” Ben Jonson & the Art of Court Spectacle
"Say, what abridgement have you for this evening?
What masque? what music? How shall we beguile
The lazy time, if not with some delight?...
"What Masque? What Music?" Ben Jonson & the Art of Court Spectacle
"Say, what abridgement have you for this evening?
What masque? what music? How shall we beguile
The lazy time, if not with some delight?...
A Royal Christmas with James I
Merry Christmas! This holiday season, we're taking a trip back to one of the most extravagant Christmas celebrations of Shakespeare's lifetime—the Chr...
A Royal Christmas with James I
Merry Christmas! This holiday season, we're taking a trip back to one of the most extravagant Christmas celebrations of Shakespeare's lifetime—the Chr...
Anne of Denmark: The Queen Who Transformed Shakespeare’s World
Discover how Anne of Denmark shaped the culture of the Stuart court—from dazzling masques and groundbreaking stagecraft to political influence, artist...
Anne of Denmark: The Queen Who Transformed Shakespeare's World
Discover how Anne of Denmark shaped the culture of the Stuart court—from dazzling masques and groundbreaking stagecraft to political influence, artist...
"You dissentious rogues..." The Language of 16thC Thieves
In Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 1, Falstaff declares on more than one occasion, "I am a rogue." Several exchanges between Falstaff, Henry V, and...
"You dissentious rogues..." The Language of 16thC Thieves
In Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 1, Falstaff declares on more than one occasion, "I am a rogue." Several exchanges between Falstaff, Henry V, and...
Arthurian England: How the Tudors Used Myth to Build a Nation
When we think of King Arthur, many of us imagine medieval romance—knights in shining armor, enchanted swords, or chivalric quests. But for the Tudors,...
Gratitude, Diplomacy, and Deer at the First Thanksgiving
In November 1621, two communities—Wampanoag and English—came together at the edge of Patuxet for a shared harvest meal. While today we call this momen...
Gratitude, Diplomacy, and Deer at the First Thanksgiving
In November 1621, two communities—Wampanoag and English—came together at the edge of Patuxet for a shared harvest meal. While today we call this momen...
The Slippery History of Eels in Shakespeare's England
When we imagine Elizabethan dining tables, we might picture roast meats, trenchers of bread, or tankards of ale. But lurking beneath the surface of ri...
The Slippery History of Eels in Shakespeare's England
When we imagine Elizabethan dining tables, we might picture roast meats, trenchers of bread, or tankards of ale. But lurking beneath the surface of ri...
Gallant Fellows and Their Feathered Hats
In All's Well That Ends Well, a character is described as "That with the plume: 'tis a most gallant fellow" (III.5), and in Love's Labour's Lost, the...
Gallant Fellows and Their Feathered Hats
In All's Well That Ends Well, a character is described as "That with the plume: 'tis a most gallant fellow" (III.5), and in Love's Labour's Lost, the...