Despite the popularity of the balcony scene in popular imagination, Shakespeare never mentions a balcony in any of his works. Find out why this idea persists.
Category Archives: Sweet Sorrow
Shakespeare’s Source Material
Shakespeare wasn’t just a gifted writer; he was also possibly the greatest literary borrower of all time. Find out about some of his favorite sources for plots.
A chronicle of Afghanistan’s modern-day Romeo and Juliet
Warring families still try to stand in the way of true love today. Here’s a real-life Romeo and Juliet tale with a happier ending.
Letters Of Heartbreak Find Some Love In Verona, Italy
For years, heartbroken people have been sending letters to the city of Verona addressed to Juliet. In the 1990s, the city of Verona created the Juliet Club to deal with all the letters. Read the article, and then listen to the full story.
Marriage and Family in Shakespeare’s England
Read this article and view resources from Shakespeare’s time to learn how marriage customs then were similar to and different from those we observe in the 21st century.
10 Ways Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk
Learn about a few of the ways in which you quote Shakespeare every day, without even knowing it!
Retellings of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ ranked
Shakespeare’s great tragedy of love has been performed countless times, and each new generation gets its own film version of the play. Here is one critic’s opinion of which movie versions stand out.
Elizabethan Theatre Conventions
A longtime drama teacher spells out the most important conventions of drama to understand when reading Shakespeare.
Why Shakespeare’s English is still relevant today
A professor shares her approach for teaching Shakespeare’s works to students whose first language is not English.
All the World’s a Stage for Shakespeare, But We No Longer Understand Him
The director of England’s National Theatre admits that even he doesn’t always understand Shakespeare’s language. Read the article to find out why.
What can Shakespeare teach us about freedom?
One scholar explains how Shakespeare’s characters can inspire us to be our truest selves.
Hip-Hop and Shakespeare
Explore the connections between the rhythms and ideas in Shakespeare’s plays and hip-hop music with British MC Akala, artistic director of The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company.
Richard and Mildred Loving Interview
Like Romeo and Juliet, Richard and Mildred Loving married despite overwhelming opposition to their relationship. But this mild-mannered Virginia couple’s love changed the law of the land. Watch an interview from the time of their Supreme Court victory.
City of Verona
The Italian city that serves as the setting of Romeo & Juliet’s tragic tale has a remarkable heritage dating back to prehistoric times.
Why we can never recover from first love
First love is exciting, which is why it’s so unforgettable even if it ends badly. Read about how the memory of a first love can cause problems in future relationships.
Two seniors reconnect after 50 years, getting married today
Sometimes overcoming family objections to the one you love takes LOTS of patience—in this case, half a century’s worth.
Pont des Arts love locks removed after Parisians lose affection for eyesore
Paris may be popularly considered the City of Love, but its residents have had enough of one expression of it: Tons of padlocks attached to bridges over the Seine River symbolizing romantic commitment have become an ugly safety hazard.
Shakespeare Inspired Robben Island Inmates, Including Mandela
Publishers have been cranking out editions of Shakespeare’s works for hundreds of years. So what makes an ordinary 1970 edition, pasted with pictures and marked with handwritten notes, so special?
To the brain, getting burned, getting dumped feel the same
When a friend talks about a painful breakup, you might assume that the pain is only metaphorical. But brain scans show that the perception of pain is real.
Review: Kate Tempest, a Young Poet Conjuring Ancient Gods
Kate Tempest followed up her powerful piece “My Shakespeare” with award-winning poetry and breathtaking rap performances.