these notes on Shakespeare

Olivia and Viola/Cesario

[Image source: https://www.alleytheatre.org/press/twelfth-night-photos . Photo by Lynn Lane. Elizabeth Bunch as Olivia and Kim Blanck as Viola in a 2018 Alley Theatre Production of Twelfth Night, directed by Jonathan Moscone, at the Hubbard Theater, Houston.]

I've got no particular excuse,  I'm certainly not a specialist, but I just love writing about Shakespeare. I realized that some people might like to have all the links together in one place, so here's a list that I'll keep up to date. It's a relief to discover that there's still a lot of plays I haven't written about. I still have Twelfth Night ahead of me!

1. On individual plays and poems:

[I'm listing Shakespeare's works in approximately chronological sequence, but I'm not being too strict about it.  For instance, in the first tetralogy I place Henry VI Part 1 first, even though I think it was written last. Oh yes, and "Shakespeare" sometimes means "Shakespeare and Others".]

Edward III
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/01/william-shakespeare-edward-iii.html
Henry VI Part 1
http://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2019/01/william-shakespeare-kind-of-1-henry-vi.html
Henry VI Part 2
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2019/01/william-shakespeare-henry-vi-part-2.html
Henry VI Part 3 
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/01/william-shakespeare-henry-vi-part-iii-c.html
Richard III
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/01/william-shakespeare-richard-iii-1591.html
The Two Gentlemen Of Verona
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2016/06/william-shakespeare-two-gentlemen-of.html
The Taming of the Shrew
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2019/01/william-shakespeare-taming-of-shrew.html

The Rape of Lucrece

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2018/04/towards-collatia.html
Sonnet 1
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2018/06/but-as-riper.html
Sonnet 29
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2020/10/like-to-lark.html
Sonnet 81
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/01/william-shakespeare-sonnet-81.html
Titus Andronicus
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2015/11/william-shakespeare-and-george-peele.html
Love's Labour's Lost
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/01/william-shakespeare-loves-labours-lost.html
King John
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/02/william-shakespeare-king-john-1595.html
Romeo and Juliet
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/01/william-shakespeare-romeo-and-juliet-c.html
The Merchant of Venice
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/03/william-shakespeare-merchant-of-venice.html
Much Ado About Nothing

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2018/01/unforgivable-claudio-benedick-and-lads.html
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2017/07/much-ado-and-two-gentlemen.html
The Merry Wives of Windsor

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2013/11/concluisions-for-moment-about-merry.html
Julius Caesar
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2019/10/william-shakespeare-julius-caesar-1599_12.html
Hamlet
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2015/04/william-shakespeare-hamlet-1600.html

Troilus and Cressida

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2021/04/a-choice-of-pandars.html
Othello
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2016/07/othello-and-king-lear.html
Measure For Measure
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/03/william-shakespeare-measure-for-measure.html
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-moral-cleanup-in-measure-for-measure.html
King Lear

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/04/william-shakespeare-king-lear-1605-06.html

and Nahum Tate's History of King Lear: 

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2021/03/on-sidelines.html
Macbeth
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2020/04/william-shakespeare-macbeth-1606.html
Cymbeline
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2017/11/thinking-again-about-cymbeline.html
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2017/11/continuing-with-cymbeline.html

2. On more general Shakespeare topics:

The Kingsway Shakespeare
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-kingsway-shakespeare.html
The Shakespeare Garden
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-shakespeare-garden.html
Sycamores in Shakespeare
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2016/10/sycamores-in-shakespeare.html
Gold wires
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2017/12/gold-wires.html
Passionate in the 1590s
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2018/02/passion-in-1590s.html
The last word in Shakespeare
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-last-word-in-shakespeare.html

3. On what others have written about Shakespeare:

Maynard Mack
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2017/11/maynard-mack-1909-2001.html
Anne Righter
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/05/anne-righter-shakespeare-and-idea-of.html

4. On other dramatists of Shakespeare's time:

[But I'm including Dryden, because of the close connection of All For Love with Antony and Cleopatra.]

Thomas Kyd: The Spanish Tragedy
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2019/11/thomas-kyd-spanish-tragedy-c-1587.html
Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/01/christopher-marlowe-1564-1593.html
Christopher Marlowe: The Massacre at Paris
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2017/01/christopher-marlowe-massacre-at-paris-c.html

George Peele: David and Bethsabe

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2022/05/george-peele-david-and-bethsabe-early.html
Ben Jonson: Sejanus, The Alchemist, Catiline His Conspiracy, Bartholomew Fair
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/05/ben-jonson-1572-1637.html

Thomas Middleton: A Chaste Maid in Cheapside

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2022/02/thomas-middleton-chaste-maid-in.html

Thomas Middleton: Women Beware Women

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2022/01/thomas-middleton-women-beware-women.html

Thomas Middleton and William Rowley: The Changeling

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2022/03/thomas-middleton-and-william-rowley.html
John Dryden: All For Love
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2020/03/lay-lashing-departing-waves.html

5. On other poets of Shakespeare's time:

Edmund Spenser
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2013/08/edmund-spenser-1552-1599.html
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2019/12/bobbing-in-amoretti.html
Samuel Daniel
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2018/07/laureate.html
Fulke Greville
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2014/01/fulke-greville-1554-1628.html
John Donne
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-style-at-lincolns-inn.html
https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2017/05/john-donne-at-lincolns-inn-again.html

Sir John Davies

https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2021/03/on-sidelines.html