Because one has only learnt to get the better of words For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which One is no longer disposed…
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Are you revising Macbeth for exams? Or would you just like to get to know the play better? One of my favourite suggestions is to listen to (and watch, if…
Have you heard of iambic pentameter? Students often tell me they know it’s important but they are not quite sure what it is. In this post, I aim to clear…
There are six adverbs we can learn quite easily that help to make Shakespeare’s language a lot simpler. They are all about direction. Why is this important? Well, the words…
When I was little, my mother used to recite these lines: Where the bee sucks, there suck I; In a cowslip’s bell I lie; There I couch when owls…
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? This is one of Shakespeare’s best known lines. It is also one of the most commonly misunderstood. These words are spoken by Juliet…
Have you ever heard or read a line from a Shakespeare play and thought, ‘sounds good, but just what does it mean?’? Although only 5 to 10% of Shakespeare’s language…
All summer I’ve been talking about Easier Shakespeare: teaching students some simple Shakespearean grammar and vocabulary so that they can tackle and understand the plays for themselves. But why? What…
Have you ever brought home a piece of flat pack furniture and then wondered how on earth all those pieces will make a wardrobe or bookshelf? Long pieces of wood,…
Keeping up with schoolwork at home, during lockdown, communicating with teachers only online, I’ve had a glimpse of what students might be experiencing as, at 17, I completed my A…
My students – and their parents – often complain that they find older texts difficult to understand. Especially Shakespeare. I understand. Our language is constantly evolving and when we try…