Travels With Shakespeare
by Charlotte Reads Classics
I’ve been on a literary trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon and the humble origins of William Shakespeare.
Whilst I was there I saw Shakespeare’s birthplace (see above photo) as well as the house he bought for his family towards the end of his life. Although a lot of the house is gone there is an ongoing archeological dig for the foundations which you can look into.
Of course there was time for a little bit of second-hand book shopping, where I found these great editions of Middlemarch and Jane Eyre.
They were both printed in the 1960s by Zodiac Press – the patterns on the covers really caught my eye.
The main reason for the trip was to see an RSC production of Much Ado About Nothing. 
It was absolutely BRILLIANT. The play was set in contemporary Delhi and it really worked. The whole Indian spectacle and traditions surrounding marriage made a very natural mix with Shakespeare. Meera Syal played Beatrice and completely stole the show – whenever she was on stage I was mainly watching her. Being well known for comedy, she delivered all of Beatrice’s put downs and jokes like she had written them herself and the banter between her and Benedick was such a highlight.
Stratford is a couple of hours away by train, so I read Bill Bryson’s Shakespeare during the journey. I got the book as a Christmas present and I can’t recommend it highly enough! It is a great, very readable introduction to the life and times of Shakespeare. Bryson doesn’t try to hide that there are very definite limits to what we can know about Shakespeare. Instead he puts the facts forward and guides the reader through the various theories that scholars have come up with. He adds a perfect amount of background history to support his own leanings. I also really liked that he doesn’t subscribe to the conspiracy theories about Shakespeare either – this book is very much grounded in what can be proven.
The trip and the production have renewed my interest in Shakespeare – I was obsessed as a teenager and loved when I got to study the plays at school. I have read The Sonnets and a handful of plays and I’m inspired to read more, so I’ve created a page to follow my progress at the top of my blog – or you can click here to see it. As usual I have no time limit on this challenge, it is just something I’d like to do. I will be using a copy of The Norton Shakespeare for most of the plays and all of the essays.
Incidentally, Shakespeare’s Restless World comes out at the end of September and I can’t wait to read it. Neil MacGregor is curator of the British Museum and the author of The History of the World in 100 Objects. This sounds like a similar premise – discovering Shakespeare’s world through twenty different objects.
At the moment, my all time favourite Shakespeare play is The Tempest, although I do have a soft spot for the ones I did at school; Othello and King Lear. The Histories are probably the plays I am looking forward to least, they seem the most intimidating although I’m not entirely sure why.
What is your favourite Shakespeare play? Have you read any great books about Shakespeare? Recommendations are very welcome!
Charlotte Reads Classics 
Hard to say, I love Twelfth Night, and among the tragedies Anthony and Cleopatra…Lovely to find a discussion on Shakespeare..
Many years ago I saw a girlish Vanessa Redgrave in Corialanus with Edith Evans and Laurence Olivier at Stratford,,, and watched Ian Hendren’s Hamlet step back and impale himself on a low hanging iron chandelier, and watched his white ruff gradually turn bright red as the blood gushed for the rest of the scene!
Wow that sounds fantastic! I’ve seen a production of Coriolanus too which I loved despite knowing nothing about it prior to seeing it! I’m looking forward to reading Anthony and Cleopatra; there are so many references to it in other things it’ll be good to read the original.
Ooooh, I went to Stratford last year and I loved it! It’s so so pretty, along with all the Shakespeareyness of it! 🙂 I believe I’m going later in the year with my sister, oddly enough to see The Tempest, so looking forward to that!
Brilliant I LOVE The Tempest. And yes it was such a pretty place to just wander around and a nice size for exploring. I’m jealous of your impending trip – I want to go back 😀
I sadly haven’t read as much Shakespeare as I would have liked, and must admit that recently I was thinking of setting myself a similar challenge to yours. Probably the play of his that stands out the most for me is The Tempest because while at college I was in a production of it. I played Ariel 🙂
What a fun part to have played!
That production of Much Ado About Nothing sounds fantastic!
I haven’t read much Shakespeare – my mind has a block against him – but I do like King Lear.
It was a great production and worked so much better than I could have imagined. I agree, King Lear is a great play.
That production of Much Ado About Nothing sounds fantastic! It’s my favorite Shakespeare plays, and I would love to see a version in person, but alas, it ticket prices are outside of my range for time being. I loved the Bryson book too–just the perfect introduction to Shakespeare.
I forgot how funny it was, definitely one of my favourites. I agree with you about the Bryson book, I wish I’d read it years ago!