Shakespeare

Typical Cottage in Shakespearean Age

crypt of William Shakespeare

at The Shakespeare Globe Theatre in London

The last week of November was a week of William Shakespeare at the center. In preparation for our visit to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare, we took a night to see a Shakespearean play at the one and only Globe Theatre in London. Shakespeare himself used the Globe Theatre back in his day of theatre production. The show that we saw was Merry Wives of Windsor. We stood on our feet the entire show, but it was so intriguing and entertaining that I didn’t mind. Shakespeare was not only a smart guy, but he was a clever man that loved getting a reaction out of the audience. Keeping up with the Shakespearean language was a bit difficult at times. I thought it was funny that they’d say things like, “I pray thee to come with me” etc..

The afternoon spent in Stratford-Upon-Avon was an interesting one. It was amusing to learn about Shakespeare’s life and see the different things that shaped him into the person that he became. One thing I found really interesting was that when Shakespeare was a young boy there were many superstitions in his home. His mother dressed him in a little green dress as a baby and toddler. The reasoning for this was because the devil sought after the souls and salvation of the little boys more than the little girls. To protect William she dressed him in a dress to try and fool the devil. It’s kind of ridiculous to think people believed all of the small superstitions. 

We visited the Holy Trinity Church that Shakespeare grew up attending. He is now buried in that church. The neat thing about this church was that it had the first King James Bible in a case from 1611.