Shakespeare & the plague
When he was in quarantine from the plague, William Shakespeare wrote “King Lear”, but what's the truth behind that narrative? What did Shakespeare actually do during the plague, where was he and what can it teach us about living with pandemics? Join host Professor Rana Mitter and guest speaker Professor Emma Smith, author of 'This is Shakespeare' and Professor of Shakespeare Studies, as they discuss how Shakespeare's work can be seen as a cultural prophylactic against understanding disease solely in quantitative terms; a narrative vaccine.
Date Published:
14 December 2020
Writer:
Contributors:
Emma Smith
In Collection(s):
William Shakespeare
Keywords:
plague, quarantine, King Lear
Cite:
Shakespeare & the plague by William Shakespeare at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=082EH-78iEU via https://dev.writersinspire.it.ox.ac.uk/content/shakespeare-plague. Published on 14 December 2020. Accessed on 14 May 2026.
If reusing this resource please attribute as follows: Shakespeare & the plague (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=082EH-78iEU) by William Shakespeare, licensed as Creative Commons BY-NC-SA (2.0 UK).
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