Learning resources and activities

For adults

In this section you will find information and downloadable articles to help you discover more about the Shakespeare Collection

The Everything to Everybody project has created an overview of the collection:

Download the Shakespeare Collection overview PDF with images

Shakespeare and Comedy

Two Gentlemen of Verona Image shows a black and white photograph of two people on stage. The person on the left is wearing a short light coloured cloak with dark sleeves and a tall hat. The man on the right is wearing a dark tunic and a dark hat. He leans on a walking stick that bends away from him.

The image to the right shows Speed and Lance, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Stratford upon Avon Shakespeare Memorial theatre, 1938. Production photo S 601.53.

Although Shakespeare lived and wrote 400 years ago, his sharp observations of human nature are still very true and valid today, none more so than in his comedy plays.

From the merely foolish to the crafty, practical jokers and hypocrites, Shakespeare’s comic characters display an understanding of the world and humanity of the deepest kind, all delivered brilliantly though the medium of laughter.

Read more about Shakespeare and Comedy

Download Shakespeare and Comedy as PDF with images

Shakespeare and Love

Images shows a hand coloured illustration of a man and woman embracing. They are standing on a balcony. An older woman, wearing a long brown dress and using a walking stick, walks behind them. The man, Romeo, wears a bright blue tunic fringed along the bottom and white tights. He also has a golden sash across his chest and black cap with a large white feather. The woman, Juliet, is wearing a long white dress and has short dark curled hair.

The image to the right shows Romeo and Juliet. Hand coloured illustration from the Forrest collection S 790.1 F.

Love is a most warming, happy, inspirational human feeling. It surrounds us throughout our lives and takes many shapes and forms. You will find it in the softness of your mother’s hands, the passions of youth or mature understanding with age.

Since the story of mankind began, it has inspired some of the most beautiful images in poetry or painting.

Love is something we all share no matter where we live, and it disregards social status or age.

Shakespeare has captured the spirit of it, its highs and lows, and the beauty of falling in love in some of the most poetical lines ever written.

Read more about Shakespeare and Love

Download Shakespeare and Love as PDF with images

Page last updated: 1 November 2023

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