Spellzone and Shakespeare
Although we don’t know the exact date of William Shakespeare’s birthday, he was baptised on April 26th 1564. Scholars believe he was probably born on April 23rd, and so every year, on this date, people in the United Kingdom celebrate Shakespeare Day.
At Spellzone we’re huge fans of William Shakespeare – so much so that we’ve written about him many times over the years. Indeed, the Bard is a difficult subject to avoid because so many English words, idioms, and expressions were made popular by their appearance in his work.
Here are some of our favourite articles and resources on William Shakespeare and his plays:
Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare is famous for both his romantic comedies and his romantic tragedies so it’s no wonder that some of the most famous phrases on the nature of love were made popular in his plays. Which play does the phrase ‘love is blind’ appear in? What about ‘star-crossed lovers’? Find out in this Valentine’s-Day-themed article.
Characters from Shakespeare's Plays
If you are a school or university student trying to get your head around the various names of Shakespeare’s characters and how to spell them, this is the resource for you. Learn how to spell the names of the characters in Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice (part 1 and part 2), Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Tempest, and King Lear.
The word list feature is an essential part of Spellzone and allows you to personalise the course to suit your needs. This means if you’re studying a play that we don’t already have a word list, you can create your own here.
Word for Wednesday: Bard
Did you know that William Shakespeare was voted the United Kingdom’s greatest cultural icon by the British Council? If he were still alive today, the Bard would be 454 years old this year. In this post from our ‘Word for Wednesday’series, we look at the word ‘bard’ and where it comes from in more detail.
Puckish
‘Puckish’ is an adjective that describes someone who has a mischievous, playful sense of humour – like the fairy Puck. Puck does not come from one specific text, but is a type of character from English folklore, also known as Robin Goodfellow or Hobgoblin. The word refers to both an individual mischievous wood sprite or fairy, and a group of such creatures. It was William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer’s Night Dream (believed to be written between 1590 and 1596) that most likely brought ‘Puck’ into popularity. This article is part of our ‘Words from Literature’ series – click here to learn about the word ‘puckish’ and here to learn about the word ‘quixotic’.
Three Misremembered Quotes from Macbeth
In this article, we look at three passages from Macbeth that are often misquoted. Have you ever heard the phrase ‘hubble bubble toil and trouble’? What about ‘one foul swoop’? Click on the link to find out what the actual quotes are.
Shakespearean Words for Wednesday
Learn more about Romeo, Puck, Falstaff, and Lady Macbeth. We
Have a wonderful week!
24 Apr 2018
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