Shakespeare and the plague

Twitter has been telling us that 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.

Watch this talk live: https://youtu.be/082EH-78iEU

This talk is part of the #OxfordatHome series of events. Find out more: http://www.ox.ac.uk/coronavirus/oxford-home

Shakespeare

Martin Droeshout / Public domain