It’s not every week that England’s greatest playwright William Shakespeare hits the headlines, but the Bard of Avon has been the subject of two news stories in recent days as new information has come to light about the writer and his working environment.
In the first development, a portrait of Shakespeare, which is believed to be the only picture painted of him during his lifetime, was unveiled in London.
The artwork has been dated back to 1610, meaning it was painted six years before the writer’s death.
The painting had been owned by a family descended from Shakespeare’s literary patron for hundreds of years without them ever knowing who the man in the picture was.
Alec Cobbe, who inherited the portrait, realised that the painting was a likeness of Shakespeare after visiting an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery where he saw a portrait that had, until 70 years ago, been accepted as a life portrait of Shakespeare.
Mr Cobbe immediately realised he was looking at a copy of the painting that had been in his family for centuries.
The painting will now go on display in Shakespeare’s hometown Stratford-upon-Avon.
In a separate story, archaeologists in London believe they have unearthed the remains of Shakespeare’s first theatre.
The site was excavated by a team from the Museum of London last summer, and is believed to have been built in 1576.
Experts think that Shakespeare himself acted at the theatre, which may have been where the play Romeo and Juliet was premiered.
It is believed that 25 years after construction, the building was dismantled and moved timber by timber to the South Bank of the Thames, where a reconstruction of the theatre now stands.
Archive for category Culture
Blog： Shakespeare’s Face
Aug 19
Revelry On Guy Fawkes Night
Aug 10
Guy who what? Strangers to British culture might very well have that reaction – I know a couple who said exactly that. Well, Guy Fawkes Night is a night of celebration traditional to the United Kingdom. It is also called Bonfire Night, Cracker Night, and Fireworks Night – more common terms used for the same event, actually.
Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated annually on the night of November 5 and is done so because of an even that occurred on the same day in 1605. On this evening, Guy Fawkes and a group of Roman Catholic conspirators carried out an attempt to bomb the House of Parliament in London. The attempt was dubbed the Gunpowder Plot and was subsequently quelled.
Though Guy Fawkes Night is primarily celebrated in the UK, previous colonies also hold their own versions of the celebration. These countries include Canada, New Zealand, British Caribbean, and Australia.
In the UK, people across the country hold celebrations both as public and private occasions. The highlight of the celebrations is to set off fireworks and build bon fires wherein “guys” are burnt. The guys are supposed to be effigies of Guy Fawkes and his group of men.There are also certain dishes that are served on this night. These include bon fire toffee, parkin, toffee apples, baked potatoes, and black peas with vinegar.
In the previous post, we took a look at the two most powerful people in British culture. The list that The Telegraph presented actually contains a hundred people! Now let us take a look at some of the more popular names in this list (popular in terms of the rest of the world, that is).Helena Bonham Carter, 41, actress. Her breakthrough role in the 1985 film Room with a View led to a phase of typecasting. After reinventing herself in Fight Club, she has become the staple muse of her boyfriend-director Tim Burton.
She takes the 99th place – barely made it but she’s still there!
Keira Knightley, 23, actress. Love her or loathe her, Knightley’s Hollywood roles have cemented her leading-lady status and made her one of Britain’s most coveted young actresses.
Keira takes the 87th place.
Sir Ian McKellen, 68, actor. The sexagenarian has embraced popular culture of late, taking on the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, parts in the X-Men trilogy, The Da Vinci Code and even Coronation Street. Knighted in 1991, he has played a number of memorable Shakespearean roles including Romeo, Macbeth and Iago.
