LIS 580 British Studies
Stratford-Upon-Avon
June 23, 2016

Shakespeare's Home
We began the day at the Shakespeare Center and Shakespeare's Birthplace Home. The Centre has an exhibition of Shakespearean items, art, costumes, and even a First Folio. 
This house is where he was thought to have grown up. The self-guided tour leads you through the home and actor/docents tell you of the everyday life that shaped the author in his youth. Shakespeare's birthplace was purchased in 1847 by public subscription in an effort to protect the space. Charles Dickens was one of the leaders of the campaign to save the building. Many authors made pilgrimages to the home in an effort to gain inspiration. 
Famous contemporaries of Shakespeare were Miguel de Cervantes, the Spanish author of Don Quixote, and Tang Xianzu famous Chinese playwright.

 The public library in Stratford is a Carnegie library and we could not help but stop in and see what it looked like.
 



We (Cherie, Kim, and I) walked through the town and I had a delicious pasty for lunch. 

My phone makes me these great vignettes!

  A Midsummer Night's Dream
In the afternoon we saw the Royal Shakespeare's Company production of a Midsummer Night's Dream. So incredibly good. I've decided that I need more Shakespeare in my life!



Book recommendation from Ariel (and the bookseller at the Shakespeare house shop): The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. The shop also had some great manga versions of all the Shakespearean plays.
Movie: The Tempest

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