Category Archives: Elizabethan drama

New Year’s Resolutions for Some Favorite Classic Characters

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

New Year’s was not always celebrated on 1 January. Ancient cultures celebrated the New Year in mid-March with the planting of a new crop. It is said that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year’s resolutions. That would … Continue reading →

Posted in books, drama, Elizabethan drama, Jane Austen, King Arthur, legends and myths, literature, playwrights, Pride and Prejudice, reading, reading habits | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Death of Princess Charlotte, Signaling the End of the Hanoverian Line of Succession Was on the Horizon

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Regina Jeffers

[Image: Engraving of Princess Caroline from La Belle Assemblée (1806)] Much to the surprise and relief of George III’s England, his son George, Prince of Wales, fulfilled his duty by marrying Princess Caroline of Brunswick on 8 April 1795. Although they were … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, Church of England, customs and tradiitons, Elizabethan drama, George IV, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Great Britain, history, Living in the Regency, Living in the UK, marriage customs, real life tales, Regency personalities, royalty, tradtions, Victorian era | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Death of Princess Charlotte, Signaling the End of the Hanoverian Line of Succession Was on the Horizon

Is Shakespeare’s Play “Macbeth” Cursed?

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Regina Jeffers

As theatre was my minor in my undergraduate program, I often studied Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth,” and I have taught it many times. However, I have never performed in or directed the play. Even so, I know something of the “Curse … Continue reading →

Posted in acting, drama, Elizabethan drama, paranormal, playwrights, real life tales, research, theatre | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

James Wilmot on “Who Wrote Shakespeare’s Plays?” + an eBook Giveaway

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Regina Jeffers

  James Wilton was supposedly the first to question whether William Shakespeare was the actual author of the plays and sonnets we now attribute to him. Wilmot was an English clergyman, having been educated at Oxford, and scholar from Barton-on-the-Heath, … Continue reading →

Posted in Austen Authors, book excerpts, book release, British history, Elizabethan drama, excerpt, Georgian England, Georgian Era, history, Jane Austen, legends and myths, literature, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, reading habits, real life tales, theatre, Vagary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

How Did an American Author of the 1840s Influenced “Pride and Prejudice and a Shakespearean Scholar” + a Giveaway

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

Born in Tallmadge, Ohio, in February of 1811, Delia Saltar Bacon was an American author who was among the first to purport what is known as the Baconian theory, which perpetuates the idea that Sir Francis Bacon and others were … Continue reading →

Posted in Austen Authors, blog hop, book excerpts, book release, British history, buildings and structures, eBooks, Elizabethan drama, estates, Georgian England, Georgian Era, giveaway, historical fiction, history, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, marriage, marriage customs, Pride and Prejudice, publishing, reading habits, real life tales, Regency era, Regency romance, research, Vagary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Why Do We Call a Toilet a “John”?

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

 Sir John Harington was a courtier, translator, a not so successful poet of the Elizabethan era. Harington’s father married an illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII. His second wife was attendant to Princess Elizabeth, and Queen Elizabeth I stood as godmother … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, Elizabethan drama, poetry, real life tales, Tudors | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Roger Ascham, Serving Four Monarchs

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

 Born in Kirby Wiske (a village in the North Riding), Yorkshire, in 1515, Roger Ascham was the third son of John and Margaret Ascham. Ascham was the steward to Baron Scrope of Bolton. Roger Ascham was a scholar and didactic … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, drama, Elizabethan drama, history, legacy, literature, Tudors | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pre-Elizabethan Drama: The Interlude

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

 Pre-Elizabethan drama moved from miracle plays to morality plays to folk plays to interludes. Interludes were the last to develop. Initially, “interludes” were closed identified with morality plays, especially in subject matter.  Precursors to Elizabethan Drama summarizes the development from … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, Chaucer, drama, Elizabethan drama, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Colorful (But Lesser Known) Contemporaries of William Shakespeare, Part I

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Regina Jeffers

There are a slew of contemporaries of Shakespeare of which many of you never encountered in your English classrooms, whether high school of university. These are some of the more colorful ones.  Barnaby (Barnabe) Barnes was the third son of … Continue reading →

Posted in ballads, British history, drama, Elizabethan drama, Great Britain, playwrights, real life tales, religion, romantic verse | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sir Thomas Vaughan, a Patriot and a Traitor to Kings

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

Sir Thomas Vaughan (c. 1410 – June 1483) was a Welsh statesman and diplomat, who rose to prominence before and during the Wars of the Roses. He began as an adherent of Jasper Tudor and King Henry VI of England … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, Elizabethan drama, gothic and paranormal, Great Britain, legends and myths, Living in the UK, mystery | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment