Bardology

The Tempest (1611)

The magician Prospero was once Duke of Milan – before his brother Antonio, in league with Alonso King of Naples, took his throne and set him adrift in a boat with scant provisions.

Now marooned on an island with his daughter Miranda, the spirit Ariel and the ‘abhorred slave’ Caliban, his old enemies, shipwrecked on the island, are finally in his power.

But Prospero’s motives are benign: he engineers a romance between Miranda and Alonso’s son Ferdinand, releases Ariel and prepares to set sail – with his old enemies forgiven – to reclaim his place as Duke of Milan.

Timon of Athens (1607)

Timon’s unlimited generosity attracts the greedy as well as the needy to his home. But the money is running out – though he doesn’t want to hear it.

His generosity is suddenly forgotten and his pleas for help rejected – to the disdain of casual observers. Enraged, he throws a last banquet, and serves up warm water and pebbles.

Exiled in the forest, he discovers gold, only to be besieged by visitors. But his mood has changed, and he encourages them to destroy Athens.

Meanwhile Alcibiades – equally driven by resentment – captures the city and grandly memorialises Timon’s lonely death.

Titus Andronicus (c. 1593)

Titus Andronicus returns from battle with prisoners Tamora, her sons and her lover. But when her eldest is sacrificed, revenge ensues.

First Titus’s daughter Lavinia’s husband is murdered, before she is raped and mutilated – her hands and tongue hacked off.

Her brothers are charged – to be freed if Titus is similarly mutilated. He consents, but was deceived, and his sons are beheaded regardless.

Now Lucius raises an army to attack Rome. Meanwhile Tamora, now the emperor’s wife, has given birth to Aaron’s son.

Titus captures Tamora’s sons, then cooks their bodies to feed to Tamora, before Aaron is buried alive.

Troilus and Cressida (1602)

With Troy besieged by Greece, Troilus and Cressida are falling in love. But the war is a stalemate, with Achilles sulking, until Hector issues his challenge of a duel.

Cressida’s father has defected to the Greeks. When plans emerge for a hostage exchange, Cressida is selected. The young couple pledge undying love.

In the enemy camp, Cressida is romanced by Diomedes. Troilus watches as she gives him the love-token Troilus gave her. Now when she writes to him, he tears up the letter.

Meanwhile Achilles finds Hector unarmed and kills him, desecrating his body. Troilus plans to avenge his murder.

Summaries

The Tempest (1611)

Timon of Athens (1607)

Titus Andronicus (c. 1593)

Troilus and Cressida (1602)

Bardology

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A Stratford Childhood and After

Elizabethan Shakespeare (1)

Elizabethan Shakespeare (2)

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Bardology

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