Emma Whipday Knihy

The book explores the intricate relationships between characters set against a backdrop of societal change. It delves into themes of identity, belonging, and the impact of historical events on personal lives. Through vivid storytelling and well-developed characters, it captures the struggles and triumphs of individuals navigating their paths in a complex world. The narrative weaves together personal and collective histories, offering insights into the human experience and the quest for understanding in a shifting landscape.

Set against the backdrop of plague-stricken London, the story follows Judith Shakespeare, who yearns to be a playwright despite societal constraints and personal turmoil. After fleeing an unwanted engagement, she faces the harsh realities of poverty and rejection, with her dreams seemingly slipping away. As she navigates a world of limited freedoms for women and a government grappling with religious extremism, Judith must decide whether to conform to societal expectations or pursue her passion for theater at any cost.

This Element explores the possibilities of an 'embodied' pedagogical approach as a tool to inform literary analysis; such an approach does not 'minimize' the distinction between the literary and the theatrical, but rather, explores how these two modes interrelate.

This book explores the relationship between Shakespeare's most famous tragedies and the genre of 'domestic tragedy': plays about murder and adultery in ordinary households. In tracing representations of violent homes in early modern culture, Emma Whipday proposes a new way of reading Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth.