Author Archives: Mathew Gillings
New team members
The Encyclopaedia of Shakespeare’s Language project has just welcomed three new members to its team who will be working part-time on low-frequency items. Find out a little more about them below: Luke Wilding: I completed my undergraduate degree in English … Continue reading
What did an “alarum” sound like?
Graduate Intern, Luke Wilding, discusses the term alarum, and suggests what it might have actually sounded like… The term alarum occurs 89 times in Shakespeare’s first folio. The Oxford English Dictionary states that an alarum is “used as a call … Continue reading
Summer school reflections
Claire McGann, a first year PhD student in the English Literature and Creative Writing Department at Lancaster University, discusses attending Lancaster University’s Summer School in Corpus Linguistics. In June I attended several of the events held at Lancaster University’s Summer … Continue reading
Lancaster Summer Schools in Corpus Linguistics and other Digital Methods
Summer School
Writing Tips from Shakespeare – Lancaster University’s Language Detectives
Jules Horne, a playwright and attendee of the Lancaster Summer Schools in Corpus Linguistics and other Digital Methods reflects on her visit, and discusses the importance of the Encyclopaedia and Shakespeare’s Language project… Ever wondered about Shakespeare as a writer? What … Continue reading
Music in Shakespeare
Graduate intern, Luke Wilding, discusses his work researching music in the works of Shakespeare. I came to work on The Encyclopaedia of Shakespeare’s Language through a graduate internship scheme run by Lancaster University. I finished my undergraduate degree in English … Continue reading
Shakespeare and social status
Shakespeare and Social Status Senior Research Associate, Dr Sean Murphy, discusses how he categorised each of Shakespeare’s 1,402 characters according to social status. Introduction Social class matters. Sir Thomas Smith, writing at the time Shakespeare was born, was certainly … Continue reading
Constructing the comparative corpus
Constructing a corpus of other Early Modern English plays for comparison with those by William Shakespeare. – Dr Jane Demmen Although Shakespeare’s plays have a uniquely high profile in English literature and language, he was in fact one of a … Continue reading
On Valentine’s Day
By Sean Murphy. Each numbered phrase is from a Shakespeare play, but which one? Answers below: Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window To be your Valentine[i]. I am so … Continue reading
What was Christmas like for Shakespeare?
Christmas in Shakespeare’s time wasn’t a particularly glamorous affair, and it was quite unlike the finely-decorated homes and glitzy German markets that we know today. It should therefore come as no surprise that the word Christmas only appears a mere … Continue reading