6 Places in Shakespeare Then and Now
Alexandria: Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra sweeps across the Roman Empire, from Sicily to Athens to Egypt and elsewhere around the Mediterranean.
Denmark: Hamlet complains that Denmark is a prison and that the castle, Elsinore, in which he and the royal family live is a place of drunkenness and reputation.
Rome: In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare did much to render the Roman emperor’s death iconic: in the Roman Senate.
Forest of Arden: In As You Like It, after a duke is sent into exile by his usurping brother, he and his supporters end up in the Forest of Arden.
Verona: Things didn’t end well for Romeo and Juliet in Verona: a misunderstanding prompts Romeo to drink poison.
Venice: Shakespeare’s Venice, as seen in The Merchant of Venice, is a dark place, full of rumors and scheming and threatened violence.