The Tour
Love has many aspects. There’s the love of a devoted couple, of course. But what about the love of a parent for a child, or the love of friendship. Compassion and mercy are aspects of love too. And what about love’s predatory counterpart, lust?
William Shakespeare is known for creating what some consider the greatest love story in Romeo and Juliet. But the many aspects of love are at the heart of his writings, whether drama or poetry. In Sonnet 18, he even expresses how poetry can render the beloved one immortal:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Shakespeare’s Sonnets 1609
Venus and Adonis 1593
Though Shakespeare’s London was destroyed in September 1666, yet his words echo clearly in today’s City.
Sometimes this is because of connections to the man himself. At other times aspects of old London remind us of ideas and images he used.
But the echoes of Shakespeare are clear to hear.
This tour evokes the aspects of love Shakespeare embodies in his writings, with site-appropriate readings from some of his works.
There are excerpts from plays such as The Life and Death of King John and The Play of Thomas More.
There are lines also from Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, as well as a number of the Sonnets.
There’s also a touch of Ben Jonson!
The importance of Shakespeare is his writing. There may be a whole tourist industry based around the image of William Shakespeare. This tour however is all about his timeless words and how they explore for us the human character.
As his friend and contemporary Ben Jonson said of Shakespeare, ‘He was not of an age but for all time!’
For a taster of this tour, please follow the link HERE to learn of Shakespeare in Mourning
If you like this …
Shakespeare – Take Him for All in All: details can be found HERE
Much Ado About Trading: details can be found HERE
You can find details of my other literary tours found HERE
You can find details of my other pre-Great Fire London tours HERE
Details – Echoes of Shakespeare
Please go to What’s On? to see whether this tour is currently on offer, and for booking details
REMEMBER that these details are NOT for the virtual version of this tour!
MEET: At the entrance of the church of St Giles without Cripplegate, Fore Street EC2Y 8A (nearest stations Barbican and St Paul’s Underground Stations)
Duration: Two hours (approximately)
Finish: St Paul’s Churchyard, near St Paul’s Underground Station
If you have any questions about this walk, please contact me
Pictures sourced from Wikimedia Commons
