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In today's episode, we are exploring the English relationships with foreigners and immigrants from other European countries. First, we'll discuss what the experience of immigrant communities was like in England during the Tudor and early Stuart periods--were the English people xenophobic or welcoming to others? We'll look specifically at experiences of Dutch and French immigrants, who made up the majority of immigrants to England in the mid-late 1500s.

Then, we'll take a look at England's attempt to colonize Ireland through Essex's campaign in the late 1590s and how English anxieties about foreign invasions while also attempting to invade Ireland may have influenced Shakespeare's writing of King Henry V. We'll also discuss the characters of Macmorris, Jamy, and Fluellen and how they represent contemporary English relations with the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh.

We have previously explored England's proto-colonial practices and treatment of people of the global majority outside of Europe, and their legacies in the following episodes:

• Mini: Shakespeare and the Colonial Imagination
• Mini: Shakespeare's World: Immigrants, Others, and Foreign Commodities
• Mini: "Decolonize the Mind" through Shakespeare
• Mini: Intercultural and Global Shakespeare in a Postcolonial World

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

For updates: join our email list, follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone, buying us coffee, or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod (we earn a small commission when you use our link and shop bookshop.org).

Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree.

Works referenced:

Goose, Nigel. “Immigrants and English Economic Development in the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries.” Immigrants in Tudor and Early Stuart England, edited by Nigel Goose and Lien Luu, Liverpool University Press, 2013, pp. 136–60. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.4418193.12. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

Goose, Nigel. “‘Xenophobia’ in Elizabethan and Early Stuart England: An Epithet Too Far?” Immigrants in Tudor and Early Stuart England, edited by Nigel Goose and Lien Luu, Liverpool University Press, 2013, pp. 110–35. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.4418193.11. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

Highley, Christopher. “‘If the Cause Be Not Good’: Henry V and Essex’s Irish Campaign.” Shakespeare, Spenser, and the Crisis in Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. 134–163. Print. Cambridge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.

This week, we are bringing you something a little different and unlocking our Patreon bonus episode on the 1998 film, Shakespeare in Love. Over on our Patreon, we regularly watch/read and discuss Shakespeare-adjacent media.

Shakespeare in Love, written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard and directed by John Madden, follows a fictional love affair between William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) and a noblewoman, Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), during the writing of Romeo and Juliet. The film also features performances by Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck and Judi Dench. Shakespeare in Love received 7 Oscars, including Best Picture at the 71st Academy Awards.

We originally released this episode in February 2023 as a Patreon-exclusive.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

For updates: join our email list, follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone, buying us coffee, or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod (we earn a small commission when you use our link and shop bookshop.org).

Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree.

Works referenced:

Stoppard, Tom, and Marc Norman. Shakespeare in Love. Panorama, 1998.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.

In today's episode, we will be exploring the lives of common and working people of Shakespeare's time. While Shakespeare's plays tend to feature nobles, monarchs, and other people of higher status as their main characters, they also feature a variety of characters from lower ranks of society.

We will discuss the overall representation of common people in Shakespeare's plays, dive into the specific occupations represented within Shakespeare's play, King Henry V, and then give an overview of other occupations held by the lower ranks of society in Shakespeare's time.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

For updates: join our email list, follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone, sending us a virtual tip via our tipjar, or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod.

Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree.

Works referenced:

Gillings, Mathew. “Shakespeare and Social Status.” Encyclopedia of Shakespeare’s Language, University of Lancaster, 21 Nov. 2019, wp.lancs.ac.uk/shakespearelang/2017/06/05/shakespeare-and-social-status/.

Olsen, Kirstin. "Occupations." All Things Shakespeare: A Concise Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's World, Greenwood World Publishing, Oxford / Westport, CT, 2007.

Olsen, Kirstin. "Servants." All Things Shakespeare: A Concise Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's World, Greenwood World Publishing, Oxford / Westport, CT, 2007.

Unwin, Stephen. “Introduction.” Poor Naked Wretches: Shakespeare’s Working People, Reaktion Books, London, UK, 2022.

Unwin, Stephen. “Inns, Taverns and Brothels.” Poor Naked Wretches: Shakespeare’s Working People, Reaktion Books, London, UK, 2022.

Unwin, Stephen. “Soldiers, Sailors and Men at Arms.” Poor Naked Wretches: Shakespeare’s Working People, Reaktion Books, London, UK, 2022.