Shakespeare Matters: A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing

Far from being three-hour marathons of unintelligible, boring dialogue, Shakespeare's plays are in fact exciting, tragic, funny, and often downright rude masterpieces filled with memorable plots, great insults, filthy jokes, and eccentric characters. This handy guide to the bard’s great works is packed with trivia and pithy entries that cover everything from Shakespeare's greatest villains to his most cutting insults. Did you know that 24 of Uranus’ 27 moons are named after Shakespearean characters? Or that Hamlet has the most lines in a single play (1569) and the second senator in Cymbeline the least (one solitary two letter world: 'Ay)? Or what Shakespeare was really talking about when he mentions pizzles, potato fingers, and peculiar rivers? Ranging from the truly enlightening to the utterly obscure, the facts and insights in this comprehensive resource will bring to life as never before the fascinating world of Shakespeare’s work.

Geoff Spiteri is a journalist.