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Shakespeare's Restless World

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Shakespeare's Restless World: 5. Swordplay and Swagger

5. Swordplay and Swagger

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Shakespeare's Restless World, 5. Swordplay and Swagger

Neil MacGregor explores the essential accoutrements of any self-respecting gentleman.

What the rapier and the dagger, worn by all gentlemen, tell us about the levels of violence in Elizabethan London. From 2012.

The essential accoutrements of any self-respecting gentleman - the rapier and the dagger- show us the extent of violence in Elizabethan London - both onstage and off. 

Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum.

Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.

With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed.

He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.

Producer: Paul Kobrak

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2012.

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Factual: History

Neil MacGregor uncovers the stories 20 objects tell us about Shakespeare's world.

Making a selection of objects from the British Museum and collections across the UK, Neil MacGregor uncovers the stories they tell about Shakespeare's world.

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