Shakespeare’s writing career began as the witch trials reached their peak in the 1580s and 1590s. It is interesting to speculate as to what personal experience or knowledge of the trials he might have had and to make a relationship with this and the predominance of witches in his work. Prof. Owen Davies, a colleague at the University of Hertfordshire, is a specialist in witchcraft and magic in history and culture and he has just written a very engaging short article on this topic for Oxford World’s Classic’s. Shakespeare: Living in a World of Witches is available here. Owen will be getting involved with the new OGOM Research Centre and you might just catch him as a plenary at the next OGOM conference! Shakespeare has featured quite a lot on the blog and you can see links to our discussions of Gothic Shakespeare including vampires and werewolves in Gothic Shakespeare: Enter the Gothspeare. We hope to continue these Gothtastic takes on the Bard!!
