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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 17 / Activity 1

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 17 / Activity 1

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Narrator
It was late in the evening. William Shakespeare is at the palace of King James I.

King James
Mr Shakespeare! Welcome, welcome.

Will
Your majesty, it is a great honour to perform The Merchant of Venice for you a second time.

King James
The Queen and I enjoyed it so much we just had to see it again.

The Queen
You fell asleep halfway through dear, that's why you want to see it again.

King James
Nonsense. Mr Shakespeare, I particularly enjoyed your character Shylock. But what was all that about a pound of flesh?

Will
Well, Shylock lent some money to the businessman Antonio. And Antonio promised that if he didn't pay the money back, Shylock could cut a pound of flesh from his body.

King James
That's right, that's right. I remember it well now. What did he say? If you repay me not on such a day…

Shylock
If you repay me not on such a day,
In such a place, such sum or sums as are
Express'd in the condition, let the forfeit
Be nominated for an equal pound
Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken
In what part of your body pleaseth me.

Narrator
We'll leave them there for now. A pound of flesh? That's nearly half a kilogram! Modern English speakers use the phrase a pound of flesh when someone says they want justice, but the punishment they're asking for is so severe that it seems more like revenge. In the terrible case of US cinema gunman James Holmes, former prosecutor Bob Grant said:

Clip 1
The district attorney will argue that although the defendant is mentally ill, he is not insane under the law, and society deserves its pound of flesh from him.

Clip 2
I apologised and paid for the repairs after I crashed his car, but it isn't enough for him. He wants his pound of flesh. I think he's going to call the police…

The Queen
Mr Shakespeare, please tell the King what happens in the end, just in case he falls asleep again.

King James
I did not fall asleep! But yes, do tell me.

Will
Well, Antonio didn't pay the money back. The court agreed that Shylock could have his pound of flesh, but the court also said that he could not take even a single drop of blood.

King James
Aha! So Antonio was saved.

Will
Yes, your majesty.

The Queen
Ooh, the play is starting. Now do stay awake this time, dear…

King James
To sleep, or not to sleep: that is the question…

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 17 / Activity 1

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NarratorIt was late in the evening. William Shakespeare is at the palace of King James I.

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Narrator
It's October 1599. Shakespeare has finished writing his history play Julius Caesar and is visiting a fair in his home town of Stratford, with his daughter. She has just had her fortune told...

Will
Now, dear daughter, what did Old Mother Howard say? What does the future hold for us, I wonder?

Daughter
Oh father, Mother Howard talked a lot, but she had such a strange accent - I couldn't understand a word she said!

Will
You're just like Casca in my play Julius Caesar.

Daughter
Casca? He's one of the men that kills Caesar, the Roman general! How can you say that, father - I'm not a murderer!!!

Will
Dear daughter, Casca was in a group of people who were listening to the great Roman speaker Cicero. But Cicero was speaking Greek, so Casca couldn't understand him.

Daughter
Oh... why was Cicero speaking Greek?

Will
That's what educated people spoke in Roman times. Casca says that some of the people listening to Cicero could actually understand him. Here are the lines: ...those that understood him smiled at one another...

Thomas Swann as Casca
... those that understood him smiled at
one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own
part, it was Greek to me.

Daughter
So Casca had no idea what Cicero was talking about. Just like me and Mother Howard!

Narrator
We'll leave them there for now. Fortune tellers were common in Shakespeare's day, and they appear in many of his plays including Macbeth, the Comedy of Errors and Julius Caesar, in which the fortune teller warns Caesar to "beware the Ides of March" - the day on which Caesar was eventually assassinated by his closest friends. The phrase It was Greek to me has become It's all Greek to me in modern English, and it's used when something - not just a foreign language - is difficult to understand. For example, in a report about the 2015 Greek debt crisis, UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph carried the headline:

Clip 1
It's all Greek to me: a glossary of Eurozone crisis jargon

Clip 2
I'll never understand the rules of cricket: out for a duck, silly mid-off, googlies... It's all Greek to me!

Will
Now tell me, daughter, did you understand anything Old Mother Howard said?

Daughter
Yes! She talked about you, father. She said that you're going to be the most famous Englishman of all time! ...but I think she was making it up.

Will
Oh no, no, no... I'm sure she's absolutely right about that ... She's obviously a very gifted woman. What shall we look at now, daughter?

Daughter
Can we go to the gold stall father? Pleeeeeease???

Will
I didn't need a fortune teller to predict that! To gold, or not to gold: that is the question.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 22 / Activity 1

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Narrator It's October 1599. Shakespeare has finished writing his history play Julius Caesar and is visiting a fair in his home town of Stratford, with his daughter. She has just had her fortune told... Will Now, dear daughter, what did Old Mother Howard say? What does the future hold for us, I wonder?

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 21 / Activity 1

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NarratorIt was a sunny day. William Shakespeare’s daughter and Bess the barmaid are at the fair.

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Narrator
It was a sunny August morning. William Shakespeare is at the market.

Stallholder
Get your cherries, lovely ripe cherries! Come over here and get your cherries...

Will
Ahhh... sweet, ripe cherries! Two pounds, please, Mary.

Stallholder
Here you are Mr Will.

Will
And how's the family Mary? All well?

Stallholder
Growing up fast, you know how it is... my Janet's a worry though. That Robert Harley says he wants to marry her, but I don't trust him: I think he just wants to have his way with her and what will we do Mr Will if she ends up just 14 years old with a baby and no husband?!

Will
Now Mary, I'm sure young Robert will do right by Janet. Look at me, didn't I marry my Anne when she was in trouble? And here we are now, still together with three children...

Stallholder
You're not too happy though, are you Mr Will?

Will
Marriage isn't easy Mary, you know that.

Stallholder
Oh, Mr Will. Last week he was in love with that Rosie from the village and this week it's my Janet's turn. He's promised her clothes, money, ribbons for her hair, and she's so in love with him she believes all of it! I tell you, she's living in a fool's paradise!

Will
A fool's paradise... hmmm... That might sound good in my play! Romeo and Juliet, the star-cross'd lovers. Romeo says he'll marry Juliet but Juliet's nurse doesn't trust him. She warns him not to make false promises just to get Juliet into bed. Listen Mary, it'll go like this: ...let me tell ye, if ye should lead her...

Nurse
let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into
a fool's paradise, as they say, it were a very gross
kind of behaviour,

Stallholder
That's really good Mr Will.

Will
Thank you, Mary. You can use it if you like...

Narrator
We'll leave them there for now. In Shakespeare's day, it was legal for girls to marry at the age of 14, although people usually got married when they were older. It was not uncommon for women to already be pregnant when they got married - as was the case with William Shakespeare's own marriage. These days, the phrase a fool's paradise describes any situation that somebody thinks is good, without realising that it won't last - or that it's actually bad. Take this 2015 BBC News headline, written when the value of the single European currency fell to record lows - making it cheap to buy for investors, but not particularly safe:

Clip 1
The euro: Good bet or a fool's paradise?

Clip 2
Jack's work is terrible. He's living in a fool's paradise if he thinks he's getting a pay rise.

Stallholder
Just wait till I catch up with that Mr Robert. If you see him Mr Will, you be sure to tell me.

Will
Hmmm... to tell, or not to tell: that is the question.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 18 / Activity 1

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Narrator It was a sunny August morning. William Shakespeare is at the market. Stallholder Get your cherries, lovely ripe cherries! Come over here and get your cherries... Will Ahhh... sweet, ripe cherries! Two pounds, please, Mary. Stallholder Here you are Mr Will. Will And how's the family Mary? All well?

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Narrator
It was a rainy day in July. William Shakespeare and his actor friend Robert Harley are rehearsing his comedy The Taming of the Shrew. Will's daughter is watching the rehearsal.

Robert Harley
Will, I do like your plays when everybody pretends to be somebody else!

Will
Thank you, Robert. The audience likes it too - that's why it's in the play.

Daughter
Father, I'm confused... Who is the young man in the teacher's costume?

Will
That is Lucentio, daughter. He is pretending to be a tutor so that he can be near to Bianca, whom he wants to marry.

Daughter
So the man wearing Lucentio's clothes isn't the real Lucentio?

Will
No, he's Lucentio's servant. He's pretending to be Lucentio so that the real Lucentio can pretend to be a tutor.

Daughter
Ohhh! That's so romantic, isn't it, Robert?!

Robert Harley
Well it's very clever Will, but... I can't help thinking that Lucentio should just be a man about it: take the woman to the church and marry her.

Will
Well, Robert, that is exactly what happens. Lucentio's other servant, Biondello, tells him to stop playing games and to just marry Bianca, because otherwise he risks losing her - not just forever, but forever and a day. Let us rehearse.

Robert Harley as Biondello
To th' church take the priest, clerk, and some sufficient honest witnesses. If this be not that you look for, I have no more to say, But bid Bianca farewell forever and a day.

Daughter
Forever and a day - that's a long time to live without your true love...

Narrator
We'll leave them there for now. Putting characters in disguise was one of Shakespeare's favourite devices: not only because his audiences loved it, but also because it gave him opportunities to explore themes of class, status and love as he swapped the roles of rich and poor, old and young, and male and female characters. The phrase forever and a day means the same as it did in Shakespeare's day: something - either good or bad - will last indefinitely, or for a very, very long time. In his love song Forever and a Day, Lionel Richie sings...

Clip 1
And I'll love you for forever and a day day day day day day day day day day day day,
Forever and a day day day day day day day day...

Clip 2
Oh, look at that queue! We'll be waiting forever and a day. Let's come back tomorrow.

Will
Now, on with the rehearsal everybody...

Robert Harley
Speaking of husbands and wives - when are you bringing Mrs Shakespeare to London, Mr Shakespeare?

Will
Mrs Shakespeare prefers to remain at home in Stratford... and I prefer that too. To bring, or not to bring: that is the question...

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 15 / Activity 1

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Narrator It was a rainy day in July. William Shakespeare and his actor friend Robert Harley are rehearsing his comedy The Taming of the Shrew. Will's daughter is watching the rehearsal. Robert Harley Will, I do like your plays when everybody pretends to be somebody else! Will Thank you, Robert.

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Narrator
It was late afternoon. William Shakespeare has just arrived at his favourite pub, The Duck and Whistle. His actor friend Thomas Swann is already there.

Barmaid
Mr Will. Can you do something about that Mr Thomas? He's been drinking and shouting all afternoon. If you can't shut him up, I'm going to throw him out.

Thomas Swann
I'm a wonderful husband. I give the woman everything and this is how she treats me!

Barmaid
Be quiet, you silly old fool. See, Mr Will? His head's full of jealous nonsense about his wife. That Robert Harley said he saw her talking to Henry Darcy, and now he's all in a rage...

Thomas
That filthy toad... I'll burn his house down... and when I get my hands on her...

Will
Oh dear. The green-eyed monster attacks again!

Barmaid
Hmm. Jealousy: the green-eyed monster. You're right Mr Will, jealousy is a monster: it gets inside people, eats them up. Makes them think the worst, like Mr Thomas here, makes them say and do terrible things.

Will
The green-eyed monster. It's rather clever, isn't it Bess? It's in my play, Othello. The evil Iago warns his friend, Othello, about the dangers of jealousy. He says: Beware, my lord, of jealousy...

Robert Harley as Iago
Beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.

Barmaid
Beware the green-eyed monster ... that's good advice!

Will
It is good advice indeed, but Iago's true plan is to make Othello believe that Desdemona, his wife, is cheating on him.

Will
No, but Iago knows jealousy makes people do crazy things, and his plan works. Othello murders Desdemona!

Barmaid
That's terrible. Poor Desdemona! We'd better keep an eye on that Mr Thomas!

Narrator
We'll leave them there for now. In Shakespeare's day, the man was the head of the household, and an unfaithful wife was a great dishonour. The phrase the green-eyed monster is still used today to describe the dangers of uncontrolled jealousy in relationships. For example, Irish pop singer Ronan Keating said of his marriage:

Clip 1
The green-eyed monster rears its ugly head and brings out all my insecurities. I don't like it if Yvonne is out without me. I just can't help it.

Clip 2
I thought I'd got over my ex, but when I saw him with his new girlfriend, the green-eyed monster got me.

Will
And now I must go home: Mrs Shakespeare feels that I've been spending rather too much time in the pub. Come on, Thomas...

Barmaid
Ooooh - it sounds like Mrs S has got the green-eyed monster too!

Thomas Swann
Come on, Will! Stay for another beer!

Will
Hmmm... To stay, or not to stay: that's a tricky question.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 13 / Activity 1

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Narrator It was late afternoon. William Shakespeare has just arrived at his favourite pub, The Duck and Whistle. His actor friend Thomas Swann is already there. Barmaid Mr Will. Can you do something about that Mr Thomas? He's been drinking and shouting all afternoon. If you can't shut him up, I'm going to throw him out.

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Narrator
It was a spring morning in 1601. William Shakespeare is visiting Queen Elizabeth I of England. She's not very happy today...

Queen Elizabeth I
I will not allow my enemies to live. Tomorrow that ill-faced, murderous coward the Earl of Essex will die, and the people will know that I commanded it.

Will
Very good, your Majesty.

Queen Elizabeth I
Your players will perform Richard II for me tomorrow.

Will
A great honour, your Majesty.

Queen Elizabeth I
Even though they performed that same play for the filthy, crooked Earl of Essex while he was planning to kill me...

Queen Elizabeth I
I really ought to punish you and your players for that, Shakespeare - I should cut off all your heads, or at least imprison you in the Tower...

Queen Elizabeth I
Lucky for you that I am a merciful Queen - but I am not weak. I will not allow anyone to speak badly of my character or my actions. I am Queen of England and my reputation is everything. My enemies must fear and respect me and the people must love me. Gossips must be silenced and traitors must be punished. Do you not agree?

Will
Your Majesty is the wisest of queens. A good reputation is everything. Indeed, in my play, Richard II, Thomas Mowbray says: "My dear dear lord, The purest treasure...

Thomas Mowbray
My dear dear lord,
The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation

Queen Elizabeth I
Well said, Shakespeare - a spotless reputation is truly the most important and precious thing in any life. You may go.

Narrator
We'll leave them there for now. In Shakespeare's day, your reputation - the things other people believed and said about your character and actions - was very important. In fact, William Shakespeare's own reputation as a writer was so good that during his lifetime, several dishonest publishers published other, lesser writers' work, pretending that it was Shakespeare's. These days, the phrase spotless reputation describes a person or organisation that has a good, clean character and behaves decently and honestly. Take news website Scottish Herald, discussing the 2015 Volkswagen emissions data falsification scandal. It said:

Clip 1
Analysts have also asked whether the revelations will cause irreversible damage to Volkswagen's previously spotless reputation.

Clip 2
Another athlete caught taking drugs? I'm surprised at this one though - she always had a spotless reputation.

Will
Robert, Thomas, give me some ale... we're doing Richard II, tomorrow. And it'd better be good, or it could be the Tower.

Robert Harley & Thomas Swann
Oh dear. Oh no. To the tower, or not to the tower: that is the question.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 12 / Activity 1

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Narrator It was a spring morning in 1601. William Shakespeare is visiting Queen Elizabeth I of England. She's not very happy today... Queen Elizabeth I I will not allow my enemies to live. Tomorrow that ill-faced, murderous coward the Earl of Essex will die, and the people will know that I commanded it.

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Narrator
It was a dark and stormy night. Thomas Swann is in his favourite pub, the Duck and Whistle. He's rehearsing the role of King Richard in Shakespeare's Richard III.

The King's name is a tower of strength... Hmmm. I could play it quietly: The King's name is a tower of strength... or angrily: The King's name is a tower of strength...

Barmaid
Here you go Mr Will, Mr Thomas, two more ales.

Thomas
Will, how should I play this line? What is Richard's motivation here?

Will
Thomas, Thomas, don't you understand? King Richard is about to go into battle. The opposing army has six or seven thousand men.

Thomas
That's a lot of men!

Will
Richard is not afraid. He has three times that number of soldiers.

Thomas
Twenty thousand men - that's a big army!

Will
Yes, but Richard has something more powerful than even the greatest army. He has his name: King Richard. That name makes him strong; powerful. It makes ordinary people fear and respect him.

Thomas
So the name King Richard is as strong as a tower...

Will
Exactly. Richard's enemies don't have that.

Thomas
So this line needs strength and confidence.

Will
Yes. This play is about power - and what people will do to get it. Let us rehearse. I am Norfolk, your general. Six or seven thousand is their utmost power.

Which they upon the adverse party want.

Barmaid
Here you are, sir.

Barmaid
Mr Will, a message from your wife. She says if you're not home in five minutes, don't bother coming home ever again.

Thomas
The old ball and chain at it again, eh? Come on Will, have another beer!

Will
Hmmm... To beer, or not to beer: that is the question.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 11 / Activity 1

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Narrator It was a dark and stormy night. Thomas Swann is in his favourite pub, the Duck and Whistle. He's rehearsing the role of King Richard in Shakespeare's Richard III. The King's name is a tower of strength... Hmmm. I could play it quietly: The King's name is a tower of strength...

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 10 / Activity 1

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NarratorThe year is 1599. William Shakespeare is at the palace of Queen Elizabeth I of England. The Queen has ordered Shakespeare to write another play.

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Narrator
It was a late summer's morning. William Shakespeare is at the market.

Will
A pound of plums, please, Mary.

Stallholder
Here you are Mr Will.

Will
Mary? You're not your usual happy self this fine morning.

Stallholder
I feel terrible, Mr Will. I did an awful thing to that Nell Butcher - she's had her eye on my George for ages. I've had enough. I put pepper all over her fruit pies. Oh Mr Will, poor Nellie's in so much trouble and it's my fault.

Stallholder
Lady Macbeth said that in your play, didn't she Mr Will?

Will
She did indeed Mary.

Stallholder
She was telling her husband that you can't change the past. You just have to forget about it and move on, even if it's really, really bad.

Will
And it was indeed very bad in my play, Mary. Macbeth murdered the King. And Lady Macbeth encouraged him.

Stallholder
No wonder he feels bad afterwards... I feel bad enough about the fruit pies...

Will
Macbeth feels very guilty. He has some terrible dreams. But Lady Macbeth doesn't feel the same. She tells Macbeth to forget his bad thoughts.

Stallholder
Say the lines, Mr Will.

Will
Very well Mary. Close your eyes and imagine: Macbeth is feeling bad about the people he killed. Lady Macbeth tells him that they are dead, so his guilty thoughts about them should die, too. He can't fix things, so he shouldn't think about them. These are her words:

Lady Macbeth
How now, my lord! Why do you keep alone,
Of sorriest fancies your companions making,
Using those thoughts which should indeed have died
With them they think on? Things without all remedy
Should be without regard. What's done is done.

Stallholder
So Mr Will, should I forget about the pepper and the pies...?

Will
Indeed you should, Mary. And forget about Nell Butcher too.

Stallholder
Hmmm... to forget, or not to forget: that is the question.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 9 / Activity 1

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Narrator It was a late summer's morning. William Shakespeare is at the market. Will A pound of plums, please, Mary. Stallholder Here you are Mr Will. Will Mary? You're not your usual happy self this fine morning. Stallholder I feel terrible, Mr Will.

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Narrator
It was early in the evening. William Shakespeare is at home. He's expecting a visit from his actor friend Robert Harley.

Robert Harley
Good evening, Mr Shakespeare.

Will
Welcome, welcome Robert! Come in.

Daughter
Good evening Mister Harley...

Robert Harley
Miss Shakespeare... I'm sorry I'm late - I was out horse riding. It was wonderful - so fast, so exciting!

Will
Dear daughter, a wild-goose chase is indeed a kind of horse race. The riders have to follow one horse, keeping up with him wherever he goes, just as wild geese follow the leader when they fly.

Daughter
Ohhh... I expect you kept up with him very well, Robert...!

Robert
A competition of intelligence, of wits and quick thinking!

Daughter
Mercutio will win, won't he!? He is handsome - and clever!

Will
Mercutio is indeed quick-witted, but Romeo is better - much better, and Mercutio knows it - so he gives up this wild-goose chase before it even starts, saying: Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase...

Robert as Mercutio
Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase, I have done,
for thou hast more of the wild goose in one of
thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five.

Daughter
You could chase me, though Robert...

Robert
Oh dear... to chase, or not to chase: that really isn't a question.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 8 / Activity 1

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Narrator It was early in the evening. William Shakespeare is at home. He's expecting a visit from his actor friend Robert Harley. Robert Harley Good evening, Mr Shakespeare. Will Welcome, welcome Robert! Come in. Daughter Good evening Mister Harley... Robert Harley Miss Shakespeare... I'm sorry I'm late - I was out horse riding.

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Narrator
It's late in the evening. William Shakespeare is visiting his actor friend Robert Harley.

Robert
Will! Just one moment... I have to rescue the cat. It likes to sleep with the chickens and it gets locked in the henhouse... come on kitty...

Will
The cat sleeps with the chickens? That's unusual.

Robert Harley
It's strange, but they seem quite happy together. So, Will, I've read your new play The Tempest and I'm very excited about all the magic, the music and the monsters, and my character, Trinculo, the lost traveller: it's a wonderful part. His meeting with Caliban: it's very interesting.

Will
Ah, yes, Caliban. Neither man nor fish - a weird sort of creature.

Robert Harley
You put them both in a storm...

Will
Yes: it's an old trick but it's a good way to bring them together. Trinculo needs shelter and the strange, well, almost monstrous Caliban is wearing a gaberdine: a large coat, big enough for both of them. Trinculo gets under it, safe and warm from the storm.

Robert Harley
But Trinculo isn't happy...

Will
He's feeling very miserable. He actually says: Alas, the storm is come again! My best way...

Robert Harley as Trinculo
Alas, the storm is come again! My best way is to creep under his gaberdine; there is no other shelter hereabouts: misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.

Will
Ohh, I do like that line: Misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows. When times are hard, people do things they don't normally do...

Narrator
We'll leave them there for now. Shakespeare lived in a time of discovery - strange new lands and creatures, so the mysterious island of The Tempest appealed to Shakespeare's audience as both exciting and scary. These days, the phrase strange bedfellows describes two people or groups that are connected in a particular activity, even though they are very different and are not usually seen together. It's often used for political alliances. For example, a July 2015 report from US broadcaster Fox News described Israel and Hamas as strange bedfellows when they both wanted to stop the growth of so-called Islamic State in Gaza. The headline was:

Clip 1
Israel, Hamas strange bedfellows when it comes to reining in ISIS in Gaza.

Narrator
Strange bedfellows is useful for all sorts of unlikely partnerships.

Clip 2
You think Miley Cyrus and Michael Bublé should write a song together? Well, they'd be strange bedfellows ... but it might just work.

Robert Harley
Now Will, it's getting late and there's a storm coming. You must stay with us tonight. You can sleep in the henhouse - or you can share a bed with the Harley family.

Will
Hmmm... To bed or not to bed: that is the question.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 6 / Activity 1

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Narrator It's late in the evening. William Shakespeare is visiting his actor friend Robert Harley. Robert Will! Just one moment... I have to rescue the cat. It likes to sleep with the chickens and it gets locked in the henhouse... come on kitty... Will The cat sleeps with the chickens?

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Narrator
It was a sunny afternoon. William Shakespeare is working on his play The Merchant of Venice. His daughter comes to see him.

Daughter
Father, look at my new ring! Isn't it lovely, gold and shiny...

Will
Dear daughter, it is very beautiful. Where did you get such a pretty thing?

Daughter
From the market. It was much cheaper than the gold merchant!

Will
So, my dear daughter, why is your finger green?

Will
My dear daughter, you have a lot to learn... sit with me while I work. The Merchant of Venice. The Prince of Morocco wants to marry the beautiful Portia. But first, he must choose between three boxes: one made of gold, the second of silver, and the third, of cheap lead. Only one of the boxes contains a picture of Portia, and if the Prince chooses the wrong one, he cannot marry her. So, dear daughter, which box does he choose?

Daughter
The gold box! Is it real gold?

Will
He chooses the gold box indeed, and indeed it is real gold. The Prince believes that only the most beautiful box can hold the painting of the beautiful Portia. But in fact, it holds not a picture, but a scroll with these words: All that glisters is not gold...

Robert Harley as The Prince of Morocco
All that glisters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold:

Daughter
He thought that because the box is beautiful on the outside, something beautiful must be inside... he was wrong.

Narrator
We'll leave them there for now. The Merchant of Venice is a play about money, money, money, and the phrase all that glisters is not gold warns us not to be fooled by people or things that look good - because they might not be as good as they look on the surface! In modern English, the word glisters is often changed to glistens or glitters.

Clip 1
Well that car looks fantastic, but all that glitters is not gold. Check the engine before you buy it.

Daughter
Oh father, will you buy me a real gold ring? Pleeeeeaase?

Will
Hmmm... to buy, or not to buy: that is the question.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 5 / Activity 1

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NarratorIt was a sunny afternoon. William Shakespeare is working on his play The Merchant of Venice. His daughter comes to see him.

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Narrator
It's early morning at the Globe Theatre. William Shakespeare and his actors are rehearsing Henry IV Part 1. In this scene, it's late at night, and young Prince Hal, played by Robert Harley, and his friend Falstaff - that's Thomas Swann - are in the pub. But... the King's messenger has just arrived.

Thomas Swann as Falstaff
... Shall I give him his answer?

Robert Harley as Prince Hal
Prithee do, Jack.

Thomas Swann as Falstaff
Faith and I'll send him packaged...

Thomas Swann
Sorry, Will... I'm not my best today...

Actor 1
One too many beers last night, eh Thomas?!

Actor 2
He thinks he's Falstaff for real!

Will
Thomas. Listen to me. Falstaff and Prince Hal are having a great time. That's why Hal doesn't want to see the messenger.

Robert Harley
I do like the messenger's name: Gravity. Gravity! A serious man who doesn't like to have fun. Not like Falstaff. He's...

Actor 1
He's always telling jokes...

Actor 2
He's never got any money!

Thomas Swann
That last bit's true enough, Will.

Will
Now, now Thomas - you're perfect for this part. The audience are going to love you! Let's go again, from: What doth Gravity do out of his bed at midnight?

Thomas Swann as Falstaff
What doth Gravity do out of his bed at midnight? Shall I give him his answer?

Robert Harley as Prince Hal
Prithee do, Jack.

Will
Bravo! Let's take a break.

Narrator
We'll leave them there for now. Falstaff is one of Shakespeare's most popular characters. He drinks, steals and runs away from danger, but Shakespeare's audiences loved his comic genius and sense of fun. In Henry IV, Prince Hal prefers the company of Falstaff - and his criminal friends - to noblemen. Shakespeare's phrase I'll send him packing has the same meaning today: I really don't want this person around me, so I'll send them away. It's also used in sport, to talk about beating an opponent. Take Gwyn Jones, former captain of the Welsh rugby team, who said before a match:

This is our chance to do it and we should send them packing with their tails between their legs.

Will
Let's try it once more.

Thomas Swann
Will you all shush?!

Actors 1 & 2
To shush or not to shush, that is the question.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 4 / Activity 1

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Narrator It's early morning at the Globe Theatre. William Shakespeare and his actors are rehearsing Henry IV Part 1. In this scene, it's late at night, and young Prince Hal, played by Robert Harley, and his friend Falstaff - that's Thomas Swann - are in the pub. But...

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 3 / Activity 1

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NarratorIt was a cold morning. William Shakespeare is in the theatre, working on Henry VI part II, whilst his actor friend Thomas Swann is mending a broken door.

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BBC Learning English - Course: shakespeare / Unit 1 / Session 1 / Activity 1

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NarratorIt was a chilly November evening. William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, full of music, magic and monsters, is being performed for the first time. King James I and the Queen are having dinner while they watch.