Something Shakespeare This Way Comes
Ep 5: Shakespeare in Love (1998) with guest Ben Roman
But hark! What light from yonder window breaks? It is Shakespeare in Love and this episode I’m joined by a guest to discuss it. Join us to hear about historical accuracy (or lack thereof), how Elizabethan in theater could in some way resemble Hollywood, and whether it tracks that Shakespeare became a great playwright because he fell in love with a random noblewoman who just wants to act on stage.
This is a bit goofier than some of my other episodes as my brother and I bounce off each other, but I did try to bring some of the context to the discussion. But this might be the only situation in which I would discuss Shakespeare and Michael Bay’s Armageddon in the same breath.
Given the plot of the movie, there's a fair amount of discussion about sex, so I'm marking this one as explicit and you might want to listen to this one without kids present.
Want to read some of the reviews from when the movie first came out?
Washington Post review (This review has some weird late ‘90s baggage in it!)
Here’s the 2023 article in The Atlantic that praises the movie 20 years on.
I highly recommend Be Kind Rewind’s YouTube video Harvey Weinstein and the Oscars: How Gwyneth and Shakespeare in Love Won
Credit where credit is due
Art by Halie Branson
Music recording by josdvg