Trivia From Shakespeare Plays

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: while visiting Tycho Brahe in Denmark, Shakespeare found the names and the coats of arms of both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on the border of Tycho Brahe's portrait. An engraving of this portrait was sent to Shakespeare.

Macbeth's castle: while on diplomatic missions to Scotland for Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare and his entourage were billeted at the Glamis castle. The setting for Macbeth was Glamis, even though the historical Macbeth was not associated with that castle.

Posthumous. One of Shakespeare's many aunts was Elizabeth Hoby. One of Elizabeth Hoby's sons was named Thomas Posthumous (1566 - 1640) because he was born after his father died. Posthumous is the name of a Shakespearean character in Cymbeline. In addition, scholars often cite incidents in Posthumous' life are often mirrored in Twelfth Night.

Aunt Elizabeth Hoby also provides a more ghastly story for Shakespeare. It was rumored that Shakespeare's aunt once beat one of her sons until the blood ran, all because he would not or could not learn his Latin. She then locked him in the attic where he starved to death. Shakespeare's aunt Elizabeth was then seen thereafter sleepwalking and trying to wash the blood off her hands -- an incident which famously appears in Macbeth.

Shakespeare was the first playwright to stage sword-fighting scenes on stage -- think of the Crazy 88 scene in Kill Bill. Or Zorro. Or any number of other such scenes. Whatever. Shakespeare's baptismal record -- May 10, 1564 -- was recently found on Blackfriars property in London. While growing up in and around Blackfriars, one of Shakespeare's many neighbors included an Italian fencing master. Source says area residents "could walk out into the courtyards and be confronted by duelling men wielding sharp steel" at all hours of the day.

Ghetto. Source: "Shakespeare's visit to Venice is of particular interest. At the time, Venice contained the world's first Jewish ghetto, and it is the origin of the word "ghetto" which affords" further insight into the Shakespearean plays. "'Ghetto' comes from the Italian 'to throw" or 'to cast,' and it was so called because the area of the city known as the Ghetto was where the old bronze cannons were cast. Eventually, it became the center for making iron cannons too, so Shakespeare [who had inherited a cannon foundry] certainly had reason to visit the area. German Jewish workers were imported there because they were already skilled in all kinds of metalwork. In The Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 1, Shylock actually mentions his German origins."