Shakespeare certainly took inspiration from the stories he would have heard in his childhood when writing up his plays - and ghost stories weren't exempt from his extractions.
Sylvia Morris highlights the supernatural in Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and draws up comparisons between a passage in the play and one in Ovid's "Metamorphoses".
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of The Tempest, we are running a weekly post on the play once a week until Christmas. This is our second post, where we look at the adaptations of the enigmatic Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban over the years.
The first post in "The Tempest: 400th Anniversary" celebration series sheds light on the potential inspiration for the actual tempest in Shakespeare's last solo play.
Mulberry wood pops up frequently in our Collections. Ever wondered why? Roz Sklar talks about the relation between William Shakespeare and the mulberry tree.
A visit to Leo Tolstoy's museum estate in Yasnaya Polyana unearths a childhood story about a little green stick that could bring peace and happiness to everyone in the world.