We are eagerly anticipating our upcoming (Jan. 18 at 6:00 p.m.) Meet the Author with celebrated Shakespeare scholar and University of Connecticut professor Pamela Allen Brown. She'll discuss her book The Diva’s Gift to the Shakespearean Stage, a history of the Italian diva as a model for "the exotic, boldly theatrical woman of passion in English plays." This program is produced in conjunction with our latest exhibition, How William Became Shakespeare: Four Hundred Years of the First Folio.

Read a brief history of Romeo and Juliet and learn why it was an immediate hit here.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

Shakespearewallahs: The Kendals and Shakespeareana in India| A Virtual Conversation with Rochelle Almeida
Saturday, February 2 at 10:00 a.m.

At least two generations of Indian school and university students had the privilege of being introduced to the works of William Shakespeare in performance through the efforts of Shakespeareana. Hear about the fascinating history of this effort from Dr. Rochelle Almeida, a long-time Southport resident and Professor Emerita of the Humanities at New York University.

Click here to see our full calendar of programs & events.

EXHIBITION CONNECTION

William Shakespeare
Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories & Tragedies (Third Folio)
London: Printed for William Chetwinde, 1663
Pequot Library Special Collections

English women were forbidden from performing on the stage during Elizabethan times; however, troupes of Italian women toured the continent as members of the popular Commedia dell'Arte. As a result, playwrights like Shakespeare took note and created more complex female protagonists, a topic that Dr. Pamela Allen Brown explores in her latest book, The Diva's Gift to the Shakespearean Stage.

As we noted above, we're focusing this week on Juliet. Brown notes, "Shakespeare’s first great heroine [Juliet] is an extravagant foreign prodigy with a wider emotive range than that of passion-torn heroines in classical and Renaissance tragedy, while her Italianate theatricality and poetic brilliance set her apart from the more prosaic Juliets of his sources... To her first spectators Juliet’s amorous precocity was an index of her Italianness. The English stereotyped Italian girls as prematurely lusty in comparison to English girls, and Italian women as prone to romantic melodrama and tragedies of passion. To their jaundiced eyes the modern notion that Juliet displays 'extreme purity' and 'innocent forwardness' would sound very odd." Read more here. Join us on January 18 for Meet the Author with Dr. Brown (6:00 p.m.).

BOOK PICKS FOR ADULTS

Juliet
by Anne Fortier

When Julie Jacobs leaves for Italy per the instructions of her late aunt's will, she never imagines that she'll be thrust into a centuries-old feud, not to mention one of the most legendary romances of all time. 

“Boldly imagined, brilliantly plotted, beautifully described, Juliet will carry you spellbound until the gripping end.”—Susan Vreeland, author of Clara and Mr. Tiffany

“The Shakespearean scholarship on display is both impressive and well-handled.”—The Washington Post

>>Check me out

The Hundred Loves of Juliet
by Evelyn Skye

A writer who craves a real-life happily ever after and a gruff fisherman who doesn’t believe in them find out they’re part of the greatest love story of all time.

“Cleverly imagines the epilogue Romeo and Juliet didn’t get to have, and how curses can be blessings in disguise.”—Jodi Picoult

A Popsugar Best Book of the Year

>>Check me out

BOOK PICK FOR KIDS AND TEENS

Enter the Body
by Joy McCullough

In the room beneath a stage's trapdoor, Shakespeare’s dead teenage girls compare their experiences and retell the stories of their lives, their loves, and their fates in their own words. Bestselling author Joy McCullough offers a brilliant testament to how young women can support each other and reclaim their stories in the aftermath of trauma. Ages 14+.

>>Check me out

Feb. 12 at 4:30 p.m. - our popular Valentine's Candy Making Workshop Returns (ages 5 to 12)! Click HERE to register.

Fakespeare: Starcrossed in Romeo and Juliet
by M.E. Castle

Are you ready to embark on a journey to Italy, where you’ll find yourself right in the middle of a major feud between two rival pizza-making families: the Montagues and the Capulets? A swordsman and perfumer will hunt you. There will be disguises, fake pizza, and tomato fights (make sure to duck!). You must help Becca, her stepbrother Sam, and her dog Rufus convince Romeo Montague to ask Juliet Capulet on a date, or you will all be stuck in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet forever! Grades 4-6.

>>Check me out

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SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice 
London: George Allen Ruskin House, 1894
Pequot Library Special Collections

Jane Austen admired Shakespeare and took in many of his plays. Shakepearean allusions and themes crop up throughout her books. As this article from the Folger Shakespeare Library notes, "scholars have sounded out the strong echoes of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the matchmaking follies of Emma and tolled the allusions to Shakespeare in Sense and Sensibility, in which characters read Hamlet aloud. They have also pointed to parallels between Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, especially as the banter between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy mimics the Beatrice and Benedick dynamics in the play."

Celebrated man of letters Park Honan has also observed parallels between Pride and Prejudice's Darcy/Bingley and Romeo/Mercutio. He wrote in his 1989 Austen biography*, Jane Austen: Her Life, Darcy expresses “visible disgust with a Meryton society lacking in grace, culture and variety... 'Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance,' Mercutio had said in Romeo and Juliet. Mr. Bingley's first words to Darcy echo the Shakespearean scene: "Come, Darcy," said he, "I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance"… Darcy, like Romeo, is a self-obsessed spectator, and Bingley is like Mercutio the reveler…"

Switching gears, we've included a picture of this stunning "peacock edition" of Pride and Prejudice, a first edition copy released in 1895 and housed in Pequot Library's Special Collections. Hugh Thomson, the illustrator, also worked on books by Charles Dickens and J.M. Barry. This particular book was originally owned by Joseph Rockwell Swan, who was a judge on the Ohio Supreme Court, and it eventually made its way into the hands of J. Comyns Carr, a prolific critic, writer, and performer of his day. On the inside flyleaf, we find a handwritten note from Thomson to Carr. It reads:

"To J. Comyns Carr in acknowledgement [sic] of all I owe to his friendship and advice, these illustrations are gratefully inscribed. Hugh Thomson".

*Pequot Library patrons may borrow Jane Austen: Her Life by Park Honan from Fairfield Main through our Interlibrary Loan system. Tap this link.

Read our latest Special Collections blog post HERE!

DEVELOPMENT DISPATCH

Looking for an unforgettable pre-Valentine's Day date night or Galentine's excursion? Join us for a special Meet the Author and ticketed Meet and Greet with Melissa Newman on February 8! Melissa will speak about Head Over Heels | Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman: A Love Affair in Words and Pictures, a tribute told through images, family treasures, and letters, to her parents, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and their legendary love affair. During the ticketed reception, which starts at 5:30 p.m., enjoy a cocktail and nibbles and the chance to chat with Melissa and mingle with other fans. A talented singer, Melissa will also share some favorite songs. The free Meet the Author starts at 6:30 p.m.

COMMUNITY CORNER

Keeping Stamford Healthy: The History of Medical Practice from 1641-1970
Stamford History Center
From September 28 to June 30

Learn about the history and beginnings of Stamford Hospital, and local pharmacies of yesteryear along with commemorating notable medical professionals like Dr. Ursula Joyce Yerwood, the first female African American Physician in Fairfield County

Library Hours

Pequot Library will be closed on Monday, January 15, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Monday - Friday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Thursday: 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. 
Sunday: closed