Member-only story

Shakespeare Wrote King Lear in Quarantine

Heather Nowlin
4 min readMay 3, 2020

--

But, well, you know…he was Shakespeare

William Shakespeare, writer and self-isolation survivor

How’s it going in isolation? Talking to your fridge yet?

It’s been a little over 7 weeks since my state/county issued its stay-home order, and even before then folks on social both at home and abroad were issuing incredibly helpful advice about how to win at life from the confines of the couch.

One little tidbit that got real popular real fast was about Shakespeare, quarantined during plague:

And with that one viral reminder, the rest of us — meaning, those of us who aren’t hospital staff fighting Covid-19 at the frontlines, or who aren’t paradoxically low-wage yet completely essential supply chain drivers, meat-plant workers, and grocery store staff — we nonessentials with newly found time on our hands went off hanging our heads and lamenting that we aren’t doing enough of value during this golden opportunity that’s been foisted upon us.

Let’s consider a couple points that have actually made my nonessential mind a little calmer, shall we?

Is it true?

--

--

Heather Nowlin
Heather Nowlin

Written by Heather Nowlin

Not an expert, just a human with experiences. Favorite topics: mental health, travel, humans, dogs, empathy, pop culture, movies, books, TV, plays, theatre.

No responses yet