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In Shakespeare's day, London was just beginning to attract people from around the world, emerging as the center of a nascent empire. "As the world comes to London in 2012, this Olympic summer, we are going to look at how the world came to London and how London saw the world 400 years ago," said Jonathan Bate, co-curator of the exhibition. The exhibition roams through Shakespeare's influences, from the rural English landscapes of his youth to the country's dynastic power struggles, the discoveries emerging from the New World, the arrival of visitors from abroad and the creation of Britain as a country with the union of the crowns of England and Scotland under James I. Some items suggest a cold, violent world a long way from our own. There's King Henry V's jousting helmet, a bear skull excavated from the site of an Elizabethan theater
-- where bear-baiting went on alongside drama -- and an iron "witch's collar" and metal gag used to punish women accused of sorcery. But the parallels with our own era of migration, globalization and political uncertainty are ever-present. It is hard to nail down the secret of Shakespeare's genius. It rests on some combination of the exuberance of his language and the resonance of the human predicaments he depicts, from lovers battling family disapproval to kings struggling to live up to the burdens of power. Shakespeare set plays in Venice and Verona, Denmark and Egypt -- places he had read about but never visited. His plays in turn helped create the world view of his audience, and have been influencing audiences around the world ever since. "He was genuinely a global figure -- perhaps the greatest global export this country has ever produced," Bate said. His ability to speak to audiences around the world is undimmed. "The great thing about Shakespeare is that he speaks to everyone," Venkatrathnam said. "Regardless of your political or ideological position, you can find something that speaks directly to you. To me, he is the universal philosopher." ___ Online: British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/ Royal Shakespeare Company:
http://www.rsc.org.uk/
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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