Death By Shakespeare

Death By Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings & Broken Hearts

In Death by Shakespeare, Kathryn Harkup explores the creative methods Shakespeare used to kill off his characters. Is death by snakebite really as serene as Cleopatra made it seem? How did Juliet appear dead for 72 hours? Can you really kill someone by pouring poison in their ear? Readers will find out how all the iconic death scenes that have thrilled audiences for centuries would play out in real life.

In all, Shakespeare found 74 different ways to kill off his characters, and audiences today still enjoy the same reactions that they did over 400 years ago when these plays were first performed. But how realistic are these deaths, and did Shakespeare have the science to back them up?