A. C. Bradley
(1851–1935),brother of F. H. Bradley, was professor of poetry at Oxford from 1901 to 1906. He is particularly remembered for his contributions to Shakespearian scholarship; his best‐known works are ...
Abbess
She reveals herself to be Emilia, mother of the Antipholus twins, at the end of The Comedy of Errors.Anne Button
Abbot of Westminster
He plots against Bolingbroke with Aumerle and the Bishop of Carlisle at the end of Act 4 of Richard II. His death is announced, 5.6.19–21.Anne Button
Abhorson
An executioner, defends his profession in Measure for Measure 4.2 and attempts to rouse drunken Barnadine for execution, 4.3.Anne Button
above
A standard word in Shakespearian stage directions, referring to the stage balcony in the centre of the scaenae frons. The stage balcony might be used to represent the balcony of ...
Abraham Sturley
(d. 1614),a Worcester man who, after graduating from Cambridge, served Sir Thomas Lucy at Charlecote and moved to Stratford around 1580. He was bailiff in 1596, and on 24 ...
act and scene divisions
Of the original quartos of Shakespeare's plays, none is divided into numbered scenes (although in Q1 Romeo and Juliet a printer's ornament occasionally appears where new scenes begin) and only ...
Act to Restrain Abuses of Players
(1606),a parliamentary bill introducing a fine of £10 for each occasion upon which an actor ‘jestingly or profanely’ spoke the name of God or Jesus Christ. Plays written after ...