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That Shakespeare LifeIn order to really understand Shakespeare, you have to step inside his world. Author: Cassidy Cash
Hosted by Cassidy Cash, That Shakespeare Life takes you behind the curtain and into the real life of William Shakespeare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Language: en Genres: History, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Courts, Rackets, Balls, and Rules: The Game of Tennis in the 16th Century
Episode 416
Monday, 6 April, 2026
In Shakespeare's plays, we see 6 total references to tennis. Polonius mentions an argument over a tennis game in Hamlet. Henry V and Pericles talk about tennis courts and there's even a couple of references to "tennis balls" showing up in Shakespeare's other plays, talking about them being played with at the game of tennis, as well as being stuffed as part of the process of making a tennis ball. We can tell that Shakespeare and his contemporaries knew about the game of tennis, but where did it come from? How was it played? Do we know anything about these tennis courts they used? To find out more about the history of tennis from Shakespeare's lifetime, today we're talking with Laurence Grove. Laurence is a Professor of French and Text/Image Studies at the University of Glasgow, and was recently the guest expert for an article inside PBS's report into newly discovered images that reveal some interesting new findings about the 16th century history of tennis. Laurence joins us today to share these findings, as well as to explain what tennis would have been like for Shakespeare.
