Humors, Spirits, and Apothecaries

Love potions. Fatal Cures. Medicines mixed with magic.

Step into the strange and fascinating world of healing in Shakespeare’s time.

Long before modern medicine, people made sense of the body through herbs, humors, ritual, and belief. That world shaped Shakespeare’s imagination – and runs through his plays in surprising ways. Join Josh Lubarr and Rebecca Goodheart, authors of the forthcoming Shakespeare’s World, for a lively conversation about apothecaries, early medicine, and the ways Shakespeare explored illness, desire, healing, and the enduring mystery of being human.

You’ll discover how early ideas about the body shaped some of Shakespeare’s most memorable moments, and what they reveal about health, knowledge, and humanity, both then and now.

This event, part of Elm’s Building a Brave New Theatre series, is free with admission to the museum.