Alice Richmond

• MA English Literature, Distinction
• BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing, 1st

I am a Shakespeare Studies PhD student at the Shakespeare Institute. I have an MA in English Literature from the University of Warwick and a BA (Hons) in English and Creative Writing from Birmingham City University. My thesis explores how non-normative physical bodies were considered a threat to hegemonic norms in the Shakespearean canon and a wider early modern social context. Alongside my thesis I write poetry and short stories which focus on similar themes to my doctorate.

My research investigates theories of correctness and balance, and the dichotomy between excess and lack in early modern medical thought. To do so, I will use the popular contemporary theory of the four humours, as well as ideas of how the external influences the internal. With this in mind I will explore Shakespearean characters with non-normative bodies, their treatment, attributes, and desires. With current research focusing on what the social context does to a body this project will invert pre-existing scholarship by exploring the impact of the body on the social context.