Claudia Hammond, BBC

April 16, 2014

It’s the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth, and drugs and potions played central parts in his work. But were they based on real substances? Scientists have tried to find out.

Hamlet’s father was poisoned by a substance poured into his ear while he slept. Juliet used a drug to fake her own death. And Titania fell in love with a man with the head of an ass after the juice of a flower was put in her eyes.

There’s little doubt that each of these botanical interventions provided good plot devices for William Shakespeare. What has been the subject of debate, however, is which specific substances the playwright was referring to, and whether they would have had the desired effect. Can the 400-or-so years of science since the Bard wrote these plays provide any clues or answers? Is it really possible to pour poison into the ear of a sleeping person without waking them up? Can a drug make you fall in love with someone you’d not otherwise consider attractive? And is there a substance which can make you appear dead without causing you harm? […continued]

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