‘What’s in a Quire?’ Vicissitudes of the Virtual in Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet

What do we mean by virtual in the age of the digital and in what ways does virtuality define Shakespeare’s dramatic inventions and our own receptions of them? The article examines two examples of imaginative responses to ancient models of chorality in Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet, suggesting ways in which back-and-forth resonances position reader and spectator alike at the intersection of virtual exchanges. It explores how the typographic scaffolding of the page may prompt textual interpretation creatively, and considers how digital tools may help us detect Shakespeare’s virtualities while going beyond a digital interpretation of the virtual.