Shirley Bell

Dr Shirley Bell is an early career researcher and associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, specialising in early modern drama. Her current research area is the Caroline era; the period between 1625 and 1649 during the reign of Charles I. Her PhD thesis explored the use of music and song in plays by Ben Jonson, Richard Brome and James Shirley to determine how much of an impact the music had on a holistic understanding of their plays in performance.

Her first monograph, Music and Emotion on the Caroline Stage, was published by Palgrave MacMillan in May 2026. The book demonstrates how emotions were provoked, controlled and directed through music in performance in the Caroline theatre. She is a yearly contributor on Shakespeare’s poetry for the academic journal, Year’s Work in English Studies, and she has had an article published in the journal, Notes & Queries.