Shakespeare WAS Shakespeare
Once I was seduced by the assertions of those scholars who declared it was impossible that a fellow of humble origins from a provincial outpost, lacking higher education, could have written the plays and sonnets attributed to William Shakespeare.
The name of the "Stratford man" must have provided cover for someone of greater stature who could not afford to write openly, the argument went. Someone who learned the classics at an early age, who studied at the finest universities, who had access to royal courts, who traveled extensively.
Shakespeare, the son of a glovemaker in Stratford-upon-Avon, attended grammar school, left by the age of 16 and, except for marrying an older woman and fathering three children, entered a long period without leaving any record of employment or further education. How could that be?
Well, Harvard professor Stephen Greenblatt tells how in his remarkable "Will in the World/How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare" (W.W. Norton & Company). I enjoyed this impressive, well-written book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the Bard.
It doesn't answer every question. It draws suppositions and relies on speculation here and there. But Greenblatt pieces together clues like a detective and assembles a convincing account of the influences that transformed Shakespeare into the world's greatest playwright.
Shakespeare came of age at a time of upheaval in England as Catholics and Protestants contended for the souls of the people and for political power. Echoes resound in his plays.
Greenblatt also describes people in Shakespeare's life whom the playwright blends into literary characters such as Falstaff, Lear and Prospero. Greenblatt connects language in the plays to the particular dialect of Shakespeare's native region. He explores themes such as loss, separation and restoration and finds parallel events and relationships in Shakespeare's life. He colorfully describes the theater scene in London ca. 1600. And he points out why Shakespeare lived at exactly the right time and in the right place to become Shakespeare. Bravo!
Comments (2)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
So in your opinion, does this book finally put to rest the "Shakespeare actually was Kit Marlowe/the Earl of Sandwich/Elvis Presley" controversy?
Posted on February 13, 2005 10:24 PM
I'm ruling out Elvis, yes.
Posted on February 14, 2005 9:05 AM