Glad to see this group!
constanc...@gmail.com
However, I have to ask: is discussion of the life commonly accepted as
Shakespeare's acceptable? I'm primarily an historian, so bio is as
critical as the literature for me. If it's not okay to talk about the
life, thanks, and I'll go elsewhere.
lariadna
That sounds like an excellent topic to me.
In fact, I was wondering exactly what kinds of
things we were planning to do or discuss on this
group.
Maybe we all want to read a play or a bio, or share
favorite quotes or ideas?
C.
morwenna morgan
morwenna
David Loftus
There have been at least two excellent bios out in the past couple of
years. Stephen Greenblatt's _Will in the World_, which I think is about
two years old, focuses mainly on Shakespeare's political, religious,
and social contexts, which gives a better sense perhaps of why he wrote
about certain things in his plays.
I'm currently finishing Peter Ackroyd's brand-new _Shakespeare: the
Biography_, which centers more on what the streets, houses, theaters,
food, dealing with the plague, etc., were like. There's quite a bit
about Shakespeare's economic status, purchases of property, involvement
in a lawsuit or two.
I found remarkably little overlap between the two books, other than the
usual facts and contemporary references.
A little more specific is _Shakespeare the Player: a life in the
theatre_ by John Southworth. It approaches the life of a writer and
actor among a company of actors, and studies how the people Shakespeare
had to work with may have influenced what he wrote and how he peopled
his plays. The author is a lifelong British Shakespearean actor and
director, and though there are a few photos of him on stage, the text
doesn't veer away from the subject at hand to the personal.
David Loftus