Description
Book SynopsisThis new study of Shakespeare's life and times, which illuminates our understanding and appreciation of his works, combines an accessible fully historicized treatment of both the life and the plays, suited to both undergraduate and popular audiences.
Trade Review“[A] highly readable introduction to the Life and Works, in the best tradition of that ancient and worthy genre. It is furthermore a piece of New Historical criticism at its sober best … With such impressive scholarly credentials, [Callaghan] is more than well equipped to provide original and perceptive introductions to Shakespeare’s life and works. But this is no mere mechanical life-and-works primer, like the dozens already available on the market and on college bookshop shelves … This [is a] substantial work of criticism, presented as an introduction to Shakespeare the man and his work, but amounting to considerably more than mere introduction. Dympna Callaghan meets admirably the challenge she set herself in the bold question of the title: who was William Shakespeare? For she shows us very well indeed who he was – and is – and why.”(Cercles, 1 June 2014)
Featured in Times Literary Supplement - 25 October 2013
"Dympna Callaghan's lucid and well-structured textbook allows students to see the plays in their context." (Times Literary Supplement, 25 October 2013)
"The book should interest readers who are curious about Shakespeare's life and the social and political history of England. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers." (Choice, 1 August 2013)
Table of ContentsNote on the Text ix
Acknowledgments xi
Part I The Life 1
1 Who was William Shakespeare? 3
2 Writing 23
3 Religion 47
4 Status 61
5 Theatre 79
Part II The Plays 97
6 Comedies: Shakespeare’s Social Life 99
The Comedy of Errors 99
The Taming of the Shrew 108
Love’s Labour’s Lost 119
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 125
The Merchant of Venice 132
Much Ado About Nothing 138
As You Like It 146
Twelfth Night, Or What You Will 153
Measure for Measure 159
7 English and Roman Histories: Shakespeare’s Politics 177
Richard II 177
1 Henry IV 182
Henry V 192
Richard III 198
Julius Caesar 204
Coriolanus 210
8 Tragedies: Shakespeare in Love and Loss 223
Romeo and Juliet 223
Hamlet 232
Othello 241
King Lear 252
Macbeth 260
Antony and Cleopatra 266
9 Romances: Shakespeare and Theatrical Magic 277
The Winter’s Tale 277
The Tempest 284
Index 295
