The Age of Shakespeare (Modern Library Chronicles) [Hardcover]

Frank Kermode (Author)

Book Description

Series: Modern Library Chronicles | Publication Date: February 3, 2004

In The Age of Shakespeare, Frank Kermode uses the history and culture of the Elizabethan era to enlighten us about William Shakespeare and his poetry and plays. Opening with the big picture of the religious and dynastic events that defined England in the age of the Tudors, Kermode takes the reader on a tour of Shakespeare’s England, vividly portraying London’s society, its early capitalism, its court, its bursting population, and its epidemics, as well as its arts—including, of course, its theater. Then Kermode focuses on Shakespeare himself and his career, all in the context of the time in which he lived. Kermode reads each play against the backdrop of its probable year of composition, providing new historical insights into Shakspeare’s characters, themes, and sources. The result is an important, lasting, and concise companion guide to the works of Shakespeare by one of our most eminent literary scholars.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While the age of Shakespeare overlapped with the both the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, Kermode's compact, erudite appreciation of the Bard is less about Shakespeare's private life and turbulent times than his theatrical milieu and the worlds he created for the stage. Quick summaries of the pressing political issues of the Protestant Reformation and the successor Queen Elizabeth are followed by up-to-date surveys of the debates over Shakespeare's possible crypto-Catholicism and his "missing" years. But Kermode hits his stride with the plays. His breakdown of Shakespeare's artistic development and mature achievement by the various acting companies and theaters he was associated with-from the Lord Chamberlain's Company to the renamed King's Men, from the Theatre and the Rose to the Globe and Blackfriars-proves a satisfying structure to match the swift pace. Inevitably, the brevity of the Chronicles format can't provide equal time to all of Shakespeare's million-plus words of dramatic poetry, and Kermode prefers the tragedies and romances over the histories and comedies (to say nothing of the sonnets). Occasionally shifting to lectern manner, he also revisits some of his favorite tropes, which he explored in Shakespeare's Language, such as rhetorical doubling and pairing in Hamlet and the theme of equivocation in Macbeth. While Ben Jonson declared, "[Shakespeare] was not for an age, but for all time!" Kermode pleasurably shows how he and his works were of their age and also transcended it.-- was not for an age, but for all time!" Kermode pleasurably shows how he and his works were of their age and also transcended it.
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-A learned, if brief, journey through the world of William Shakespeare. Written in elegant, concise prose accessible to laypersons, the book moves quickly through the latest critical debates about the Bard's origins, and deftly summarizes the historical background of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods in which he lived and worked. The great political and religious issues of the times are explicated clearly and linked to the development of live theater as a mainstay of English popular culture. Most outstanding are the entertaining discussions of Shakespeare's literary successes in relation to his professional associations with a succession of professional acting companies and theaters. The analyses of the magnificent language in the context of contemporary cultural assumptions, evolving styles of acting, and the physical demands of the playhouses bring readers both a broader understanding and a deeper appreciation of the playwright's artistic triumphs. Along with Kermode's equally fine Shakespeare's Language (Farrar, 2001), this is an excellent choice for students curious (or struggling) to understand what all the fuss is about the Bard of Avon.-Starr E. Smith, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library; Modern Library Ed edition (February 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679642447
• ISBN-13: 978-0679642442
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,109,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sir Frank Kermode has been a prominent figure in the world of literary criticism since the 1960s. He has been King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at Cambridge and Professor of Poetry at Harvard. He was knighted in 1991.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many insights, July 5, 2004

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Age of Shakespeare (Modern Library Chronicles) (Hardcover)

In this nifty little book, author and historian Frank Kermode gives us a new insight into the life and works of William Shakespeare. Beginning with a quick introduction to Elizabethan England, the author then goes on to trace Shakespeare's life, putting each of the plays into context, relative to what was happening in his life and in England at the time. Overall, I found this to be an entertaining and highly informative read. In particular I enjoyed the many insights that the author gave me into how Elizabeth drama worked and how it operated. I really loved this book, and highly recommend it to you!

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting intro, July 15, 2004

By 

Charlus "charlus" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Age of Shakespeare (Modern Library Chronicles) (Hardcover)

A combination of lit crit, history and biography, this brief book ultimately feels like an appetizer rather than a meal, despite its nearly 200 pages. A tasty appetizer however as it is brimming with fascinating facts about Elizabethan theater and Shakespeares plays (and language). Extremely readable, it may be too superficial for Shakespearean scholars but for the general reader who wants a quick overview of things Shakespeare, this lovely little book should fit the bill.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Small package ... mixed bag, March 25, 2004

By 

Jesse Steven Hargrave (Silver City, NM) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Age of Shakespeare (Modern Library Chronicles) (Hardcover)

Not all things that come in small packages are undilutedly good. There are both many invigorating and some annoying aspects in this slim volume of chronologically arranged essays from Frank Kermode.

The best aspects arise when Kermode stays true to this title. That is, the book is finest when describing the milieu and preoccupations of Elizabethan England (or "Britain", since that distinction proves important to attitudes at the accession of James I) and relating those to the plays. Some of what struck me as the most interesting examples of this: Queen Elizabeth's belief that she was descended from the Roman Emperor Constantine and how that was reflected in "Antony and Cleopatra"; the issuing by King James in 1607 of a proclamation deploring crowds assembling "riotously in multitudes" and how that concern informs "Coriolanus"; and the customary conflating of "Macbeth" with the Gunpowder Plot enriched by a discussion of the play's use of the term "equivocation".

Among many fascinating aspects that go beyond the content of the plays, Kermode is especially informative about the distinction between the acting companies made up of boys and those of adult men players and the effect this had on many aspects of the theatrical environment. And there's his revelation that it was customary for the company to "dance a jig" after a play, even a tragedy.

Kermode's language is inventive and compelling, accessible for the most part even to someone -- like myself -- lacking knowledge of much of his context. Occasionally however his sentences become pretzel-like, circling back on themselves and becoming indigestible just when their meaning seems within grasp.

My primary and overarching complaint is that this is a small book (4 ½ x 7, 214 pages). Some of the author's most interesting discussions are abbreviated by the limitations of the format. The publisher has nonetheless thought it just to price it at $21.95.

Like many in the seemingly hermetically-sealed world of Shakespearean scholarship, Kermode can not resist providing unjustifiable biographical details. Despite an early warning against it, we find tell-tale language such as "we may guess that", "was almost certainly", and "as he must have". He assures us that Shakespeare preferred horses to walking. And it may have been the limitations of the format that forced him to present as unarguable such disputatious concepts as the existence of an "ur-Hamlet" and that Robert Greene's attributed attack on "Shake-scene" was definitely referring to the author of the plays.

It's clear that Frank Kermode has a deep and unique understanding of both the plays and the times that produced them. "The Age of Shakespeare" allows him to, by apposing, illuminate them.