Shakespeare: His Life, Work, and Era [Paperback]

Dennis Kay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1994

The product of exhaustive research by an Oxford scholar, this "masterly study" (The New Yorker) combines historical fact with a practical discussion of Shakespeare's plays, poems, and sonnets, interwoven with relevant moments from his life and age to create an accessible chronicle and an engaging read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Acknowledging that "the evidence that usually underpins a biography--diaries, journals, letters--simply does not exist in Shakespeare's case," Oxford English professor Kay illuminates the life of the great dramatist and poet (1564-1616) by presenting a readable, cogent account of the Elizabethan era in which he lived and worked. Kay evaluates Shakespeare's development as a writer within the context of such historical events as plagues, political upheavals and the growth of Renaissance theater. Drawing on earlier studies, he combines the small amount of biographical data available with a chronological analysis of Shakespeare's plays and poems, leaving readers to form their own picture of the playwright's character. Although it lacks footnotes, this biography will be of interest to students and scholars alike.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Quill (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688132251
• ISBN-13: 978-0688132255
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,766,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.0 out of 5 stars The business of Shakespeare's life, May 17, 2010

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Shakespeare: His Life, Work, and Era (Paperback)

This is a detailed biography of the life of Shakespeare which makes use of all the available documentation. It also reads the life , play by play and gives us whatever is known on the business of Shakespeare's life as actor. I learned much from it about Shakespeare as businessman, as purchaser of homes and land in Stratford, as eager litigant, as successful and respected citizen. I also learned much about Shakespeare's tremendous emphasis on making his theatre popular and successful. What I did not learn and what was not really attempted in the work was any kind of analysis of Shakespeare's character in depth. So too the plays were spoken of but in a way which did not really interpret them in any depth.

A tremendous amount of work went into this book. It tells much about Shakespeare without however really probing or trying to explain the mystery of his greatness.

P.S. I would qualify my last remark a bit. Kay does argue that Shakespeare's education in school was a very good one, and the claims that he could not have 'known enough' or 'been educated enough' to write the plays are dismissed by Kay as nonsense. Shakespeare also speaks about the business failure of Shakespeare's father and the search of Shakespeare for success. He does not however touch upon Shakespeare's marriage, does not speak very much about Shakespeare as a father. This is a good book but not the one which tries to answer the kinds of questions I have about him and his work.