Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became ShakespeareStephen Greenblatt, the charismatic Harvard professor who "knows more about Shakespeare than Ben Jonson or the Dark Lady did" (John Leonard, Harper's), has written a biography that enables us to see, hear, and feel how an acutely sensitive and talented boy, surrounded by the rich tapestry of Elizabethan life; full of drama and pageantry, and also cruelty and danger; could have become the world's greatest playwright. A young man from the provinces--a man without wealth, connections, or university education--moves to London. In a remarkably short time he becomes the greatest playwright not just of his age but of all time. His works appeal to urban sophisticates and first-time theatergoers; he turns politics into poetry; he recklessly mingles vulgar clowning and philosophical subtlety. How is such an achievement to be explained? Will in the World interweaves a searching account of Elizabethan England with a vivid narrative of the playwright's life. We see Shakespeare learning his craft, starting a family, and forging a career for himself in the wildly competitive London theater world, while at the same time grappling with dangerous religious and political forces that took less-agile figures to the scaffold. Above all, we never lose sight of the great works--A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and more--that continue after four hundred years to delight and haunt audiences everywhere. The basic biographical facts of Shakespeare's life have been known for over a century, but now Stephen Greenblatt shows how this particular life history gave rise to the world's greatest writer. Bringing together little-known historical facts and little-noticed elements of Shakespeare's plays, Greenblatt makes inspired connections between the life and the works and deliver "a dazzling and subtle biography" (Richard Lacayo, Time). Readers will experience Shakespeare's vital plays again as if for the first time, but with greater understanding and appreciation of their extraordinary depth and humanity. A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2004; Time magazine's #1 Best Nonfiction Book; A Washington Post Book World Rave; An Economist Best Book; A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book; A Christian Science Monitor Best Book; A Chicago Tribune Best Book; A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Best Book; NPR's Maureen Corrigan's Best. |
From inside the book
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... scene in literature . In every case , Greenblatt brings a flash of illumination to the work , enabling us to experience these great plays again as if for the first time , and ( continued on back flap ) Will in the World This One OOAJ ...
... scene in literature . In every case , Greenblatt brings a flash of illumination to the work , enabling us to experience these great plays again as if for the first time , and ( continued on back flap ) Will in the World This One OOAJ ...
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... Scenes 23 CHAPTER 2 : The Dream of Restoration 54 CHAPTER 3 : The Great Fear 87 CHAPTER 4 : Wooing , Wedding , and Repenting 118 CHAPTER 5 : Crossing the Bridge 149 CHAPTER 6 : Life in the Suburbs 175 CHAPTER 7 : Shakescene 199 CHAPTER ...
... Scenes 23 CHAPTER 2 : The Dream of Restoration 54 CHAPTER 3 : The Great Fear 87 CHAPTER 4 : Wooing , Wedding , and Repenting 118 CHAPTER 5 : Crossing the Bridge 149 CHAPTER 6 : Life in the Suburbs 175 CHAPTER 7 : Shakescene 199 CHAPTER ...
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... that the schoolmaster from 1571 to 1575 was the Catholic Hunt . But in these details , as in so much else from Shakespeare's life , there is no absolute certainty . Will in the World CHAPTER 1 Primal Scenes L ET A NOTE TO THE READER 19.
... that the schoolmaster from 1571 to 1575 was the Catholic Hunt . But in these details , as in so much else from Shakespeare's life , there is no absolute certainty . Will in the World CHAPTER 1 Primal Scenes L ET A NOTE TO THE READER 19.
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How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare Stephen Greenblatt. Will in the World CHAPTER 1 Primal Scenes L ET US IMAGINE that Shakespeare.
How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare Stephen Greenblatt. Will in the World CHAPTER 1 Primal Scenes L ET US IMAGINE that Shakespeare.
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Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Contents
Primal Scenes | 23 |
The Dream of Restoration | 54 |
The Great Fear | 87 |
Wooing Wedding and Repenting | 118 |
Crossing the Bridge | 149 |
Life in the Suburbs | 175 |
Shakescene | 199 |
MasterMistress | 226 |
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actor Anne Anne Hathaway Arden audience Cambridge Campion career Catholic century character church comedy contemporary Cottam crowd daughter dead death depicted Earl early Elizabeth Elizabethan England English faith Falstaff fantasy father fear friends Greene Greene's Hamlet Henry imagination James Jesuit John Shakespeare Juliet King Lear King's Latin least live London Lopez Lord Lord Chamberlain's Men Lucy Macbeth magic Marlowe Marlowe's marriage marry Merchant of Venice Midsummer Night's Dream moral murder never night once Oxford performed perhaps person players playhouse playing companies playwright plot poems poet prince probably Protestant queen Queen's Men Richard Romeo says scene scholars seems sense Shake Shylock simply Sir Thomas social someone sonnets Southampton speare speare's stage story Stratford Tamburlaine theater theatrical thee thing thou thought tion took tragedy turned University Press wife Will's William Shakespeare Winter's Tale witches words write written wrote young