Soul of the Age (English)

In the past, some scholars have attempted to recreate Shakespeare's life based on clues from his plays, while others have provided insights based on the historical events of his time. Few have cogently combined the two strategies as fluidly and profitably as Jonathan Bate does in this superb new biography. Bate structures his account with the seven ages of man that Shakespeare specifically identified in AS YOU LIKE IT, roughly summarized as infancy, school, love, war, justice, retirement, and oblivion. Then Bate applies those stages of life to the historical setting of Shakespeare's time, and unveils some refreshing new theories about the man and his work. Among other insights, he surmises that Shakespeare had some training in law, based on repeated references in HAMLET and MACBETH, and that he likely was a social outcast of sorts, based on the recurring series of wise fools in the plays. Both experts and novices will find this to be an essential text, as it fills in many absent specifics of Shakespeare's life, and provides revelatory new assessments of the plays as well. minimize