Shakespeare and Biography

David Bevington's THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE (Updated Fourth Edition, Longman 1997) remains one of the finest one-volume editions of Shakespeare's poetry and plays. On YouTube may be found a video of Mr Bevington discussing this new book at the Shakespeare Center, where he stands before a display of biographies on the Bard. We are blessed to live in an age where the exploration of Shakespearean biography remains intense, and intensely fascinating. There are so many mysteries in the playwright's life, down to the way in which the family spelled their name (the 1609 signature of Gilbert and the 1607 burial marking of Edmond suggest that "Shakespeare" was indeed the family spelling). With this fascinating book, David Bevington examines the issues faced by modern scholars who approach Shakespeare biography, including such wonderful books as Park Honan's SHAKESPEARE--A LIFE to Katherine Duncan-Jones brilliant UNGENTLE SHAKESPEARE. My personal favourite biography is that by Peter Ackroyd (and how I wish Peter would write ye definitive biography of Wilde). I highly recommend this wee book to ye who enjoy reading about Our Eternal Bard, my God of Literature.

A naive and shallow little book. For the past few years, in this neck of the woods, the torrent of Shakespeare biographies has been eviscerated by William E Cain in the Boston Globe for the standard failure: trying to make bricks without straw. It was ever thus, something casually dismissed by Bevington. Our author himself makes a vain attempt to bridge that particular gulf and stumbles awkwardly. When he addresses the claims of the anti-Stratfordians he exposes himself as being as ignorant as his predecessors, recently most notably Shapiro. Quite clearly he hasn't done his homework, presumably treating it as beneath him. The books he recommends, such as those by Duncan-Jones & Knapp, resemble dead men walking -- their time is past.