The Genius of Shakespeare - Hardcover

Bate, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195121961 ISBN 13: 9780195121964

Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr, 1998

Synopsis

This fascinating book by one of Britain's most acclaimed young Shakespeare scholars explores the extraordinary staying-power of Shakespeare's work. Bate opens by taking up questions of authorship, asking, for example, Who was Shakespeare, based on the little documentary evidence we have? Which works really are attributable to him? And how extensive was the influence of Christopher Marlowe? Bate goes on to trace Shakespeare's canonization and near- deification, examining not only the uniqueness of his status among English-speaking readers but also his effect on literate cultures across the globe.

Ambitious, wide-ranging, and historically rich, this book shapes a provocative inquiry into the nature of genius as it ponders the legacy of a talent unequalled in English letters. A bold and meticulous work of scholarship,The Genius of Shakespeare is also lively and accessibly written and will appeal to any reader who has marveled at the Bard and the enduring power of his work.

About this title

Review:

"Jonathan Bate, the sanest, shrewdest scholar of Shakespeare at present, has written the just, liberal, unhostaged book that one has been waiting for."-James Wood, Guardian
"A shrewd, nimbly written book, one of the few on its subject that will be read and enjoyed off-campus."-Terry Eagleton, Independent
"Ambitious, exceptionally well informed and immensely engaging . . . Bate has, to an exceptional degree, the virtue of readability. He writes with unflagging energy, intelligence, wit and enthusiasm."-Stanley Wells, Daily Telegraph
"The theme of this wonderfully written, diverse book is diversity itself, and its range serves only to confirm the disparate nature of Shakespeare's achievement."-Peter Ackroyd, The Times
"What made Shakespeare 'Shakespeare'? How much do we really know about his life? How do we know that he really wrote the plays attributed to him? What defines his singularity? No book on the market answers these questions better than The Genius of Shakespeare."-James S. Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
"Bate offers an excellent resource for students of English literature and the Elizabethan era in this thoughtful, well-researched and even playful explication of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets."-Publishers Weekly
"Jonathan Bate, the sanest, shrewdest scholar of Shakespeare at present, has written the just, liberal, unhostaged book that one has been waiting for."-James Wood, Guardian
"A shrewd, nimbly written book, one of the few on its subject that will be read and enjoyed off-campus."-Terry Eagleton, Independent
"Ambitious, exceptionally well informed and immensely engaging . . . Bate has, to an exceptional degree, the virtue of readability. He writes with unflagging energy, intelligence, wit and enthusiasm."-Stanley Wells, Daily Telegraph
"The theme of this wonderfully written, diverse book is diversity itself, and its range serves only to confirm the disparate nature of Shakespeare's achievement."-Peter Ackroyd, The Times
"What made Shakespeare 'Shakespeare'? How much do we really know about his life? How do we know that he really wrote the plays attributed to him? What defines his singularity? No book on the market answers these questions better than The Genius of Shakespeare."-James S. Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
"Bate offers an excellent resource for students of English literature and the Elizabethan era in this thoughtful, well-researched and even playful explication of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets."-Publishers Weekly

"Jonathan Bate, the sanest, shrewdest scholar of Shakespeare at present, has written the just, liberal, unhostaged book that one has been waiting for."-James Wood, Guardian

"A shrewd, nimbly written book, one of the few on its subject that will be read and enjoyed off-campus."-Terry Eagleton, Independent

"Ambitious, exceptionally well informed and immensely engaging . . . Bate has, to an exceptional degree, the virtue of readability. He writes with unflagging energy, intelligence, wit and enthusiasm."-Stanley Wells, Daily Telegraph

"The theme of this wonderfully written, diverse book is diversity itself, and its range serves only to confirm the disparate nature of Shakespeare's achievement."-Peter Ackroyd, The Times

"What made Shakespeare 'Shakespeare'? How much do we really know about his life? How do we know that he really wrote the plays attributed to him? What defines his singularity? No book on the market answers these questions better than The Genius of Shakespeare."-James S. Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare

"Bate offers an excellent resource for students of English literature and the Elizabethan era in this thoughtful, well-researched and even playful explication of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets."-Publishers Weekly

"Jonathan Bate, the sanest, shrewdest scholar of Shakespeare at present, has written the just, liberal, unhostaged book that one has been waiting for."-James Wood, Guardian

"A shrewd, nimbly written book, one of the few on its subject that will be read and enjoyed off-campus."-Terry Eagleton, Independent

"Ambitious, exceptionally well informed and immensely engaging . . . Bate has, to an exceptional degree, the virtue of readability. He writes with unflagging energy, intelligence, wit and enthusiasm."-Stanley Wells, Daily Telegraph

"The theme of this wonderfully written, diverse book is diversity itself, and its range serves only to confirm the disparate nature of Shakespeare's achievement."-Peter Ackroyd, The Times

"What made Shakespeare 'Shakespeare'? How much do we really know about his life? How do we know that he really wrote the plays attributed to him? What defines his singularity? No book on the market answers these questions better than The Genius of Shakespeare."-James S. Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare

Book Description:

Reissued with a new afterword by Professor Bate

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0195121961
• ISBN 13: 9780195121964
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384