Synopses & Reviews
From the entry of Shakespeare's birth in the Stratford church register to a Norwegian production of Macbeth in which the hero was represented by a tomato, this enthralling and splendidly illustrated book tells the story of Shakespeare's life, his writings, and his afterlife.
Drawing on a lifetime's experience of studying, teaching, editing, and writing about Shakespeare, Stanley Wells combines scholarly authority with authorial flair in a book that will appeal equally to the specialist and the untutored enthusiast. Chapters on Shakespeare's life in Stratford and in London offer a fresh view of the development of the writer's career and personality. At the core of the book lies a magisterial study of the writings themselves how Shakespeare set about writing a play, his relationships with the company of actors with whom he worked, his developing mastery of the literary and rhetorical skills that he learned at the Stratford grammar school, the essentially theatrical quality of the structure and language of his plays. Subsequent chapters trace the fluctuating fortunes of his reputation and influence. Here are accounts of adaptations, productions, and individual performances in England and, increasingly, overseas; of great occasions such as the Garrick Jubilee and the tercentenary celebrations of 1864; of the spread of Shakespeare's reputation in France and Germany, Russia and America, and, more recently, the Far East; of Shakespearian discoveries and forgeries; of critical reactions, favorable and otherwise, and of scholarly activity; of paintings, music, films and other works of art inspired by the plays; of the plays' use in education and the political arena, and of the pleasure and intellectual stimulus that they have given to an increasingly international public.
Shakespeare, said Ben Jonson, was not of an age but for all time. This is a book about him for our time.
Review
"Here is a man who has a fair claim to be the most complete Shakespearian of them all....Now he has distilled a lifetime's work into one crisply written, richly illustrated and entertaining book." The Sunday Times
Review
"Scholarly, urbane, rich in anecdotes and marvelously readable, it is a meticulously constructed and authoritative survey with a vast and satisfying scope." New Statesman
Review
"This copiously illustrated album admirably compresses more than four centuries of the bard and more than 50 years of Wells's devotion to him." Publishers Weekly
Review
"One of those heavy, beautifully produced books which is a pleasure to look at as it is to read.... There's no doubting the scholarship here" Time Out London
Review
"A delightful account of Shakespeare and all he has meant to the world over the centuries." Dame Judi Dench
Review
"[Shakespeare For All Time] is...something of a hybrid, the biography amiable, the afterlife placidly illuminating and useful." Frank Kermode, The New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [405]-424) and index.
About the Author
Stanley Wells is Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Birmingham. The Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Vice-Chairman of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, he is the General Editor of the Oxford Shakespeare series and the Oxford Complete Works. A world-renowned authority, he regularly appears on TV, radio, and in the press whenever Shakespeare is discussed.
Table of Contents
1.Shakespeare and Stratford --2.Shakespeare in London --3.Shakespeare the writer --4. Thegrowth of the legend : 1623-1744 --5. Theage of Garrick : Shakespeare celebrated : 1741-1789 --6.Regency and romanticism : 1789-1843 --7.Victorian Shakespeare : 1843-1904 --8.From Victoria to Elizabeth : 1903-1952 --9.Shakespeare worldwide.