Life of the Author: William Shakespeare

Discover an invigorating new perspective on the life and work of William Shakespeare TheLife of the Author: William Shakespearedeliversa fresh and exciting new take on the life of William Shakespeare,offeringreaders a biography that brings to the foreground his working life as a poet, playwright, and actor. It also explores the nature of his relationships with his friends, colleagues, and family, and asks important questions about the stories we tell about Shakespeare based on the evidence we actually have about the man himself. The book is written using scholarly citations and references,but with anapproachable style suitable for readers with little or no background knowledge of Shakespeare or the era in which he lived.TheLife of the Author: William Shakespeareasksprovocativequestions about the playwright-poet's preoccupation with gender roles and sexuality, and explores why it is so challenging toascertain hispolitical and religious allegiances.Conservative or radical? Misogynist orproto-feminist? A lover of men or women or both? Patriot or xenophobe? This introduction to Shakespeare's life and works offers no simple answers, butrecognizes a manintensely responsive to the world around him,a playwrightwilling and able to collaborate with othersand able to collaborate with others, and,of course,his exceptional, perhaps unique, contribution to literature in English. The bookcovers the entirety of WilliamShakespeare's life(1564-1616),taking him from his childhood in Stratford-upon-Avon tohis success inthe theatre world of London and then back to his home townandcomfortableretirement.The Life of the Author: WilliamShakespearesets his achievement as a writer within the dangerous, vibrant cultural world that was Elizabethan and Jacobean England, revealing a writer's lifeof frequent collaboration, occasional crisis, but always ofprofound creativity. Perfect forundergraduate students in Literature, Drama, Theatre Studies, History, and CulturalStudies courses,TheLife of the Author: William Shakespearewill also earn a place in the libraries ofstudents interested in Gender Studies and Creative Writing.