Who Was William Shakespeare? - by Dympna Callaghan (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A new study of Shakespeare's life and times, which illuminates our understanding and appreciation of his works.

• Combines an accessible fully historicised treatment of both the life and the plays, suited to both undergraduate and popular audiences
• Looks at 24 of the most significant plays and the sonnets through the lens of various aspects of Shakespeare's life and historical environment
• Addresses four of the most significant issues that shaped Shakespeare's career: education, religion, social status, and theatre
• Examines theatre as an institution and the literary environment of early modern London
• Explains and dispatches conspiracy theories about authorship

From the Back Cover

What kind of world made the man who was capable of producing so many of the world's literary masterpieces, and what kind of life did he live? In this fascinating new book, Dympna Callaghan explores the question of Shakespeare's life in order to throw new light on his works.

Organized as a series of juxtapositions between his life and writing, Who Was William Shakespeare? provides a clear guide to selected plays and sonnets, while deepening our knowledge about the writer's literary achievement and his historical moment.

Shakespeare's life cannot explain his works, but it can help us to understand them.

Review Quotes

"[A] highly readable introduction to the Life and Works, in the best tradition of that ancient and worthy genre. It is furthermore a piece of New Historical criticism at its sober best ... With such impressive scholarly credentials, [Callaghan] is more than well equipped to provide original and perceptive introductions to Shakespeare's life and works. But this is no mere mechanical life-and-works primer, like the dozens already available on the market and on college bookshop shelves ... This [is a] substantial work of criticism, presented as an introduction to Shakespeare the man and his work, but amounting to considerably more than mere introduction. Dympna Callaghan meets admirably the challenge she set herself in the bold question of the title: who was William Shakespeare? For she shows us very well indeed who he was - and is - and why."(Cercles, 1 June 2014)

Featured in Times Literary Supplement - 25 October 2013

"Dympna Callaghan's lucid and well-structured textbook allows students to see the plays in their context." (Times Literary Supplement, 25 October 2013)

"The book should interest readers who are curious about Shakespeare's life and the social and political history of England. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers." (Choice, 1 August 2013)

About the Author

Dympna Callaghan is William L. Safire Professor of Modern Letters at Syracuse University and President of the Shakespeare Association of America, 2012-13. She is the editor of the Arden Shakespeare Language and Writing Series and coeditor, with Michael Dobson, of the Palgrave Shakespeare Studies series. Her publications include Shakespeare Without Women (2000), The Taming of the Shrew: A Norton Critical Edition (2009), Shakespeare's Sonnets (2007), The Impact of Feminism in English Renaissance Culture (2006), and Romeo and Juliet: Texts and Contexts (2003).