This is a relatively academic book with lots of close reading, but the chapters are well-organised and engaging, so it’s also a fun read for anyone who likes Shakespeare and history. Be prepared to deeply engage with big topics.
This is Shakespeare in his Jacobean era and the Gunpowder Plot and the ensuing politics loom large. What happens to a threat once its leaders are brutally executed? How are people perceiving the idea of the Union under James I? Why was there a growing nostalgia for the Elizabethan age? What does an English Catholic identity mean? It was great to see Shapiro capturing the essence of the age.
The book covers Lear, Macbeth & Antony & Cleopatra in detail, and I enjoyed the close reading of the plays. There’s some interesting and insightful discussions of quarto, promptbook, and folio editions, and Shapiro is obviously a master of the theatrical landscape of the time.
There are some new topics here: honestly it’s amazing that Shapiro has found new things to say! Like equivocation: when the discussions of equivocation started off, I was thinking “where is this going”, but I warmed to this topic too. It’s interesting to delve deeper into the philosophy and mindset of those times. The discussions around religion, identity, and responsibility seem very relevant today.
The thematic organisation works well and the contextual background is hefty, though Shapiro has a good way of explaining and describing things, so you’re hardly ever “lost”.
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