ABSTRACT
First published in 1978.
In this study, Shakespeare's own life story and the development of English theatrical history are placed in the wider context of Elizabethan and Jacobean times, but the works themselves are the final objective of this 'applied biography'. The main contention of the book is that Shakespeare's life was the lure of the stage itself which inspired him to transform what everyday life provided into the worlds of Hamlet, King Lear and Prospero.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |87 pages
The world he found
chapter 1|28 pages
The cradle of security
chapter 2|16 pages
A challenge to fortune
chapter 3|18 pages
The Upstart Crow
chapter 4|23 pages
The Poet of the Plague Years
part |113 pages
The World he Made
chapter 5|21 pages
The poet of love
chapter 6|17 pages
The Lord Chamberlain's Men
chapter 7|21 pages
Enter, fighting, at several doors…
chapter 8|19 pages
Hamlet, revenge!
chapter 9|19 pages
‘His Majesty's poor players'
chapter 10|14 pages
The Kingdom of fools
part |35 pages
The World and the Dream