ABSTRACT
Biographies began to emerge in the late twentieth century for a variety of reasons: first because publishers realise that the reading public has an endless fascination with the man due to his iconic status. Second, many people enjoy the novelistic approach to reading the life story, interspersed with a few famous quotations. Third, the traditional view of William Shakespeare is akin to Dick Whittington, a rags-to-riches story of a young man from a small provincial town. A New Historicist approach is welcome and enlightening for the study of Shakespeare's works but only so far as suitable primary sources exist and causal connections can be made. Reasons given for writing a biography of Shakespeare include claims of new research, never involving Shakespeare directly, and the presentation of new interpretations – based of course on the latest writer's superior. The very lack of biographical materials allows biographers to indulge their own narrative flair and imaginative insight, usually within Samuel Schoenbaum life trajectory.
