Out of time, have to prepare for work. I dug up what I wrote about the previous book, for a point to consider.
All quotes are from the exhaustive, Shakespeare: The Biography.
“There is a large element of ceremony or ritual about this theatre, in other words, which remained an important part in its staging.” (page 355)
Shakespeare, according tot he text, was an actor who wrote for the stage. There’s also the important question about Shakespeare’s faith, in the religious/political context of the time.
“It is almost commonplace to suggest that Elizabethan drama, emerging to full life after the reformation of religion under the Anglican supremacy of Henry and Elizabeth, served as a substitute for rituals of the old English faith. It fulfilled the audience’s appetite for significant action and iconic form.” (page 367)
Instead of the Old Faith (Catholic), there’s always theatre. Or, in more recent terms, media.
“It has been remarked that, in the same period, the growing of literacy was leading to a great extension of letters and private diaries; writing itself encouraged ‘introspection and reflection.’ This throws new light on the often noticed allusions to books in Hamlet.”(page 297)
While it’s about Hamlet, part of the text rings true, to this day. But stick the play in hand, okay?
“It is not too much to say that Hamlet could only have been written by a consummate actor.” (page 397)
Part of the point about the whole book, looking at the known history of the plays, the illusive paper trail, and adding up that the author was an actor. Written for the stage and popular culture of his time.
“One image is of Shakespeare as perfectionist, producing more or less the orthodox canon of the plays as printed in ‘good’ quatros. The other image is of Shakespeare in a continuous state of evolution, moving between early versions and revised versions, short versions and long versions. The latter alternative seems more plausible.” (page 399)
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