SO WORTHY A FRIEND: William Shakespeare

by Charles Norman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 13, 1947

The author of last year's The Muse's Darling (Marlowe) continues in that period with a biography of Shakespeare, based on and including in the text a great deal of primary source material. In the main this makes no controversial or original points, but is rather a serious, orderly study, perhaps jeopardising general reader interest in its faithful documentation. Of Shakespeare's parentage and uncertain pedigree; the marriage at 18 to Anne Hathaway, a marriage not made in heaven but ""to be endured below"" if only for three years; the poet- and the influence of Marlowe; the first plays and first f the intimacy with Southampton and the search for love which was climaxed in the Sennets; the perpetual enigmas of the ""Onlie Begetter"" and the ""Dark Woman"" which have no answer here; the later plays as they expressed the political circumstances of the times or the personal circumstances of his life; and many business transactions through the successful years; and the man, always gentle and grave, ""so worthy a friend"". A biography which is conscientious and reverential- but is not the enlightened interpretation of say Dover Wilson.

Pub Date: Nov. 13, 1947

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Rinehart

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1947

Categories: NONFICTION