The Genius of Shakespeare

Jonathan Bate King Alfred Professor of English Literature University of Liverpool

Oxford University Press, Sep 17, 1998 - Drama - 412 pages

This fascinating book by one of Britain's most acclaimed young Shakespeare scholars explores the extraordinary staying-power of Shakespeare's work. Bate opens by taking up questions of authorship, asking, for example, Who was Shakespeare, based on the little documentary evidence we have? Which works really are attributable to him? And how extensive was the influence of Christopher Marlowe? Bate goes on to trace Shakespeare's canonization and near- deification, examining not only the uniqueness of his status among English-speaking readers but also his effect on literate cultures across the globe. Ambitious, wide-ranging, and historically rich, this book shapes a provocative inquiry into the nature of genius as it ponders the legacy of a talent unequalled in English letters. A bold and meticulous work of scholarship, The Genius of Shakespeare is also lively and accessibly written and will appeal to any reader who has marveled at the Bard and the enduring power of his work.

What people are saying

Review: The Genius Of Shakespeare

User Review  - Sammy - Goodreads

"The Genius of Shakespeare" is written in distinctly dry prose, features unusual critiques of various Shakespearean characters and plays, and doesn't seem to be dense enough for the Shakespeare expert ...

Review: The Genius Of Shakespeare

User Review  - Caroline - Goodreads

This isn't your standard biography of Shakespeare - point of fact, it isn't a biography at all. It's more of an attempt to explain: why Shakespeare? Why is he considered the ultimate literary genius ...

Contents

• Shakespeares Autobiographical Poems?: 34
• Shakespeares Peculiarity: 133
• PART: 155
• The Laws of the Shakespearean Universe: 294
• Notes: 341
• Acknowledgements: 371

About the author

Jonathan Bate is King Alfred the Great Professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool. He is the author of Shakespeare and Ovid (OUP, 1993), Shakespearean Constitutions (OUP, 1989), and Shakespeare and the English Romantic Imagination (OUP, 1986). Among his edited volumes are Titus Andronicus (Arden Shakespeare), Romantic Ecology, and The Romantics on Shakespeare.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Genius of Shakespeare; The Genius of Shakespeare, Jonathan Bate
• Author: Jonathan Bate King Alfred Professor of English Literature University of Liverpool
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1998
• ISBN: 0199761450, 9780199761456
• Length: 412 pages
• Subjects: Drama / Shakespeare