"Will in the World" by Stephen Greenblatt

As a Shakespeare enthusiast, I was eager to read this kinda sorta biography of the Bard himself. It is vastly different from any other biography that I have read, in that it takes Willy Shakes’s life and also puts it in context with what he was writing at the time. So you have an explanation of what London was like at the time, and quotes from his plays with some guesswork as to where he got the inspiration for the scene or character. The result is that it is partially fictitious, sure, but it also makes for a new and different angle on the man.

The result of this is that the book ends up discussing much more than just Shakespeare’s life. It also talks about England at the time, and what the political and social conditions were. It is essentially new historicism taken to the next level. New historicism is the idea that we are all a product of our situation, literature and arts included, so to truly understand a work you have to first understand the conditions it was created in. This is most certainly an application of that line of thought.

However, that also means that it involves a lot of guesswork. Many of the points that Greenblatt brings up in his discussion are little more than just guesswork. Shakespeare might have been present at this event, he could have known this person, there is a possibility that… and so on. As such, this is not the best book if you want a just the facts account of Shakespeare’s life.

Having said that, I found it to be a wonderful new and different take on the life of the Bard. Bringing in his plays makes it much more personal, since part of the book is written in Shakespeare’s own voice. And the guesswork seems necessary, since we know so little about his life. Greenblatt clearly did his homework and researched the time period rather heavily, so I am inclined to trust his guesses as being reasonable and possibly accurate. There is so little that we know about this man, any possibilities out there can only lead us closer to one of the most influential authors out there.