Book
Contested Will : who wrote Shakespeare? / James Shapiro.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781416541622 (hc) :
- Physical Description: 339 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
- Edition: 1st Simon & Schuster hardcover ed.
- Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, c2010.
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Formatted Contents Note: | Shakespeare -- Bacon -- Oxford -- Shakespeare. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Authorship > Baconian theory. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Authorship > Oxford theory. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Authorship. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroud Branch | 822.33 A-S | 31681002116234 | NONFIC | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro explains when and why so many people began to question whether Shakespeare wrote his plays. - Baker & Taylor
Examines current debates about the actual authors of Shakespeare's plays, citing the challenges of famous historical figures while discussing the sources of modern doubts and the author's own beliefs. By the award-winning author ofA Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 . - Baker & Taylor
Examines current debates about the actual authors of Shakespeare's plays, citing challenges from famous historical figures while discussing the sources of modern doubts and the author's own beliefs. - Simon and Schuster
For more than two hundred years after William Shakespeare's death, no one doubted that he had written his plays. Since then, however, dozens of candidates have been proposed for the authorship of what is generally agreed to be the finest body of work by a writer in the English language. In this remarkable book, Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro explains when and why so many people began to question whether Shakespeare wrote his plays. Among the doubters have been such writers and thinkers as Sigmund Freud, Henry James, Mark Twain, and Helen Keller. It is a fascinating story, replete with forgeries, deception, false claimants, ciphers and codes, conspiracy theoriesâand a stunning failure to grasp the power of the imagination.As Contested Will makes clear, much more than proper attribution of Shakespeareâs plays is at stake in this authorship controversy. Underlying the arguments over whether Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, or the Earl of Oxford wrote Shakespeareâs plays are fundamental questions about literary genius, specifically about the relationship of life and art. Are the plays (and poems) of Shakespeare a sort of hidden autobiography? Do Hamlet, Macbeth, and the other great plays somehow reveal who wrote them?
Shapiro is the first Shakespeare scholar to examine the authorship controversy and its history in this way, explaining what it means, why it matters, and how it has persisted despite abundant evidence that William Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the plays attributed to him. This is a brilliant historical investigation that will delight anyone interested in Shakespeare and the literary imagination.
