Shakespeare: Staging the World

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Authoritative, surprising, evocative and original, Shakespeare: staging the world offers a completely new approach to one of the most exceptional creative imaginations in history. While matters of religion, trade and war were being contested, the role of the playwright developed to inform, persuade and provoke debate on the concerns of the day. This richly illustrated book presents an extraordinary collection of objects from the British Museum's unrivalled collection, as well as key pieces from Britain and elsewhere. Simon Forman's diary of 1611 gives a vivid account of attending a contemporary performance of A Winter's Tale ; a dagger fished from the Thames gives new resonance to the gang violence of Romeo and Juliet ; while Guy Fawkes's lantern illustrates the Catholic counterculture revealed through the failed Gunpowder Plot, which was later to prove the inspiration for Macbeth . Shakespeare: staging the world is a fascinating view of the early modern world through the eyes of Shakespeare, his players and audiences.

"A fascinating account of Shakespeare's cosmopolitan world, illustrated with breathtaking images that bring to life the rich material culture that shaped Shakespeare's writings and his age. This is a superb volume, one that will have pride of place on my bookshelf." -Professor James Shapiro, author of 1599 and Contested Wil

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

This lovely and informative book presents the London of 1612 through a historical and anthropological lens, using scores of artifacts to demonstrate what may have influenced Shakespeare-and his many characters-in their own time. Combining catalogue text (to accompany an exhibition at the British Museum) and literary criticism, coauthors Bate (Soul of the Age), provost of Oxford's Worcester College, and Thornton (The Scholar in His Study), curator of Renaissance collections at the British Museum, aim to "create a dialogue between Shakespeare's imaginary worlds and the material objects of the real world of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries." The first chapter depicts Shakespeare's London through diaries of locals and visitors to the "world city," suggesting a parallel to modern day London as it prepares for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympics. The book further illuminates the changing monarchy and the growth from England to "Great Britain" with flags and coins, and shows the longstanding influence of the Roman Empire over the burgeoning British Empire's sculptures and paintings. Though the book can feel disjointed due to the numerous artifacts and rather dry prose, there is a hearty dappling of Shakespeare quotations among the photographs and words to draw the objects together and more directly into the Bard's world. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

CHOICE Review

The accompanying volume to an eponymous exhibition at the British Museum as part of the London 2012 Festival, Shakespeare: Staging the World presents a delightful introduction to the bard and his plays within their historical context. Noted Shakespearean scholar Bate (Worcester College, Oxford) and exhibition curator Thornton (British Museum) draw on recent scholarship and numerous examples of 16th-century material culture to illustrate the changing times that Shakespeare inhabited: London in its infancy as a world city, with the world emerging on its stages, each shaping and reflecting the other. Part biography and part historical overview, this volume gives insightful glimpses into the society and culture of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, and the fascination with the world and its peoples that pervaded public and state interests. Discussing cartography, costume, witchcraft, and everything in between, the authors provide excellent introductory material for bardolaters and for students of history and material culture. They do assume a basic knowledge of Shakespeare's writings and English history, but provide enough background to make the material useful to all. Beautifully illustrated and documented objects, along with a substantial bibliography, make this an enjoyable yet scholarly read. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; general readers. K. Greer Oakland University