What kind of guy do you think Shakespeare was? This episode, we’re delving into the world of imagination as we consider the proud tradition of storytelling and speculation when it comes to Shakespeare biography.

Stephen Greenblatt’s National Book Award Winning biography of Shakespeare weaves a rich tapestry that gets inside the mind of one of England’s greatest playwrights. At times these efforts are illuminating and demonstrate a breadth of knowledge of the culture of the time.

At other times, it feels like maybe the author just doesn’t like Shakespeare’s wife very much.

When all you have are limited details of a person, how do you try to round out their portrait to feel more real? Authors have been attempting to tackle this for years and Greenblatt is part of that tradition.

For a little more information on Shakespeare biography, try a couple of my earlier episodes:

Bonus Episode 1: A Brief Shakespeare Biography

Episode 4: Historical Context and Shakespeare Biography

Further Reading and Listening

Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt

Shakespeare, Anyone? podcast episode, “Mini: Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s Wife”

The New York Times book review, ‘Will in the World’: Reinventing Shakespeare

The Guardian book review, Stephen, Will and Gary too

Review in Shakespeare Quarterly (Autumn 2005)

Review of Shakespeare’s Freedom in Comparative Drama Review (Fall 2011)

Review in Harvard Review (2005)

Review in College Literature (Fall 2006)

Read Antony and Cleopatra and judge the relationship of the main characters yourself!

Credit where credit is due

Art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠

Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠