All rights reserved. Is it possible we underestimate ’s place in the crime pantheon?
To honour the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death, we asked you to rank all of his plays in order of greatness. Death and heartbreak ensue, with crooked druggists, bloodlustful cousins, and spies all around. We thought it was time we offered our pick of the best books about William Shakespeare: the best introductions to his life and his work. Sexual politics and practices in the city turn out to be, let’s say, troubling to him.
King Lear You want a psychological thriller?
Here's how the top ten turned out in the ultimate On the granular level, we have the tragic love story with a transgression—the betrayal of blood and law. The man demands his pound of flesh, and who’s to say justice isn’t on his side, nasty stereotypes aside? It’s Shakespeare’s best depiction of a romance taking place at the center of state politics, constraints that would challenge the survival of any relationship. We already have this email. Great post! It’s the book which introduced me to him and I’ve been a big fan ever since.
Edward de Vere was dead for most of the time Shakespeare was alive!The man who wrote that also wrote Hamlet? I read Will in the World years ago and thought it was really interesting. Take a step back, and the play is also a sociological study of Verona in a time of feuds, an indictment of a culture that lets vengeance and ‘honor’ fetishizations run amok. By how bloody hilarious it is when people make a big hullabaloo about nothing. Katherine is a strong-willed young woman who knows her mind and refuses to settle, and for this, she’s subjected to a string of manipulations and humiliations: trickery, deprivation of food and drink, the list goes on. And I am missing Gary Taylors “Reinventing Shakespeare”, which is a bit older, but still an excellent book on the reception of Shakespeare through the ages.There is also The Shakespearean Ethic by John Vyvyan – the most original book about Shakespeare acoording to Chrisopher Booker. That, and Edgar lends the literature a pithy and useful line: “The prince of darkness is a gentleman.”A vengeance epic: Prospero, bitter and magical, dreams of exacting revenge on his brother Antonio and the usurper Alonso, the men who conspired to remove him from the throne of Naples. Macbeth, a seemingly content man overcome by ambition, bloodlust and some very poor advice, commits an unspeakable crime. Here's how the top ten turned out in the ultimate Shakespeare play-offThanks for subscribing!
As one might expect.Recently entertained by a one-woman play: The Second Best bed. I like his take because, as you say, he sticks to what is known. Time Out is a registered trademark of Time Out Digital Limited.Thanks for subscribing! Thanks for subscribing! This was one of the first of the recent popular books on Shakespeare written by an academic: although it was published a year after Bate’s The Genius of . Forming a contemporary view of Shakespeare's plays, including plays missing from other lists. Love the mag?
Best Plays by Shakespeare: Books: 20 items: kris: Top 20 Contemporary Mystery Writers: Books: 21 items: kris: Top 20 Anita Blake Characters: Books: 20 items: AmandaSL: ShareRanks is about ranking things that are top, most, greatest, or even worst in all categories. It’s … Falstaff, in particular, with his grandiose manipulations, self-pity, and endless appetites, sets a model for many a larger-than-life, down-on-his-luck two-bit criminal. It’s book that goes so much further than any other in its ability to link the man who wrote the works with the works themselves. Ive read most of it and find his thesis compelling.Shakespeare by Another Name: The Life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man who was Shakespeare by Mark Anderson belongs on the list. It’s beyond time to stop smoking from the Disney-upon-Avon tourist industry crack pipe and strip the veil from the most fascinating whodunnit in human history.