![]() ![]() Similarly, we're treated to many pages describing Shakespeare's supposedly awful marriage (pure speculation) and his close personal (and possibly sexual) relationship with the Earl of Southampton (even more speculative, this time without even a second-best bed as justification). Could Shakeshaft have been the young Shakespeare? Maybe, but he's more likely to be a relative of one of the many Shakeshafts who were also living in Lancashire. The speculation is entertaining, but it's based on little more than a similarity in names: there was a William Shakeshaft in Lancashire at the time. ![]() For example, many pages are given over to an imaginary late-night "bull session" between the young Shakespeare and a Catholic priest in Lancashire. Greenblatt gives gobs of space to poorly-documented and (sometimes totally) speculative aspects of Shakespeare's life. (It's also very well narrated by Peter Jay Fernandez.) But as a biography, it's deeply flawed. ![]() As a discussion of Shakespeare in general, it's well-written, imaginative, and insightful. Greenblatt is one of the prime movers behind the Norton Shakespeare, my favorite edition of the plays, and I really wanted to like this book. ![]()
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