Stephen Greenblatt, Will
in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakepeare (New York: W.W.
Norton & Co., 2004). 386pp.
By Beatrice Jordan
Stephen Greenblatt’s book Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became
Shakepeare is an enlightening biographical study of not only
William Shakespeare, but also of England in the late 1500s. One
of the most prominent Renaissance scholars of his generation,
Greenblatt is a John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities
at Harvard University, and the author of several books pertaining
to Shakespeare and his works. He is also a co-editor of The
Norton Shakespeare college textbook
“Will in the World” is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a New
York Times Bestseller. Greenblatt is heralded by critics as
one of the world’s best interpreters of Shakespeare’s plays and
he is recognized as one of the most acclaimed Shakespeare
scholars alive.
The author takes the reader through the playwright’s life in the
16th century England, starting with his native
Stratford-upon-Avon and finishing in London, where Shakespeare
spent most of his time acting and writing.
Although the book is supposed to be primarily about Shakespeare’s
life, it is also a historical summary of Elizabethan England as
it outlines various issues and concerns of the era, such as
infighting between Catholics and Protestants, expulsion of Jews,
racism, sexism, women’s place in society, the role of the
monarchy, and social mores. Given the scarcity of factual
information about Shakespeare, Greenblatt’s sources were limited
and a lot of the information he provides is speculative.
The book attempts to do a chronological documentation of
Shakespeare’s life and his writings by first mentioning the title
of his work and then events that were purported to be occurring
during that time frame. In many cases, however, the
timelines are not accurate or in sync with documentary
evidence. For example, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
is introduced early in the biography when Shakespeare was still
living in Stratford, although documentary evidence suggests that
it was probably written in 1595 or 1596, while Shakespeare was
living in London.
“Will in the World” begins with the supposition of how
Shakespeare may have developed his fascination for language and
the magic of words. “It is a very safe assumption that it
began early, perhaps from the first moment his mother whispered a
nursery rhyme in his ear,” Greenblatt writes.
The writer is somewhat critical of Shakespeare when he speaks of
how the playwright often borrowed heavily from other writers of
his time. Of Falstaff in Henry IV, Greenblatt writes
that, like many of Shakespeare’s other characters, “Falstaff is
made out of multiple materials, much of it not from life but from
literature.”
In writing the book, the author drew conclusions and assumptions
from the omissions in Shakespeare’s plays. For instance, no work
mentions Anne, his wife of 34 years, so the author deduces that
he did not care for her. That assumption is bolstered by
the fact that the couple lived apart and he left her only the
“second best bed” in the will, while bequeathing the rest of his
estate to one of his daughters.
The writer attempts to tie in homosexual tendencies based on some
sonnets Shakespeare had written, even though he was married and
the father of three children, with one reportedly conceived out
of wedlock.
The book reveals that the entire Jewish community was expelled
from England in 1290 during the reign of Edward I. “There
was no precipitating crisis, as far is known, no state of
emergency, not even any public explanation.” Still, the
exiled population provided fodder for Shakespeare who wrote in
Much Ado About Nothing, “If I do not love her, I am a
Jew.” Greenblatt explains that Shakespeare’s generation equated
being Jewish with being unnatural and coldhearted.
The writer describes how Shakespeare made history by being able
to write plays that were “beyond perfect” in three different
genres: comedy, history, and tragedy. Shakespeare’s most famous
tragedies are Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. His
beyond perfect comedies were “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and
“Much Ado About Nothing, while his most popular history plays
included “Henry IV” and “Richard II.”
Greenblatt closes the character sketch of Shakespeare by
reflecting on his ordinariness. While many writers of his time
had extraordinary characteristics and habits that made them
appear eccentric and wild, Shakespeare was quite ordinary in
comparison, a quality that made him unique. His plays are not
necessarily ordinary as they are filled with death, love, wives,
tragedy and humor, but he also believes in kings and authority,
although Greenblatt states, “he does not believe too much in
those things.
While a Shakespeare biography can never be totally accurate with
so many gaps that must be filled, “Will in the World” provides
insightful information on the playwright, his work, and the
Elizabethan era. This story, while not perfect, is nevertheless
an essential and important documentary piece in helping explain
the brilliance of Shakespeare.
Beatrice Jordan is a freelance writer living in
Georgia.
