Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-409) and index.
Contents:
Introduction : 26 April 1564 -- 23 January 1577 : Shakespeare's father -- 27 November 1582 : Shakespeare's wedding -- 4 May 1597 : Shakespeare's home -- 25 March 1616 : Shakespeare's will -- 25 April 1616 : Shakespeare's monument -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations and conventions -- Appendix I. Shakespeare in the west Midlands -- Appendix II. The Quiney papers -- Appendix III. Shakespeare's last will -- Appendix IV. Shakespeare's earlier will -- Appendix V. The 'Shakespeare' type of funerary monuments -- Appendix VI. Materials cited from Shakespeare documented.
Summary:
"The Private Life of William Shakespeare tells the story of Shakespeare in Stratford as a family man. The book offers close readings of key documents associated with Shakespeare and develops a contextual understanding of the genres from which these documents emerge. It reconsiders clusters of evidence that have been held to prove some persistent biographical fables. It also shows how the histories of some of Shakespeare's neighbours illuminate aspects of his own life. Throughout, we encounter a Shakespeare who consciously and with purpose designed his life. Having witnessed the business failures of his merchant father, he determined not to follow his father's model. His early wedding freed him from craft training to pursue a literary career. His wife's work, and probably the assistance of his parents and brothers, enabled him to make the first of the property purchases that grounded his life as a gentleman. With his will, he provided for both his daughters in ways that were suitable to their circumstances; Anne Shakespeare was already protected by dower rights in the houses and lands he had acquired. His funerary monument suggests that the man of 'small Latin and less Greek' in fact had some experience of an Oxford education. Evidences are that he commissioned the monument himself"--Back cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.