Jonathan Bate's latest book on England's greatest playwright is subtitled "The Life, Mind and World of William Shakespeare", an apt title for a book that does much to illuminate Elizabethan and Jacobean England.
Bate's premise, stated in his introduction, is taken from a quotation by Shakespeare's contemporary and rival writer Ben Jonson, who described Shakespeare as "Soul of the Age". This, for Bate, means that Shakespeare "gives life to his age" through his great works, which themselves are the product of the times in which they are written. By focusing on the "interplay of his mind and his world", Bate manages to avoid a common problem for biographers of Shakespeare - so little is known of him that many writers have resorted to meaningless conjecture.
The Seven Ages of Man
Bate fixes his study firmly on two key elements: the political, social and economic events that took place during Shakespeare's lifetime, and their effect on his work. Soul of the Age is divided into seven sections, each reflecting one of the seven ages of man as described so memorably by Jaques in As You Like It, and thus begins with the infant Shakespeare. Indeed, Bate is wise enough to start even before his subject's birth, with an intelligent discussion of the world into which he was born - a turbulent one, owing to England's recent split from the Catholic Church of Rome.
Shakespeare the Man
The book continues through the remaining stages of life: schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon and oblivion. This allows the reader to see Shakespeare as a real person, rather than just a literary figure; a real, living person who felt the same emotions and experienced the same problems as any other. That Shakespeare was a married father of three before his twenty-first birthday - the first of these conceived out of wedlock - prompts an interesting discussion on the presentation of love and sex in his work. Bate is equally strong when discussing the political man rather than the private, in his sections on the role played by Queen Elizabeth and then by King James in Shakespeare's output.
Bate writes in a lively, engaging style that is both knowledgeable and accessible for readers who know little about his subject. Even the most ardent of Shakespeare scholars will find something new here, whilst those less familiar with his work will find Bate a helpful companion, illuminating both the age and the plays themselves.
Soul of the Age by Jonathan Bate is published in the UK in paperback by Penguin (2009), ISBN 978-0-141-01586-6.
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