Jonathan Bate Books

Shakespeare requires no introduction -- he is "the Bard," the most imposing playwright and storyteller in the English language. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is acknowledged as the greatest dramatist of all time. He excels in plot, poetry and wit, and his talent encompasses the great tragedies of Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth as well as the moving history plays and the comedies such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew and As You Like It with their magical combination of humour, ribaldry and tenderness. This volume presents all the plays in chronological order in which they were written. It also includes Shakespeare's Sonnets, as well as his longer poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. This complete and unabridged edition contains every word that Shakespeare wrote — all 37 tragedies, comedies, and histories, plus the sonnets. You'll find such classics as The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew. Shakespeare's "Complete Works" is a must-have for anyone who loves the English language -- his writing was unparalleled, and even his lesser plays are a cut above the rest. Not only a pleasure to read, but an altogether new experience in reading!!!

Presents a fresh view of the early modern world through the eyes of Shakespeare, his players and audiences. This book illustrates the Catholic counterculture that is revealed through the failed Gunpowder Plot, which was later to prove the inspiration for Macbeth.

One of Shakespeare's greatest comedies, from the rhetoric of Leonato's opening lines to Benedick's last pun. The variety ranges from Dogberry's anxiety to be writ down as an ass, to the sentiment in Claudio's penance - yet it is Beatrice and Benedick who carry off the prize in the end.

A dazzling new biography of Wordsworth's radical life as a thinker and poetical innovator, published to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth.

How did plague turn Shakespeare from a jobbing hack into a courtly poet? How did Bottom's dream rewrite the Bible? How did Shakespeare's plays lead to the deaths of an earl and a king? And why was he the one dramatist of his generation never to be imprisoned? This book helps you to understand what being Shakespeare was actually like.

'Enlightening, moving' SIR IAN MCKELLEN From the acclaimed and bestselling biographer Jonathan Bate, a luminous new exploration of Shakespeare and how his themes can untangle comedy and tragedy, learning and loving in our modern lives.

"This book grew from the inaugural E. H. Gombrich Lectures in the Classical Tradition that I delivered in the autumn of 2013 at the Warburg Institute of the University of London, under the title, "Ancient Strength: Shakespeare and the Classical Tradition"--Preface, page ix.

Bate presents an exhilarating, witty and original account of how Shakespeare has come to be accepted as the world genius of literature. He includes an attack on the nationalistic interpretation of Shakespeare

This new edition is based on the quarto, the version closest to the original manuscript. The introduction illminates the plays' origins and practicalities of composition, its reception and influence. Detailed notes pay especial attention to language and staging, and the volume includes King Lear's first derivative, a contemporary ballad, and guides to appreciation of the play and its multiple offshoots.

A dazzling biography of two interwoven, tragic lives: John Keats and F. Scott Fitzgerald. 'Highly engaging ... Go now, read this book' THE TIMES