William Shakespeare: An Annotated Bibliography

Biographic Material

Bradley, A. C. . "Shakespeare the Man." Oxford Lectures on Poetry (1909): 330-334. Bradley argues an interesting parallel between Shakespeare’s intense feeling expressed in his works and the “high-flown language of the time” (333). It is suggested that Shakespeare may not have in fact truly felt any of what he was writing, and that his sonnets too were directed toward no one, and contained no feeling. The implications of this source seem a little improbable, thereby eliminating it as a viable source of accurate information.

Campbell, Oscar J., ed. The Reader's Encyclopedia of Shakespeare. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1966. 810-11. This analyzes Shakespeare’s sources for each of his English histories, to include Macbeth. Campbell cites Holinshed’s Chronicles as the main source of material for Shakespeare’s composition of his histories. Holinshed’s Chronicles was published in 1587, a few years before Shakespeare composed the bulk of his work. Holinshed’s work was credible around the time it was published, making it an ideal source for Shakespeare’s work. Campbell also lists other sources of material in inspiration for Shakespeare’s Macbeth, making this source very credible.

Davidson, Mary C. "Did Shakespeare Consciously Use Archaic English?." Early Modern Literary Studies Special Issue 1 (1997). 19 Mar 2006 . The diction that Shakespeare utilizes in his works is meant to seem archaic. The words Shakespeare requires to express his ideas he brings by exploiting the idiom of “standard diction” of the time. He does not create a new idiom of diction through his writing, but rather extracts the more archaic terms he needs from the “standard diction.” Explaining the origin of much of Shakespeare’s diction has proved useful, for it somewhat difficult to comprehend for many people in this day in age.

"English Literature." Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Shakespeare (2006). 19 Mar 2006 . This source recognizes that Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, in the early 16th century introduced blank verse to England. It is this creation, less than a hundred years before the time of Shakespeare, that ultimately became “a medium infinitely mobile between extremes of formality and intimacy.” The source of one of Shakespeare’s writing styles is revealed, and is detrimental to understanding the origins of blank verse, making Britannica’s article useful.

Gerlach, Jeanne. "Revisiting Shakespeare and Gender." Women in Literature and Life Assembly 5 (1996). 19 Mar 2006 . The “English Renaissance stereotypes of women and men and their various roles and responsibilities in society” are claimed to be reflected upon and even supported in a small number of cases. Shakespeare is supposed to have recognized “women’s studies and gender ideology” in his works, and made attempts at revising these issues on a grand scheme. The stereotypes of Shakespeare’s time apparently shaped his writing in some form or fashion, but such an effect is not incredibly prevalent in his writing, making this source of little importance.

Goddard, Harold C. The Meaning of Shakespeare. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1951. 23. The reason why Shakespeare is so enticing for people of this day in age is examined. It is stated that Shakespeare’s writing is not a product of his time, but rather a paradox to what his time held, and that this is what is so attractive to his about his writing. Goddard also asserts that Shakespeare has taken from his own life a particular theme that is present in all his plays. The theme is that “life itself [does not] change every time it changes its costume” (23). The notion proposed here seems a little farfetched and is therefore not a very reliable source.
Magill, Frank N., ed. Critical Survey of Drama. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1994. 2104-2105. Claims that during the time in which Shakespeare wrote, the English language was still “pliable,” and therefore Shakespeare was able to “transform English into a richly metaphoric tongue” (2105). Also, Shakespeare is noted as having combined native and classical drama in his works that was instrumental in shaping the future of works of this nature. It is apparent here that Shakespeare’s mere being during the time in which he lived is a fortunate coincidence that allowed him ultimately to compose the work he did in a way that would shape the future of the English language. Words with Shakespearean roots are used in every day speech, illustrating Shakespeare’s lasting impact on the English language.

Sisson, C. J. "The Theatres and Companies." A Companion to Shakespeare Studies. Ed. Harley Granville-Barker, and G. B. Harrison. Cambridge: The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1949. 9-14. Shakespeare was “subdued to his medium, yet not enslaved by it.” This text seeks to established the conditions under which Shakespeare worked and was forced to adapt his plays to. It cites inn-yards as the chief arenas in which traveling troupes would perform his plays, but notes that wealthy investors began to dedicate permanent structures for the sole purpose of acting. Because the text analyzes the development of play-performing entities, it s a decent source in terms of examining how Shakespeare’s writing was influenced by his surroundings.

Smith, Peter. The Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors. Vol. I. Ed. Charles Wells Moulton. Gloucester: The Moulton Publishing Company, 1959. 447. Talks about how Shakespeare as a child apprenticed his father as a butcher in the family trade. It describes how later on Shakespeare broke away from the family and relocated to London with his wife, Ann Hathaway, to write and perform plays. I am skeptical as to the level that Shakespeare actually disliked his family’s trade, as described here. He always gave prolix orations before slaughtering a calf, which makes me think he was not entirely opposed to being a butcher.

Ward & Trent, et al, ed. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1921. 72. Shakespeare is cited as having no preference between English and Latin phraseology. Shakespeare employs contrasts between the two languages in much of his writing. He is supposed to be impartial to the phrases of both languages, and is this way as a result of writers previous to him. The works published in and before Shakespeare’s time encompass both languages to great extents, and Shakespeare’s vast knowledge of these works has given him a great appreciation for both. This source helps to explain where much of Shakespeare’s creative and varying language is derived, but is generally not very useful.

Critical Material

Baldo, Jonathan. "Of Philosophers and Kings: Political Philosophy in Shakespeare's Macbeth and King Lear (review)." Shakespeare Quarterly 54.3 (2003): 333-335. Macbeth is Shakespeare’s “most philosophically ambitious play.” Philosophy and questions concerning it are said to arise naturally out of reading Shakespeare’s work, as is evident in Macbeth. This analysis is quite accurate of Macbeth, but may not be so of Shakespeare’s other works. Regardless, this source provides accuracy in describing the inner workings of Shakespeare’s composition Macbeth.

Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998. 88. In both Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, it is related that lovers kill themselves out of passion for their significant others. There are multiple varieties of passionate love, Bloom says, that become evident as various Shakespearean works are analyzed. Bloom observes that Shakespeare portrays, unlike other authors such as Chaucer, the death of lovers rather than the death of love. In every play except Hamlet, Shakespeare’s characters do not fall out of love once in it. This is an excellent source for the analysis of love in all of Shakespeare’s works.

Dobson, Michael, ed. Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. 397-401. This source analyzes the basis of Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet by highlighting previous works in the half-century before. Luigi da Porto’s Istoria novellamente ritrovata di due nobile amanti, published in 1535, uses the character names Romeo and Giulietta, and contains a feud between Montagues and Capulets, which is set in Verona. This is almost exactly the same when compared to Shakespeare’s work. Dobson also cites other works as equally similar in content, but all published prior to Shakespeare’s composition of Romeo and Juliet. This source generalizes Shakespeare’s major sources of inspiration for his works, and is in such a capacity a great reference.

Grierson, Herbert J. C., and J. C. Smith. A Critical History of English Poetry. 2nd ed. London: Chatto and Windus Ltd, 1965. 114-116. Grierson states that in Shakespearean tragedy, in particular Macbeth, there are certain characters that are present simply for the purpose of carrying on the job of the tragic hero once he is passed. “The world remains” after “the tragic avalanche has swept by” (116), but because the tragic hero’s fate usually affects the general populous as a whole, there must one or more characters whose soul purpose in the play is to carry on “the King’s government” (116) in the end. This source looks more in-depth at some of the obvious features of Shakespearean work.

Heaney, Peter F. "Petruchio's Horse: Equine and Household Mismanagement in The Taming of the Shrew." Early Modern Literary Studies 4.1 (1998): 1-12. Heaney delves into the importance that horses play in The Taming of the Shrew. He cites many passages in which a horse’s presence is regarded highly and described in great detail. The presence of horses in this work by Shakespeare seems to have no real effect on the play at all, thus all the talk of horses is regarded in this situation as mere babble.

Jorgensen, Paul A. Shakespeare's Military World. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1956. 49-50, 208. This source alleges that the Renaissance had had at least a minor effect on the content of Shakespeare’s writing. Jorgensen asserts that Shakespeare always begins with peace in his plays, but later turns to war or hatred, as he claims is evident in Julius Caesar. Jorgensen’s assertions are easily seen in much of Shakespearean literature, making this a good source of in depth material in the military realm. “The abstract forces of war and peace penetrate to the imagery and design of Shakespearean drama” (208).

Kahn, Coppelia. "The Taming of the Shrew: Shakespeare's Mirror of Marriage." Modern Language Studies 5.1 (1975): 88. The Taming of the Shrew is said to depict the true relationship between men and women falsely. It does not encompass the true scope of human emotion when such an act of taming really occurs. A man is supposed to feel guilt and woman resentment and hate. Kahn candidly points out that these elements are missing from Shakespeare’s work, making it a farce of real life.

Korda, Natasha. "Household Kates: Domesticating Commodities in The Taming of the Shrew." Shakespeare Quarterly 47.2 (1996): 109. This source contrasts Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew with previously written works of similar content. It highlights how Shakespeare’s diction invariably supports the stereotype that women should be submissive to men and remain in the household. This source offers insight that seems a little unlikely.

Magill, Frank N., ed. Critical Survey of Drama. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1994. 2129. This work claims that Shakespeare uses “moving and incisive soliloquies” to explore the character of Brutus. Brutus is the tragic hero in Julius Caesar, and Magill asserts that Shakespeare “establishes the precedent” for tragic heroes in future works of his. Through Shakespeare’s description of a tragic hero via the way he portrays Brutus, I would say that Magill is correct in his assertion.

Ogburn, Dorothy, and Charlton Ogburn, Jr. Shake-speare: The Man Behind the Name. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1962. 10-11. The question of whether or not “Shaksper of Stratford” (10) is in fact the dramatist William Shakespeare is raised. The author claims that ”of all the references to Shaksper of Stratford during his lifetime there is not one that identifies him as the author of anything” (10). Ogburn questions the very authorship of any of Shakespeare’s works as actually written by Shakespeare, and instead suggests either Oxford of Queen Elizabeth as possibilities. This source is completely useless for it questions the validity of all Shakespeare’s work as actually being his.

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