Becoming Shakespeare: The Unlikely Afterlife That Turned a Provincial Playwright into the Bard - Softcover

Jack Lynch

3.77

163 ratings by Goodreads

9780802716781: Becoming Shakespeare: The Unlikely Afterlife That Turned a Provincial Playwright into the Bard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802716784 ISBN 13: 9780802716781

Publisher: Walker Books, 2009

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Becoming Shakespeare begins where most Shakespeare stories end-with his death in 1616-and relates the fascinating story of his unlikely transformation from provincial playwright to universal Bard. Unlike later literary giants, Shakespeare created no stir when he died. Though he'd once had a string of hit plays, he had been retired in the country for six years, and only his family, friends, and business partners seemed to care that he was gone. Within a few years he was nearly forgotten. And when London's theaters were shut down in 1642, he seemed destined for oblivion.

With the Restoration in 1660, though, the theaters were open once again, and Shakespeare began his long ascent: No longer merely one playwright among many, he became the transcendent genius at the heart of English culture. Fifty years after the Restoration scholars began taking him seriously. Fifty years after that he was considered England's greatest genius. And by 1800 he was practically divine.

Jack Lynch vividly chronicles Shakespeare's afterlife-from the revival of his plays to the decades when his work was co-opted and "improved" by politicians and other playwrights, and culminating with the "Bardolatry" of the Stratford celebration of Shakespeare's three-hundredth birthday in 1864. Becoming Shakespeare is not only essential reading for anyone intrigued by Shakespeare, but it also offers a consideration of the vagaries of fame.

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About the Author:

Jack Lynch is a Johnson scholar and professor of English at Rutgers University. He is the editor of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary and Samuel Johnson's Insults. He lives in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Review:

" An accessible chronicle of Shakespeare' s rise to his present glory...Lynch provocatively argues that the great rise in literacy occurring around the time of the Restoration also contributed to the birth of critical interest in the plays as texts; fierce disputes arose over their interpretation, the manna of Shakespeare criticism to this day. He engagingly details the strengths, shortcomings and literary relevance of major editions alongside those now merely of historical interest because they attempted to sanitize the bawdy bard to reflect the more decorous tastes of late-18th-century or Victorian sensibilities. Pitched just right for students of literature, Shakespeareans and those interested in the history of drama: a witty and appealing story of how a superstar was born." "-- Kirkus Reviews""" "Lynch is most interesting when examining how different eras rewrote and edited Shakespeare to make the plays meet the moral and theatrical standards of their time...Lynch's text will appeal to general readers with an interest in Shakespeare. Recommended for public libraries." "-- Library Journal"

"An accessible chronicle of Shakespeare's rise to his present glory...Lynch provocatively argues that the great rise in literacy occurring around the time of the Restoration also contributed to the birth of critical interest in the plays as texts; fierce disputes arose over their interpretation, the manna of Shakespeare criticism to this day. He engagingly details the strengths, shortcomings and literary relevance of major editions alongside those now merely of historical interest because they attempted to sanitize the bawdy bard to reflect the more decorous tastes of late-18th-century or Victorian sensibilities. Pitched just right for students of literature, Shakespeareans and those interested in the history of drama: a witty and appealing story of how a superstar was born.""--Kirkus Reviews""" "Lynch is most interesting when examining how different eras rewrote and edited Shakespeare to make the plays meet the moral and theatrical standards of their time...Lynch's text will appeal to general readers with an interest in Shakespeare. Recommended for public libraries.""--Library Journal"

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