Non-fiction Annotation

Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare

by Jonathan Bate

Synopsis

Professor Jonathan Bate examines William Shakespeare's life through the prism of the seven ages of man speech from As You Like It, corresponding to how a typical man of his age would have lived, what he would have experienced, and how that would have affected his development as a writer.

Characteristics that fit into non-fiction

• Where does the book fall on the narrative continuum? The narrative of this book is much like that of a novel, taking us through the journey of a man's life as it would have been in the late 1500s to early 1600s. It is informative, but easy to read and follow, with stories and examples in place of numbers and dates. Not only is the seven ages of man speech prevalent throughout, but other quotes and scenes from Shakespeare's works are used to illustrate Bate's points.
• What is the subject of the book? The subject is, of course, Shakespeare and what would have shaped him, but more broadly it's the effect of one's culture, surroundings, upbringing, and society on the development and maturing of one's mind. It's also a good general history of Elizabethan and Jacobite England.
• What appeal elements are present in the book? The book is richly detailed with descriptions of towns, fashion, tools and implements, methods of transportation and manufacturing, and sundry other things, as well as explanations of the impact of then-current events, such as international affairs, court intrigue, religious considerations, popular entertainment, and the plague. There are illustrations and maps throughout relating to the ages of man, as well as certain of the items described. We are also given a thorough description of the contemporary information we have about Shakespeare himself.
• What type of book is it?
       This is a biography, as well as a general history of the Elizabethan and early Jacobite periods. It is also a mini-treatise on literature.

Read-a-likes

• "The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West" by Patricia Nelson Limerick
• ""Milton and the English Revolution" by Christopher Hill
• "Hamlet in Purgatory" by Stephen Greenblatt
• "God's Fury, England's Fire" by Michael Braddick

Personal Note

This is an excellent "biography" of Shakespeare. I say "biography" because the information we have about Shakespeare is pretty scant for a full-length biography. Here, Bate uses the seven ages of man speech and looks at what a typical Englishman at the time Shakespeare was growing up and thriving would have seen and experienced at each of those stages of life (infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, and oblivion). Those experiences he then links to Shakespeare's writing to see how they would have influenced the Bard's poetry and plays. This is the biography I would recommend for anyone wanting a good idea of who Shakespeare probably was, as it also details the relatively extensive amount (for a relative nobody of the time) of information we have on Shakespeare.