Soul of the Age
As usual, George Bernard Shaw said it first and got it right: 鈥淓verything we know about Shakespeare,鈥� he pointed out, 鈥渃an be got into a half-hour sketch.鈥�
Jonathan Bate begins his new book, Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare, by acknowledging this truth. We know so little about the man (outside of his texts 鈥� assuming that they really are his) and that little has been worked over relentlessly for centuries now. Is there really anything more to be said?
The answer is yes, and there will always be. Bate鈥檚 approach is to focus on Shakespeare as 鈥渢he Soul of [his] age鈥� (a line of posthumous praise heaped on Shakespeare by contemporary Ben Jonson.)
In this book Bate (an academic with impeccable credentials as both a Shakespearean historian and critic) considers Shakespeare as a man of his times, focusing on both the ways in which he was shaped by the intellectual currents of his era and the ways in which he stood apart from them.
Setting Shakespeare in historic context, of course, is not a novel idea. But Bate is a skilled guide through complex territory. He knows his history, but even better he knows his Shakespeare and he does a good job of tying the two together.
Bate takes the 鈥渦nifying image鈥� of his book from Shakespeare himself, considering the Bard at each of the 鈥渟even ages鈥� of man spelled out in 鈥淎s You Like It鈥�: the 鈥渕ewling and puking鈥� infant, the 鈥渨hining schoolboy,鈥� the 鈥渟ighing鈥� lover, the 鈥渂earded鈥� soldier, the justice with the 鈥渇air round belly,鈥� the 鈥渓ean and slippered pantaloon,鈥� and finally 鈥渢he last scene of all.鈥�
This conceit works better in some places than others but at least it gives 鈥淪oul of the Age鈥� a focus and helps to keep it accessible to general readers. And particularly in the early chapters, the method yields some lovely results.
In the 鈥淚nfant鈥� section, Bate reminds us that Shakespeare was born into 鈥渢he herbal economy of rural England.鈥� Although we often associate Shakespeare with the 鈥済lorious court鈥� and 鈥渂ustle鈥� of Elizabethan London, he was also very much a man of 鈥渢he rivers, hills, and woods, where the names of the villages nestle among the natural features of the landscape.鈥�
In fact, Bate makes a convincing case, Shakespeare is in part responsible for the 鈥渋nvention鈥� of our concept of 鈥渄eep England.鈥�
The 鈥淪choolboy鈥� chapters make a lively read as well. Bate considers the texts Shakespeare was likely to have studied in school and reminds us that 鈥渢he idea of education鈥� is 鈥渢he essence of northern European humanism.鈥� It makes it seem very natural, for instance, that 鈥淭he Tempest鈥� would have been built around the question: 鈥淲hat do we have to learn from books?鈥�
In thinking about Shakespeare as 鈥淟over,鈥� Bate treads some of the same ground recently worked over by Germaine Greer in her book 鈥淪hakespeare鈥檚 Wife鈥� about Anne Hathaway.
Both Bate and Greer examine records of the era, and although they disagree on some particulars, they converge on the main point: Despite years of myth built up around the subject, there is no real evidence that Shakespeare鈥檚 wedding to Anne was a shotgun wedding.
But when it comes to understanding Shakespeare as a lover, Bate is left in the same blind corner as the Bard鈥檚 other biographers. Shakespeare鈥檚 works tell us that their author knew love both as a deeply emotional participant and as a detached, bemused observer. But to go any further is mere speculation.
The 鈥淪oldier鈥� section of the book offers some interesting commentary on the north-south (Protestant-Catholic) and east-west (Islamic-海角大神) splits that shaped Shakespeare鈥檚 age. Bate also looks at Shakespeare鈥檚 plays as chronicles of England鈥檚 shift from 鈥渢he old code of honor to the new politics of pragmatic statecraft.鈥�
The book鈥檚 last sections, unfortunately, drag a bit. Bate鈥檚 conjecture, for instance, that during his 鈥渓ost years鈥� (1585-92) Shakespeare may have undergone 鈥渟ome kind of rudimentary legal training鈥� feels just like that 鈥� conjecture.
It is also difficult to connect Shakespeare to the late 鈥渁ges of man鈥� as he died at the age of 52 (after, the story goes, a night of hard drinking with his friends).
But for readers eager to explore Shakespeare as a thinker rich in the qualities most valued by this age 鈥� shrewdness, acuity, and understanding 鈥� Bate鈥檚 book has much to offer.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was also right when he said, 鈥淪hakespeare is the only biographer of Shakespeare.鈥� But at least Bate knows his material well enough to point us in the right direction.
Marjorie Kehe is the Monitor鈥檚 book editor.聽
