Shakespeare's Professional Career
- Author: Peter Thomson, University of Exeter
- Date Published: July 1999
- availability: Available
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521666411
Paperback
Other available formats:
Hardback
Looking for an inspection copy?
This title is not currently available for inspection. However, if you are interested in the title for your course we can consider offering an inspection copy. To register your interest please contact [email protected] providing details of the course you are teaching.
-
Shakespeare's career as actor and playwright reveals the extraordinary accommodation of his genius to the circumstances of his time. This unique account describes Shakespeare at work against a background of theatrical rivalry, opportunism, service to noble patrons, and political intrigue. Peter Thomson recreates Shakespeare's writing career year by year, showing how the plays mirror their times. The story reveals the precarious nature of theatrical survival, the constant threat posed by the withdrawal of noble or royal patronage, the spread of disease, the anxieties of war and the climate of political uncertainty. This account of Elizabethan and Jacobean social and professional life offers a fascinating insight into the world in which Shakespeare produced his plays. There are numerous illustrations gleaned from museums, libraries and great houses to illustrate the theatrical and social context of Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Formerly published within the Cambridge Canto imprint, this paperback restores the format and illustrations of the original hardback.
Read more- Differs from the Canto edition, now out of print, by being of larger format, using the original cover, and with all 61 halftones included
- Very well reviewed by, amongst others, Kenneth Branagh and Frank Kermode
Reviews & endorsements
'For anyone interested in Shakespeare as a highly practical man of the theatre, this is a fascinating account. Thomson combines scholarship with a refreshingly vivid 'backstage' view of the Elizabethan theatrical scene in all its murky detail. Shakespeare emerges freshly as a canny, pragmatic judge of the theatre business.' Kenneth Branagh
See more reviews' … an exceptionally lively and up-to-the-minute introduction to 'Shakespeare's job'.' Frank Kermode, The London Review of Books
'It is rare these days to read a scholarly book that is as beautifully written as Peter Thomson's Shakespeare's Professional Career.' American Theatre
Customer reviews
Not yet reviewed
Be the first to review
Review was not posted due to profanity
×Product details
- Date Published: July 1999
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521666411
- length: 236 pages
- dimensions: 247 x 175 x 15 mm
- weight: 0.515kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
1. Shakespeare and Stratford
2. Establishing a career: of patrons and provinces
3. Establishing a career: London 1590
4. A playtext and its context
5. Servant to the Lord Chamberlain:
1594–1603
6. Of Queen, Chamberlains, Admiral and King
7. Servant to the King:
1603–1616.
Related Books
Sorry, this resource is locked
Please register or sign in to request access. If you are having problems accessing these resources please email [email protected]
Register Sign in» Proceed
You are now leaving the Cambridge University Press website. Your eBook purchase and download will be completed by our partner www.ebooks.com. Please see the permission section of the www.ebooks.com catalogue page for details of the print & copy limits on our eBooks.
Continue ×Are you sure you want to delete your account?
This cannot be undone.
Thank you for your feedback which will help us improve our service.
If you requested a response, we will make sure to get back to you shortly.
×