Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. 1 of 2]

by Nathan Drake

Including the Biography of the Poet; criticisms on his genius and writings; a new chronology of his plays; a disquisition on the on the object of his sonnets; and a history of the manners, customs, and amusements, superstitions, poetry, and elegant literature of his age

Shakspeare and His Times, published in 1817, is Nathan Drake's attempt to place the poet inside the daily life of Elizabethan England. This first volume follows Shakespeare in Stratford, using his birthplace and youth as a frame for chapters on the manners of the period: the countryside, farming and festivals, superstitions and fairy lore, the sports and amusements of the people, and the poetry and prose being written around him. The second part moves to London and the early years of his career. Drake was a physician and essayist rather than a textual scholar, and his method is to read the plays against everything then known about the age, so the book is as much a portrait of a society as a biography. It is available to read online in your browser on Vinteuil, with the first chapter free.