Jonathan Bate Livres

Presents a fresh view of the early modern world through the eyes of Shakespeare, his players and audiences. This book illustrates the Catholic counterculture that is revealed through the failed Gunpowder Plot, which was later to prove the inspiration for Macbeth.

Myth and fact are not always easy to separate in Worcester's history; provoking a range of interesting, often quirky questions with even quirkier answers.Was there really a time when the College became a training-ground for Greek Orthodox clergy from Constantinople and Antioch? True, albeit only briefly.Was Lewis Carroll inspired to create the rabbit-hole in Alice, by seeing the tunnel into the gardens at the end of the main quad? Almost certainly false.Did wallabies once roam the College grounds? Yes. Did Rupert Murdoch put them there? No.This book is for anyone who wants to know why Worcester seems to create a special magic, for readers intrigued by a very unusual Oxford College, and for anyone interested in Worcester's people - from the architect and collector George Clarke, to the opium-eater Thomas de Quincey, to spymaster Masterman to the dons, the staff and the students who have enlivened the College in more recent times.It is a rich and colorful 'portrait' of the not an academic history, but an impression of the place, its people and its customs.

A dazzling new biography of Wordsworth's radical life as a thinker and poetical innovator, published to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth.

How did plague turn Shakespeare from a jobbing hack into a courtly poet? How did Bottom's dream rewrite the Bible? How did Shakespeare's plays lead to the deaths of an earl and a king? And why was he the one dramatist of his generation never to be imprisoned? This book helps you to understand what being Shakespeare was actually like.

'Enlightening, moving' SIR IAN MCKELLEN From the acclaimed and bestselling biographer Jonathan Bate, a luminous new exploration of Shakespeare and how his themes can untangle comedy and tragedy, learning and loving in our modern lives.

Renowned for his deep connection to nature and mythology, Ted Hughes's poetry explores themes of conservation, ecology, and the primal forces of the natural world. His evocative imagery often features fishing and wildlife set against moody landscapes, reflecting his profound understanding of the environment. As a significant figure in twentieth-century literature, Hughes's work resonates with readers who appreciate the interplay between humanity and the wild.

Bate presents an exhilarating, witty and original account of how Shakespeare has come to be accepted as the world genius of literature. He includes an attack on the nationalistic interpretation of Shakespeare

Powerful tragedy of an aging king, betrayed by his daughters, robbed of his kingdom, descending into madness. Perhaps the bleakest of Shakespeare's tragic dramas, complete with explanatory footnotes.

A dazzling biography of two interwoven, tragic lives: John Keats and F. Scott Fitzgerald. 'Highly engaging ... Go now, read this book' THE TIMES

The Arden Shakespeare has long been acclaimed as the established scholarly edition of Shakespeare's work. Now being totally re-edited for the third time, Arden editions offer the very best in contemporary scholarship. Each volume provides a clear and authoritative text, edited to the highest standards; detailed textual notes and commentary on the same page of the text; full contextual, illustrated introduction, including an in-depth survey of critical and performance approaches to the play; and selected bibliography.

From the common playgoers to the royal patrons, this book explores Britain from the perspective of Shakespeares audience revealing how the significant issues of the day were explored at the playhouse through objects and quotations from Shakespeares plays

Padua holds many suitors for the hand of fair Bianca, but Bianca may not be married until her spitfire sister Kate is wed. Could any man be rash enough to take Kate on? The witty adventurer Petruchio undertakes the task and sets about transforming Kate from foul-tempered termagrant to loving wife.

A renowned critic, biographer, and Shakespeare scholar, Jonathan Bate provides in this Very Short Introduction a lively and engaging overview of the literature that Jorge Luis Borges called "the richest in the world." From the medieval "Hymn of Caedmon" to George Orwell's "Why I Write," from Jane Austen to Ian McEwan, and from Winnie the Pooh to Dr. Johnson, this brilliant, compact survey stretches across the centuries, exploring the major literary forms (poetry, novel, drama, essay and more), the many histories and theories of the very idea of literature, and the role of writers in shaping English, British, and post-imperial identities. Bate illuminates the work of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Dickens, and many other major figures of English literature. He looks at the Renaissance, Romanticism, and Modernism, at the birth of the novel and the Elizabethan invention of the idea of a national literature, and at the nature of writing itself. Ranging from children's literature to biography, this is an indispensable guide and an inspiration for anyone interested in England's magnificent literary heritage.

From the Royal Shakespeare Company - a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare's drama of the conflict between one man's ambition and the good of the state.