Shakespeares House

In the wide realm of Shakespeare worship, the house in Stratford-upon-Avon where William Shakespeare was born in 1564 - known colloquially as the ''Birthplace'' - remains the chief shrine. It''s not as romantic as Anne Hathaway''s thatched cottage, it''s not where he wrote any of his plays, and there''s nothing inside the house that once belonged to Shakespeare himself. So why, for centuries, have people kept turning up on the doorstep? Richard Schoch answers that question by examining the history of the Birthplace and by exploring how its changing fortunes over the past four centuries perfectly mirror the changing attitudes toward Shakespeare himself.Based on original research in the archives of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, and featuring two black and white illustrated plate sections which draw on the wide array of material available at the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum, this book traces the history of Shakespeare''s birthplace over four centuries. Beginning in the 1560s, when Shakespeare was born there, it ends in the 1890s, when the house was rescued from private purchase and turned into the Shakespeare monument that it remains today.>

Richard Schoch's account of how the site of Shakespeare's birth became an international icon is Shakespearean in its range and ambition. His impressive cast includes poets, novelists, historians, biographers, actors, scholars, visual artists, local personalities, a circus-entrepreneur, even royalty, all of whom process across Schoch's Birthplace-stage and earn a place in the story. This is not only a gripping account of how Shakespeare's Birthplace evolved (family residence, inn, butcher's shop, pub, site of pilgrimage, museum, library, archive), but a delightful tour through the highlights of the first three hundred years of Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon.

Vorwort
Reveals the hidden history of the house where Shakespeare was born and its changing fortunes over four centuries, mirroring the changing attitudes towards Shakespeare as a man and global icon.

Autorentext
Richard Schoch is Professor of Drama at Queen's University Belfast, UK.

Zusammenfassung
[A] page-turning story Times Literary Supplement Eye-opening Michael Billington A detailed and highly compelling story that involves so much more than bricks and mortar. The Stratford Herald In the wide realm of Shakespeare worship, the house in Stratford-upon-Avon where William Shakespeare was born in 1564 known colloquially as the 'Birthplace' remains the chief shrine. It's not as romantic as Anne Hathaway's thatched cottage, it's not where he wrote any of his plays, and there's nothing inside the house that once belonged to Shakespeare himself. So why, for centuries, have people kept turning up on the doorstep? Richard Schoch answers that question by examining the history of the Birthplace and by exploring how its changing fortunes over four centuries perfectly mirror the changing attitudes toward Shakespeare himself. Based on original research in the archives of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, and featuring two black and white illustrated plate sections which draw on the wide array of material available at the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum, this book traces the history of Shakespeare's birthplace over four centuries. Beginning in the 1560s, when Shakespeare was born there, it ends in the 1890s, when the house was rescued from private purchase and turned into the Shakespeare monument that it remains today.

Inhalt

List of Illustrations

Prologue

Part I: Shakespeare and the World

1. On the Right Hand of Avon
2. To Be Wise in Building a House
3. Epitome of the Whole World

4. Household Stuff

   Part II: The World and Shakespeare

5. Thy Stratford Monument
6. Our Shakespeare's House
7. A Marvellous Convenient Place
8. Birth of the Birthplace
9. Cottage of Humility
10. This House for Sale
11. Snatched from Quick Decay
12. Restoring Shakespeare

13. W.S.

    Epilogue: 'Memorials of the Marvellous Man'

    Bibliographic Essay

    Acknowledgements

    Index