Shakespeare's Life and Times introduces you to the world Shakespeare lived and worked in. This section of the Internet Shakespeare Editions is like a shelf of books, each of which is listed in the navigational bar beneath the page header. Each book, in turn, is divided into chapters dealing with related topics.
- There is a detailed biography of his life (and we actually know quite a lot about him).
- There is a book about the stage Shakespeare wrote for.
- And one that explores the society of the time, showing how it differs from our own.
- Further books discuss the history and politics of Elizabethan England,
- And look at the way people of the time thought and argued about religion and the physical makeup of the universe.
- You can learn about the kinds of plays and literature Shakespeare read,
- See samples of paintings of the time, and listen to Renaissance music.
- There is a book that shows how different parts of this rich library of resources help you understand the plays,
- And there is an extensive reference volume that gives chronologies, maps, and bibliographies for further reading.
A word about links.
Links followed by an asterisk (*) open up a "pop-up" note on the same page; links without the asterisk go to a different page; links external to the site open a new window in your browser.
This site was originally published in February 1999. Most recent update November 2010. Written by Michael Best.