Will in the World
By Stephen Greenblatt
How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare. W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.
Summary of Will in the World book by Stephen Greenblatt
The highly acclaimed story of the most famous playwright the world has ever known, from his life in Tudor England, to the influences on his literature, all deftly described by one of the most prominent Shakespeare scholars of today.
Chapters in Will in the World book summary
What do you get from this book? A glimpse into the life and mind of a sixteenth century literary genius
It’s evident from his writing that Will Shakespeare had several strong influences, though we cannot prove much about his early life
As a young man, Shakespeare may have had many different experiences that he later put into his stories
References to Shakespeare’s wife and children are rarely found in sources from his time, suggesting a level of estrangement
Shakespeare fled to the city for an unknown reason, but the events of this era undoubtedly shaped the way he lived
Influenced by different forms of entertainment, and encouraged to compete with a rival, Shakespeare worked on his histories
As Shakespeare’s reputation grew, his rivals dropped one by one, even though some tried to insult him
Shakespeare’s love poems, their recipients shrouded in mystery, have never been outdone
The Merchant of Venice, like the vast majority of the Shakespearean canon, was inspired by an older story and another play
After helping to fund the Globe, Shakespeare reworked his tragedy structure with the brilliant play Hamlet
Shakespeare began to explore his characters on a deeper level, even as he also wrote to please King James
Though he went back to Stratford, Shakespeare continued to write, weaving his own anxieties and contemplations in his plays
One son-in-law irritated Shakespeare, who avoided public scandal, but that didn’t prevent him from becoming revered forever
Summary of the key insights
Selected critiques in brief
Final word
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Will in the World — Book Summary Snapshot
Who should read Will in the World book
- Biography fans
- literature majors
- history lovers
- Shakespeare buffs
- theater goers
About the author of Will in the World
Stephen Greenblatt
Multi-award-winning author Stephen Greenblatt is a Professor of Humanities at Harvard University as well as the General Editor of the textbooks, The Norton Shakespeare and The Norton Anthology of English Literature. He has written numerous publications, including The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, which won the National Book Award as well as the Pulitzer Prize.
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