'Here I am to speak what I do know': Recent Shakespeare biographies

There has been a revival in Shakespeare biographies over the past decade. Considering the fact that Shakespeare died over 400 years ago, the recent increase in Shakespeare biographies is obviously due to a change in the genre of biography, not about the discovery of new facts. The biography was, by tradition, a mere succession of facts. However, over the past decade the biography genre has come to rely just as much on the biographer’s perception as on facts, allowing biographers freedom of interpretation. The new biography is a unique representation, determined by how the biographer decides to portray the biographee, and, moreover, how the biographer decides to fill in the blanks. The biographer’s mission is to come up with possible scenarios. Since we do not know all about Shakespeare, many of these possible scenarios cannot be refuted. In my search of different ways of capturing Shakespeare’s character and life, I have studied the works of eleven Shakespeare biographers. They have provided me with different accounts, ranging from factual (Samuel Schoenbaum) to accusing (Katherine Duncan-Jones). While analyzing the various biographers’ approaches, I shall cover the following key aspects of Shakespeare’s life: his marriage, his plays and of course the period now referred to as ‘the lost years’.