Katherine Duncan-Jones: Shakespeare. Upstart Crow to Sweet Swan

• Paul Franssen

In this stimulating study, Duncan-Jones is not concerned with tracing Shakespeare’s biography as such, as in her Ungentle Shakespeare (2001), but rather with Shakespeare’s relations with his contemporaries, and with the growth of his reputation during his lifetime and its immediate aftermath. This includes his reputation not just as a playwright, but also as a leading actor. Duncan-Jones dismisses theories that Shakespeare had been a second-rate player, who withdrew from the stage as soon as he could to concentrate wholly on his writing. Although she makes a strong case for Shakespeare’s continuing presence on the stage, some of her arguments are based on ambiguous evidence, such as the use of the term “Tragoedian,” which could mean both playwright and player, in William Basse’s posthumous tribute to him.