Philobiblon

Heard tonight at a seminar at the Institute for Historical Research: “The problem with Shakespeare is that he didn’t get into enough difficulties.”

To expand: the speaker was referring to the way that we only know about many early theatre men through the messy court cases they got themselves tangled in – Shakespeare didn’t do that, which helps explain why he’s considered so “mysterious”.

(For the record: I definitely belong to the “Shakespeare was Shakespeare” school, although as soon as I find the time – soon I hope – I will be reviewing a book that has an intriguing alternative hypothesis.)