Shakespeare and London (PDF)

Stratford made the man, but London made the phenomenon that is Shakespeare. This volume takes an historical approach to Shakespeare's connections with London. It explores Stratford's various links with the capital, significant locations for Shakespeare's work, people with whom he associated, his resistance to pressure from the City authorities, and the cultural diversity of early modern London. Among many aspects of his life in the City and its environs, it covers the playhouses in Shoreditch, his associations with Bishopsgate, his brother Edmund's residence on Bankside, and elements of London life that went into the making of Falstaff. Being 'forest born', he was always an outsider and could never have been, or felt, accepted as a citizen. We find him repeatedly a sojourner in the City, on the move. His home and family lay in Stratford. Despite his success in the capital, we might almost imagine him to have been a reluctant Londoner.

Shakespeare and London draws on a range of documentary sources including City parish registers, county sessions records and the archives of London's Bridewell Hospital. It sets out details about those who inhabited Shakespeare's milieu, or played some part in shaping his writing and acting career. This volume is Ideal reading for undergraduates, graduates, and specialists of Shakespeare studies.