午夜剧场

Shakespeare is a playwright whose name is well-known worldwide, yet he remains shrouded in mystery. When was he born? How did he enter the world of theater? What were his thoughts and beliefs? It is full of unknown questions. This is hardly surprising, as no diaries, memoranda, or letters that might clarify his personality or activities have survived, and biographical materials are extremely scarce. All that remains are the 37 plays and several collections of poetry bearing his name.

However, it is precisely because he is a playwright of many mysteries that biographical research becomes so fascinating. In Shakespeare's case, a relatively large number of works and documents have survived; for other English Renaissance playwrights, it is not uncommon for almost everything to be a mystery. Nevertheless, by carefully reading the works and remaining historical records, applying the latest academic findings, and inferring the playwright's work style, worldview, religious beliefs, and the meaning of his works from the few traces left behind, we can reconstruct his persona bit by bit—therein lies the true thrill of biographical research.

Of course, writing a single biography of Shakespeare might convey that excitement. However, in an era where "fast movies" (watching a film in 10 minutes) and "fast liberal arts" (understanding history and thought easily and efficiently) attract many viewers, how many readers would pick up a thick biography? I thought it might be more fun to summarize what makes Shakespeare a "question" in a concise and clear 100-question-and-answer format. That was the starting point for writing this book.

On the other hand, the goal I aimed for was for this book to serve as a pilot to help readers get to know Shakespeare as an author and become familiar with his works (ideally in the original language). To that end, I included quotes from the original texts as if Shakespeare himself were answering each question. For example, for the question "Are you a dog person or a cat person?", there is a quote from "All's Well That Ends Well": "I could endure anything before but a cat, and he is a cat to me" (4.3.242–3). I would be delighted if readers thought, "I see, maybe I'll try reading a bit of Shakespeare in the original." At the end of the book, there is a brief advertisement for the "Taishukan Shakespeare Library Series 2" (8 volumes in total)...

Arata Ide

Taishukan Shoten

144 pages, 1,870 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.