Death by Shakespeare

This is a very lively and interesting book, especially if you fancy a change from the whodunnits and police procedurals. Ms Harkup has produced a very well researched, extremely entertaining description of Shakespeare and his contemporaries and the many violent deaths they introduced into their plays.

England at the time of the bard was a filthy, pestilential and very violent world. There were frequent outbreaks of plague and disease was rife, average life expectancy was no more than 40. Death was all around in Elizabethan England. What entertainment there was could be found in the theatre. Theatre audiences were a rowdy bunch and just attending a play was a far riskier thing to do than it is today with performances ending with duels to the death or even in rioting.

Audiences wanted new and more exciting productions each and every week. Thus were the demands on the playwrights of Shakespeare's day. It is no surprise then that so many plays contained deaths and such a variety of ways in which a character may die including smothering, stabbing, poisoning and swallowing hot coals to name but a few.

This fascinating piece of writing explores the influences that may have played a part in the writings of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Influences such as The Plague which Ms Harkup says shaped Shakespeare's life.

Plague was an ever present fear for people living in Tudor England, for Shakespeare an outbreak would often bring theatre closures causing loss of earnings and poverty, but could also cause loss of friends and fellow actors.

There is plenty to entertain and inform the reader in this expertly written book. You might be thinking that the subject could be a little dry, but the author has an engaging style and keeps the pace flowing making for a pleasurable, interesting and diverting read. This enlightening book might be your way in to the Shakespeare canon it has certainly piqued my interest.