The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare: An Introduction with Documents

Bedford's handbook is quite handy for a non-expert. Anyone who's going to be teaching Shakespeare but hasn't written a dissertation on him ought to pick one up.

This book is a great overview of all things Shakespeare. It intorduces the man himself, the language of the works, the culture of the Elizabethans and the theatre, sosurces, and basic scholarly criticism and ideas. A wonderful foundational text with primary documents which greatly enhance the reading and give the subject a new life.

Russ McDonald is not someone many people have heard of, unless you happen to live in the world of Shakespeare scholars, in which case, I would be surprised if you have not. Mr. McDonald was for a long time associated with the Folger Library, and has edited numerous volumes of the Penguin Shakespeare editions, among other credentials. I have had the good fortune to be in one of his classes, and I can think of no one else I have ever met that has so much love and appreciation for Shakespeare's genius, while simultaneously being able to pass that to his students. I honestly don't think there is anything this man *doesn't* know about Shakespeare.That being said, The Bedford Companion is less about The Bard, and more so about the times in which he lived. While attention is given to his plays, equal attention is given to such things as the history of the Globe Theater, Shakespeare's early life, the economic situations of the time, and a history of Shakespeare appreciation, or "Bardolatry". It shows Shakespeare as a human, as a buisinessman, a family man, and how he eventually become know as the greatest writer in the English language. (Most of his plays weren't published until after his death.) This book may not help you fully understand Hamlet, but it can certainly make it more interesting.

Its been almost 13 years since I had the pleasure of enjoying Russ McDonald's insight on Shakespeare first hand and it was a pleasure re-engaging with his wit and insight again via this text.