The drama of love, life & death in Shakespeare - Anthony Holden

Shakespeare is as much a figure of the 20th and 21st centuries as he is of the 16th and 17th, and "Shakespeare in Love" stands as evidence of our fascination. Written by a recognized expert, this book addresses two significant factors behind this continuing relevance. Firstly, there is the play's investigation of the most fundamental and timeless aspects of human nature. Play after play confronts what is immutable in man: our capacity for good and evil, our subservience to emotion. Each chapter examines themes recurrent in Shakespeare's dramas: love and hate; jealousy and revenge; and death and retribution among others. Secondly, there are the interpretation of the plays, many of which are films now lauded in their own right. "Soul of the Age" is illustrated with stills from the most famous adaptations: from the Olivier-starring "Hamlet" to 1996's "William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet" and Leonardo Di Caprio.