Two Shakespeare-related Books

A Shakespeare Sketchbook, by Renwick St. James and James C. Christensen (Greenwich Workshop Press, 2001)
Shakespeare on Fairies and Magic, by Benjamin Darling (Prentice Hall Press, 2001)

There’s no doubt that Shakespeare, whether he was a playwright from Avon-on-Stratford, Sir Francis Bacon, Queen Elizabeth I, or a conspiracy of time-traveling aliens, has had a tremendous impact upon Western culture for hundreds of years. Long after his death, his plays continue to be produced by the hundreds and thousands each year, with interpretations ranging from the distant past to the far future, from the feudal society of historical Japan to Manhattan in the 1990’s, from the West Side to distant planets, from grade-school productions of Midsummer Night’s Tale to experimental off-off-off-off-Broadway versions of As You Like It with full frontal hermaphroditic nudity. Perhaps I exaggerate just a little, but the truth is, it’s hard to find a milieu or genre which Shakespeare can’t be translated for. In that spirit, I’d like to offer up a pair of books which reimagine Shakespeare through art and drawing, through the visual mediums while leaving the text to speak for itself.

First up is the absolutely wonderful little volume, Shakespeare on Fairies and Magic, compiled by Benjamin Darling. What Darling has done is to extract those elements of Shakespeare’s plays which deal with the occult, supernatural, fairies, myth, or magic, and find suitable illustrations, drawing upon four hundred years worth of artistic renditions. So while you’ll quite naturally see extensive selections from “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Tempest,” Darling also throws in selections from “Macbeth,” “Julius Ceasar,” “Hamlet,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

Each of the several dozen selections is laid out in the same fashion, with the quotation and its source laid out on the left-hand page, with a small drawing, painting, or piece of artwork to fill the page if the quote itself doesn’t take up the whole space. Then the right-hand page is home to a full-size illustration, representing the very best of Shakespearian-related art. That way, you get at least two renditions of the same material, reimagining and representing the subject matter from two points of view. In one, Puck might be a full-grown fairy, lecherous and lusty, while on the opposite page he’s more like an infant, albeit one with a most mischievous gleam in his eyes. Titania and Oberon are depicted in various manners by Joseph Noel Paton (1849), Francis Danby (1832), and of course by one of the greatest painters of fairies and the supernatural of his time, Arthur Rackham (1908). In fact, Rackham’s work makes up a significant minority of the collected art to be found in this book, accompanied by Johann Fuseli, William Heath Robinson, H.M. Paget, John Simmons, Charles Altamont Doyle, P. Konekawa, and dozens more.

Combining the classical appeal of Shakespeare’s work, with the primarily (though not exclusively) Victorian charm of the art, this is a book suitable for a wide range of people. Whether you appreciate the words of the Bard, or the work of the artists within, this is recommended. Benjamin Darling has done an exemplary job of putting together this book, producing a work of art in all ways. He truly proves that he’s earned his reputation as an expert on illustrated Shakespeare.

Next on the list is something different, but not too far removed: A Shakespeare Sketchbook, written by Renwick St. James (Voyage of the Bassett, A Journey of the Imagination) and illustrated by James C. Christensen (award-winning artist also known for Voyage of the Bassett and numerous other works).

Quite simply, this is an artistic and introspective romp through Shakespeare’s many works, from the best-known and most-loved like Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet, to the downright obscure or near-forgotten, such as Pericles or Two Noble Kinsman. Every play has its moment on stage in this pageantry dedicated to exploring Shakespeare’s works. There are synopses of each play, grouped into categories like Histories, Romances, Comedies, Tragedies, The Roman Plays, and The Problem Plays. There are amusing sidebars on a number of subjects: men playing women on the stage, famous lines we still use today, the unfortunate incident of Mr. Thomas Bowdler and his insistence upon rewriting the plays to make them family-friendly (Disneyfied), useful Shakespearian insults (would thou wert clean enough to spit upon), witches, the superstitions surrounding Macbeth, the role of the fool, and so on.

Interspersed between these, on every page, are sketches and full-blown drawings from Christensen, depicting scenes and characters and incidents in all their glory. They’re beautiful, noble, sly, wry, whimsical, knowing, cunning, sober, dramatic, romantic, accidental, incidental, and unearthly. The ultimate telling piece would have to be “All The World’s A Stage,” the frontispiece which puts together some three dozen and more characters all onto one stage for the ultimate cast party, with their creator and storyteller, Shakespeare himself, in the center.

Again, this is designed to highly appeal both to lovers of theatre and literature, and to lovers of art. The author and artist, noteworthy collaborators for their previous endeavors as mentioned above, have outdone themselves with this offering, which is both intelligent and accessible. Its mixture of entry-level Shakespeare education and entertaining trivia should make this useful for anyone with even the slightest interest in the material.

While these are but two of the many, many Shakespearian-related books and items available on the market today, there’s no doubt but that they’re both high-quality, and worth picking up. Join me next time, for a look at several more books along these lines.


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