Almost four hundred years after his death， phenomenal interest inShakespeares life and work persists. The breadth of his intellect， the theatri-cality of his plays， the beauty of his poetry， and the precision of his languageare among the many positive reasons for this. The image of Shakespearedepicted by Martin Droeshout on the title-page of the First Folio of his playsis one of the most distinctive and widely recognised portraits of a literaryfigure anywhere. Yet Shakespeare himself is often held to be an enigma-theusual facets of biographical accounts， such as what he liked to eat， or whetherhe knew Queen Elizabeth I are irretrievably missing.The lack of substantial evidence for some crucial aspects of Shakespeares lifemay serve further to enhance&is mystique. But as Dominic Shellard shows inthis lively and fluent account， by viewmg the playwright in the context ofcontemporary Elizabethan politics and the business of the theatre， we knowmore of his existence than is often generally thought， providing a back-ground against which Shakespearesliterary output can be assessed.

《威廉·莎士比亞》全面、繫統地介紹了莎士比亞富於傳奇色彩的人生經歷，生動地揭示了這們戲劇大師的創作歷程和藝術成就。作者量少但詳盡地介紹了莎士比亞的家庭背景和童年生活，而且還討論了他成長和成名的社會環境、歷史氛圍和文化氣息。《威廉·莎士比亞》內容豐富，資料翔實，圖文並茂，語言流暢，通俗易懂，是一部優秀的人物傳記作品，高校英語專業本科生、研究生以及文學愛好者都能從中獲得某種啟迪和教益。

Dominic Shellard is Head of Dramaat the University of Sheffield. Hisother publications include BritishTheatre Since 1945 （Yale UniversityPress， forthcoming） and The TheatreCriticism of Harold Hobson （KeeleUniversity Press， 19951.

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Preface
Acknowledgements
Elizabethan England
Stratford
Theatre Comes of Age
London to 1594
The Lord Chamberlains Men
James I and Jacobean England to 1616
The Kings Men
Retirement
Not of an age，but for all time
Chronology
Further Readin
Index

Their first daughter, Joan, was born in September 1558 （the same year thather father became one of Stratfords four constables - a profession depicted withmuch humour in Measure for Measure and Much Ado About Nothing）, but she was todie in her infancy. A second daughter, Margaret, was born four years later, but diedin 1563. Their third child and first son, William, was born in 1564 and was to provemore robust. He needed to be, for on 11 July 1564 the plague struck Stratford,claiming almost 200 victims.
As with many details of the playwrights life, the precise date of his birth isfiercely contested. Church records reveal that he was baptised on 26 April 1564 andtradition has itthat his birthday must fall on 23 April - conveniently St Georges Day,the patron saint of England. But if one allows that children were generally baptisedthree days after birth, it is possible that he was actually born on 24 April 1564.

普通中國讀者，包括英語專業的學生，對於英國文學的了解一般隻限於個別經典作品，而對作家其人其事及其整個文學創作情況所知甚少。其中部分的原因是文學史家們編寫的英國文學史往往注重介紹作品的情節內容，對作家的生活經歷、作品的具體創作過程著墨不多。上海外語教育出版社從英國大英圖書館出版社（The British Librarv）引進出版“英國作家生平叢書”，彌補了這方面的缺憾。該叢書以圖文並茂的形式講述莎士比亞等14位英國著名作家的生平故事，同時穿插介紹他們的作品，有助於充實讀者對英國文學的認識。
英國文學源遠流長，經歷了長期復雜的發展演變過程。在這個過程中，文學本體以外的各種現實的、歷史的、政治的、文化的力量對文學發生著影響，而作家個體的獨特生活遭遇也是造就文學傑作的一個重要因素。“英國作家生平叢書”對14位名家的傳記式介紹，充分展示了這一點。戲劇方面，莎士比亞是英國文藝復興時期最傑出的劇作家，他當過演員，其作品思想內容深刻、藝術表現手法精湛，歷經幾個世紀長演不衰。詩歌方面，浪漫主義詩人華茲華斯、柯勒律治、拜倫、濟慈的不同身世對他們的詩歌創作及藝術風格產生深刻影響；維多利亞時代詩人伊麗莎白·巴雷特和羅伯特·布朗寧的愛情故事是英國文壇的一段佳話。小說方面，狄更斯是19世紀英國最偉大的小說家，他的許多小說以孤兒為主人公，這與作家童年時代的一段不幸經歷有關；康拉德來自波蘭，將自己奇特的身世背景和航海經歷交融在字裡行間；女作家奧斯丁、瑪麗·雪萊、勃朗特姐妹、伍爾夫以女性特有的視角和敏銳的觀察描摹人性與社會，思考婦女的生存狀況，她們的小說無論在思想主題、題材表現方面，還是在敘述手法上，都有創新，對推動英國文學的發展作出了突出貢獻。
“英國作家生平叢書”原版由大英圖書館出版社出版，體現出圖書館出版物的特點。書中配有大量的插圖，有些是珍貴的手稿，有些是罕見的照片，有些是博物館或美術館珍藏的油畫和素描，讓讀者有幸一睹作家的風采，產生直觀的感覺。這些插圖帶有不同時代的印記，營造出濃厚的歷史感。叢書的作者均為專業領域裡有著較深造詣的學者，對史料的掌握繫統全面，他們用生動的語言娓娓講述作家生平事跡，點評具體文學作品，書末還附有供讀者進一步閱讀的書單，推薦了有代表性的文獻，對英語專業學生撰寫課程論文或畢業論文很有幫助。
“英國作家生平叢書”內容有趣，插圖精美，文字簡潔，兼顧普及性和專業性，是學習和了解英國文學的良師益友。
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