Light On Shakespeare

F. L. Light has written an interesting work, Shakespeare Undiminished,  using the Shakespearean Sonnet as a vehicle, and the life of Shakespeare as the backdrop. Mr. Light asked if I would read his book and comment. This review was done at that request. First, I am not a Shakespeare expert, albeit I first was introduced to the Bard in the sixth grade by a friend of my father's, Mr. Redmond O'Hanlon, who was a NY Police Lieutenant and winner of $16,000 on the "$64,000 Question" as the show's first contestant (see [...]). Redmond O'Hanlon volunteered to teach our class Shakespeare and I became Richard III in the play of the same name. Thus at ten I began my exposure to the man, wondering what much of what I was saying meant. Some sixty years later, and after a reasonable amount of study, and having seen more Shakespeare than most people would ever admit to, I have but a modicum of understanding.

Shakespeare's early life is hidden in a fog of uncertainty. He did attend the local Grammar School, which in the mid sixteenth century meant years of learning Latin Grammar and he did enter the theatre as an actor and then as a writer in the early 1590s. He was seen by the educated writes at the times, such as Green, as somewhat unfit for the field due to his lack of education.

Now Shakespeare's Sonnets are also somewhat clouded, having been published in 1610, they were credited to him but there is some dispute as to what were his and what were others. There are some 154 sonnets attributed to Shakespeare. There is also a standing set of disputes over his plays which in many places scorn those who write such sonnets and the fact that he wrote so many often raises questions. I leave these disputes to those much more steeped in the record than I.

Enter Light, he uses the Shakespearean Sonnet (ababcdcdefef followed by gg as compared to Petrarchan sonnet which use abbaabba followed by cdecde). He has some 145 pages of these and they take one through the early life and early career of Shakespeare. They are wonderfully entertaining, superbly structured and when read aloud, as one should slowly provide a window to what may have gone through the Bards mind during these periods.

The set of Lightean sonnets can be read in pieces, it is not a work that I would recommend reading from front to back. It helps to know Shakespeare's life, what is known and conjectured. Light brings many of these events to life using the vehicle of the sonnet.

Let me suggest two. First he goes through several intriguing sonnets regarding Shakespeare as a young student and his work on Latin grammar. He speaks of Vergil and the Aeneid . As one who struggled with Vergil and translation, Light opens the window to the mind of Shakespeare and his understanding of Latin verse, the structure of language and how this may very well have been a motivator for his later work. The use of words, the use of phrases and the use of grammar, Latin versus English. The second is Shakespeare's alleged incident with Green, who died early in the 1590s, and who possibly saw Shakespeare as an interloper, as one without the "training" and as merely an actor. Light works this issue wonderfully with his sonnet structures.

For those looking for an alternative view of Shakespeare, for a view framed in a context which the Bard would most likely have enjoyed, Light presents a wonderful presentation.

It is useful to have read before or have at hand the two wonderful works by Duncan-Jones. Shakespeare's Sonnets (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) and Shakespeare: An Ungentle Life (Arden Shakespeare Library). Professor Duncan-Jones has written a sine qua non on the Sonnets and her life of Shakespeare is the standard. Then go to Light, it will be both lyrical and enlightening, no pun intended. I look forward to seeing his many other works.