"The Birthplace" is a witty satire on the excesses of bardolatry, the story reflects James's skepticism about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. Beyond the narrow scholarly issue, the story also shows a typically imaginative Jamesian protagonist inventing an alternative reality in his lecture on the Bard's supposed childhood activities.
Henry James (15 April 1843 – 28 February 1916) was an American author, who became a British subject in the last year of his life, regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language.
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, one year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912 and 1916.
Henry James (15 April 1843 – 28 February 1916) was an American author, who became a British subject in the last year of his life, regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language.
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, one year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912 and 1916.
Book Summary
"The Birthplace" is a witty satire on the excesses of bardolatry, the story reflects James's skepticism about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. Beyond the narrow scholarly issue, the story also shows a typically imaginative Jamesian protagonist inventing an alternative reality in his lecture on the Bard's supposed childhood activities.
Henry James
